Lamborghini Gallardo supercar bursts into flames

This Lamborghini Gallardo goes from 0 to 60mph in four seconds and from 195mph supercar to burnt out wreck in about four minutes.

The car – one of fewer than 400 of its type in the country – burst into flames outside a nightclub in Peterborough at about 8pm on Friday.

The Gallardo costs up to £130,000 new and the 2005 model which was burnt out was valued at £75,000.

According to eyewitnesses, the bright orange car – believed to have been on a test drive – pulled up outside the Natural England offices in Northminster at about 8pm with smoke billowing from its engine.

Two men were seen to jump out of the vehicle before dashing off to find a fire extinguisher and call 999.

By the time firefighters arrived just minutes later, a huge crowd had gathered from the area’s pubs and bars and people watched in amazement while they battled the blaze.

Colin Jeffery, assistant manager of the nearby Solstice bar, was among the onlookers.

“It was engulfed in flames and was there were loud popping noises all over the place as the windows and the tyres exploded,” he said.

“There was no end of people gathered round, something like 150 people. A lot of them were stood there filming it on their mobile phones.

“It’s nothing new to see a car on fire but to see a Lamborghini in flames is something else altogether. It was an unbelievable sight, to be honest. Quite surreal.”

Five firefighters from the Peterborough Volunteer Fire Brigade spent about 20 minutes bringing the intense blaze under control. The cause of the fire is not yet known, although the car was removed from the scene by police who have begun an investigation.

Chief volunteer fire officer Tony De Matteis said: “It was a bit of an unusual one for us because it was quite different from the usual Fiestas or Escorts that we get called to.

“Quite often you get explosions with burning cars which makes it difficult for us to get close enough to fight the fire. In this casem it was the tyres and the shock absorbers in the suspension that were going.

“This one was made worse for us because there is so much carbon fibre and alloy construction with high-performance cars, which makes it more of an intense fire than a standard car.”

According to Antony Hawkes, the chairman of Lamborghini Club UK, there are only 5,000 to 6,000 Gallardos in existence and only a few hundred on the road in Britain.

Mr Hawkes said: “It’s heartbreaking for whoever owns it and looking of the pictures of it burned out is quite a distressing sight.”

from: telegraph.co.uk