Fire safety alert prompts recall of 60 supercars
THE owners of dozens of Ferraris and Porsches in Ireland have had to bring them back for repairs over fire safety recalls.
Alerts were issued on Porsche Panamera models made between July and September last year, affecting 50 of the cars sold around the country.
Ireland’s Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) passed on the manufacturer’s alert under the European Rapex system, under which suppliers must recall products for replacement or repair. Writing to Irish suppliers, the CCPC said: ‘There is a chance that the air conditioning control system could cause a short circuit and start a fire.’
The Irish Mail on Sunday contacted Porsche in Dublin for comment but did not receive a response. It is not believed any of the affected Porsche Panameras – which retail from about €72,000 – actually caught fire. An alert also went out last March over seven different Ferrari models that carried a fire risk notified by the Italian luxury car maker.
Models including the 488 GTB, Spider, and Pista Spider; GTC4 Lusso and Lusso; and the 812 Superfast were ‘equipped with a fuel vapour separator which could cause evaporation of the fuel due to non-compliant manufacture by the supplier’.
It warned: ‘Evaporation of the fuel could cause a fire.’ Ferrari would not tell the MoS which models were involved in Ireland but said 10 of its vehicles sold here were recalled as a result of the problem.
Ferrari describes the 812 Superfast as ‘the most powerful and fastest Ferrari in the marque’s history’.
‘This new car not only introduces a plethora of innovative features but is also particularly significant as the V12 series marked the official start of the glorious Prancing Horse story in 1947,’ it adds. The two-door 812 Superfast’s 6.5litre engine allows it to go from 0-100kph in 2.9 seconds, and has a top speed of 340kph.
Depending on the spec and where it is bought, the 812 Superfast will cost Irish petrolheads around €500,000.
A spokesman for Ferrari told the MoS that a total of 7,200 Ferraris were affected by the recall worldwide and that the work was carried out free of charge, with the fuel vapour separator changed for a new unit. There were no reports of fires or other incidents related to the recall.
‘The work required was the result of a failure of a part supplied by a third party, not of a part manufactured by Ferrari,’ the spokesman said.
‘In some cases a weld in the fuel vapour separator can fail due to vibrations from bumpy roads.’
‘A part supplied by a third party failed’