Tarek Salah is one of the prancing horse builder’s many fans around the world. The dream of this American living in California? Treat yourself to a Ferrari F355, this famous Italian berlinetta marketed between 1994 and 1999. Replacing the moderately appreciated Ferrari 348, the F355 remains a very great vintage in the history of the brand with its successful style and above all, its fabulous atmospheric 3.5-litre V8 with very sharp operation. Equipped with cylinder heads with five valves per cylinder, this block exceeded 8000 rpm and produced an extraordinary sound. So when he spotted a nice gray copy on the internet for sale in Marseille, he immediately hopped on a plane to Los Angeles to come to France.
In Marseille, a burning Ferrari shatters an American’s dream
Once in the south, it’s love at first sight. Tarek Salah gets to know the owner and the test goes perfectly. Before getting down to business and making the payment, he and the owner go to a specialized mechanical workshop to carry out a final inventory before the car is sold. But that’s unfortunately where things go wrong: the driver and passenger first notice a faint smell of burning while driving on a highway on the outskirts of Marseille. A few moments later, the other motorists made signs to them to alert them: thick black smoke escaped from the back of the pretty sports car. Stopped on the roadside, Tarek Salah and the owner will remain totally powerless watching the beautiful Ferrari go up in smoke.
A problem in the fuel circuit?
First of all, the vehicle was very well maintained. Just before things took a catastrophic turn, Tarek Salah noticed a smell of gasoline in the cabin which might be linked to a leaking or loose pipe between the fuel tank and the engine. Unfortunately, the firefighters arrived too late to be able to save the Ferrari. And the American will have to find another F355…
