It is the fourth 458 to burst into flames in just six weeks, while a fifth was
wrecked in a warehouse fire at Heathrow Airport.

A total of 11 models have been wrecked by a mysterious “jinx” since
it was launched three months ago. Six have crashed and five ruined by fire.

The first crash occurred in Poland on May 20 when the driver – thought to be
in his 20s – swerved to avoid a bus, veering into a Volkswagen family saloon
and suffering frontal damage.

In July a customised 458 which featured a £65,000 Dolce and Gabbana interior
was wrecked in a warehouse blaze at Heathrow Airport after being flown in
from Saudi Arabia.

The owner of the Heathrow Ferrari, 21-year-old Dhiaa al-Essa, was flying the
car to Britain for his annual summer holiday where he drives across Europe.

Dhiaa, who had only owned the supercar for two weeks, said: ”It is an unlucky
car. I drove it in Riyadh for one day and by the second day I had taken it
back to the dealer because of heating problems.

”Once I had it back there were more heating problems, but it is 50 degrees in
Saudi Arabia.”

The youngster has opted against purchasing a new 458 because he has the new
Ferrari 599 GTO Roadster on order.

While the number of incidents involving the 458 seems unusually high, motoring
experts claim the crashes could simply be down to over enthusiastic drivers
failing to appreciate the power of the car, which can accelerate from 0 to
60 in just over three seconds and has a top speed of 202mph.

A Ferrari spokesperson said: ”Ferrari takes any incident involving one of our
vehicles very seriously.

”The company is currently investigating the particular incidents in which
vehicles have apparently been involved in a vehicle fire, and it is
currently treating these as separate incidents.

”Until these investigations are complete, Ferrari is unable to provide any
further comment.”