$550,000 Ferrari recalled for fire risk

Eight wealthy Australians will have to take their shiny Ferrari 458 Italias back to the dealership to fix a problem that could lead to a fire.

Ferrari has recalled its 325km/h 458 Italia after a number of incidents in which the supercar caught fire due to a design flaw.

The problem has been traced to an adhesive used in the car's wheel-arch assemblies, Ferrari Australia spokesman Edward Rowe says.

"There is a heat shield and wheel-arch housing assembly which in cases of very high ambient temperatures and operating temperatures ... that can deform, which brings it into too close a contact with the exhaust system and the adhesive that's used in it can then smoke and in very extreme occasions ignite," said Rowe.

Several reports claim Ferrari had sent its engineers to investigate what the company labelled as "thermal incidents", and then proceeded to ask the owners of more than 1200 examples of the supercar to bring their vehicles into their local workshop to have the problem fixed.

None of the eight cars already in customer hands in Australia has experienced the problem and each of the owners has already been contacted.

Ferrari is already flying out replacement parts and expects to have all the cars repaired and back on the road by the end of next week.

The repair involves replacing the heat shield assembly and fixing it only with rivets, not adhesive "so the possibility of deformation is removed".

Overseas owners who were unlucky to lose their 458s to flames will have their cars replaced, free of charge.
Ferrari says cars built prior to July have already had the fix made, ensuring there are no delays to customer deliveries.

Website Wrecked Exotics has a gallery of Ferrari 458 Italia supercars burning to the ground.

Several photographs of the half-a-million-dollar 458 Italia have been posted on websites showing the car either burnt out or with flames shooting from the rear of the car in a number of locations around the globe, including China, Switzerland, France and the US. Images of the fiery Ferraris can be found here.

The first incident was reported in July when a Parisian driver noticed one of his rear panels was on fire. A few days later, another 458 Italia caught fire when driving up a mountain pass in Switzerland.

According to Wreckedexotics there have reportedly been nine 458 Italias that have caught fire in the past 90 days, although some Ferrari sources suggest there have only been five incidents linked to the fault.

The Ferrari 458 Italia has been on sale in Australia since June, with price tag of $526,950, plus on-road costs.

The supercar is powered by a 4.5-litre V8 producing 419kW of power, and has a top speed of 325km/h.

There is a waiting list of between 18 months and two years.