After the 458 Italia’s official debut, Ferrari had many issues with units of the model catching fire all over the world. So much so, that they had to launch an investigation to find the source of the problem. It ended up being the adhesive used in the wheel-arch assemblies which, in certain circumstances, began to overheat, smoke, and even catch fire.
Of course, just as one problem is resolved, another arises. With the launch of every new car, new problems arrive and, sometimes, even old problems resurface. During a recent test drive, a Ferrari FF caught fire and was entirely destroyed by the flames. According to the 44 year-old customer test driving the vehicle, a loud bang was heard at the rear at the car right before the car burst into flames. Thankfully, the man walked away unharmed, but the same cannot be said of the FF.
Let’s just hope this is a fluke and that Ferrari learned their lesson with the 458 Italia and changed adhesives.
There are times when we look back on some of the pieces here and still get a chuckle over what some loony did to their supercar that the latter certainly didn’t deserve. Certainly, we haven’t forgotten the Veyron-diving episode from a couple of years ago; that memory’s still fresh on our minds.
Now, it looks as if a recent car crash will join Andy House - the man behind the Veyron - in the annals of all-time dumb car crashes.
This time, the dubious honor goes to Zahir Rana, the owner of the ZR Auto Dealership. We don’t know the full details of how it exactly happened, but apparently, Rana was behind the wheel of his EDO Competition Ferrari Enzo when the car all of a sudden made a dive straight into the Atlantic Ocean.
The race car was participating at the Targa Newfoundland 2011 when the whole debacle happened. We’ll try to find more details, but for now, we have these pictures of the car taking an unexpected dip in the Atlantic, as well as a video showing the entire incident down to the recovery of the Ferrari.
Some test drivers spend all day testing high-performance cars, so their skills are simply bar none. This, unfortunately, does not prevent accidents from happening and sometimes these accidents prove fatal. This is the case with two Mercedes-Benz test drivers who were killed in a terrible accident involving a McLaren SLR.
According to the German magazine, Bild.de, the two drivers were evaluating a four-year-old Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren when things got a little out of control. The two drivers were testing the supercar on the German Autobahn and during the five mile stretch of road that has zero speed limits, the car was pushed to its limits. According to the police officers, the drivers hit a top speed of about 186 mph before catapulting to a height of 10 meters, then hitting a tree and sailing an additional 35 meters, crashing down a steep slope. Both the driver and the passenger were ejected from the car and died instantly.
This is a sad day for the automotive world, but even more so for the young families left behind. Our condolences go out to them.
This is why you have to be careful when you let your friends borrow your prized possessions. Especially when it’s a car like a Porsche 911 Turbo, which isn’t easy to replace in the event that your buddy messes it up.
Unfortunately for the owner of this beautiful sports car, the ramifications of letting his buddy take his 911 Turbo for a spin proved to be far more expensive than he initially thought.
What exactly did his buddy do? No, he didn’t crash it into a traffic pole. He didn’t get caught for speeding. He didn’t even use it to entertain some lady friends.
By comparison, all of those things would have been understandable compared to driving the sports car into the Rhine river in Switzerland, which, unfortunately, is exactly what the friend did.
Judging from the video featuring the Porsche getting lifted off of the river, you take one look at it and you already know that the car has been reduced to a scrap piece of metal.
The question now is what’s going to happen to the idiot friend when the owner finds out what happened to his 911 Turbo.
We had the chance to watch the Ayrton Senna documentary yesterday, thanks to a special screening organized in Miami by trackweekend.com and we have to say that we loved it. This is a must seen for all of you who watched the Senna / Prost battle in the late 80s and early 90s. If you are too young to have witnessed the battle yourself, additional footage from the driver’s meeting and behind the scene will help you feel what was at stake. I remember watching the F1 championship myself at the time and I think this documentary adds another dimension to the fight that both driver were having on and off the track. The movie itself is well made and entertained my wife who is not even remotely a racing fan.
Go watch the Senna documentary on the big screen while you can. You deserve to watch those on board camera footage on a 50 feet screen!
