Every now and then, we come across a prestigious auto manufacturer making news for the wrong reasons, a feat that Ferrari is guilty of on more than one occasion. From banning owners who modify their Ferraris to banning journalists who speak out against the brand, Ferrari is known to defend their reputation fiercely. It will be interesting to see what happens now that an older Ferrari has publicly burned to a crisp hours after the owner took delivery of the used supercar. Japanese music producer Honkon had reportedly saved up for 10 years to buy his dream car, a V8-powered Ferrari 458 Spider, finished in white, and the car broke out into flames on his way home, eventually burning to the ground.
Honkon, the producer for popular Japanese boy band Chocolabi, was driving his new-to-him Ferrari that cost him around $300,000 when he noticed smoke coming from his car. He pulled over onto the side of the highway and stood helpless as the smoke turned to flames that eventually engulfed the car.
The inferno with the 562-horsepower thoroughbred at the root of it reportedly took firefighters over 20 minutes to put out, at which point only the front end of the pristine Ferrari was left.
Notably, Ferrari has previously issued recalls for 458 coupe models for a fire hazard. The adhesive used in the rear wheel arch assembly could overheat and lead to a fire, leading to the Maranello-based brand recalling over 1,200 cars to fix the issue. The 458 Spider was produced after this recall was issued, so technically it should not have had the same problem. At the same time, being a used supercar, there’s no telling what else could have gone wrong. Whatever the issue was, we sure hope the enthusiast who put down 10 years of hard work for his dream car gets his money back via insurance. It wouldn’t hurt if Ferrari addressed the issue as well, for goodwill if nothing else.
