If you’re earning good money by honest means then it’s perfectly normal to want to reward yourself as a token of your hard work.
In the case of 22-year-old Lak Sira, that came in the form of a gold-plated Lamborghini supercar that he spent £125,000 of his hard-earned money on.
Unfortunately, his dream car literally went up in flames on Friday and only one hour after he had picked it up from the service center. And at £10,000 for the service, it was definitely not worth the money he paid out.
The entrepreneur was on his way to London with his girlfriend after picking up his Lamborghini Gallardo from Lamborghini Birmingham when he pulled over on the hard shoulder near Birmingham, West Midlands after it started smelling strongly of gas.
They were then forced to scramble out of the car when they heard a loud bang and could only helplessly watch as flames quickly engulfed the back of the luxury vehicle.
Pictures show the gutted remains of the vehicle after firefighters put out the flames and anyone who owns anything expensive will cringe at the smoking pile of junk that was left.
Even with Lak earning £200,000 a year running an online trading company, this loss was going to hurt and he’s blamed the garage’s negligence for the mishap. He is now mulling what legal action he can take against the service center.
Recalling the incident, he said: “I was on the way to London with my girlfriend for a night out as I just had the car back and wanted to drive it around.
“We had only gone one junction when my girlfriend smelt petrol in the car, so I called the garage’s mechanic.
“He said ‘the car has just been for a service and it is usual to smell a bit of fuel,’ so there wasn’t a problem.
“So we carried on a bit further and my girlfriend asked me to open the windows, because the smell of fuel had got that strong.
“I stopped on the hard shoulder, between J5 and J6, to remove the roof but then the next thing was we heard a loud bang, it was like a firework going off, and the back of my car caught fire.
“I just had to watch helplessly as the car which I had worked so hard to buy went up in smoke.
“We nearly died, if I didn’t pull over when I did I dread to think what happened. It was very frightening and my girlfriend is scared to get in any car with me now.
“I am meeting with my solicitor to see whether to take legal action as I can’t believe its a coincidence that I’d only just had the car back from the garage.”
According to a West Midlands Fire Service spokeswoman, ten firefighters were dispatched to the scene at 8:54 pm and they used a hose-reel jet to put out the flames.
This isn’t the first time that a supercar has gone up in flames and experts say that over-gunning the engines can cause these conflagrations.
Robert Hodges, who is a UK-based technical and road safety expert, said: “Many supercars are often driven very hard and at high revs and the drivers zoom into gas stations with their engine very hot indeed, and in some cases their exhaust outlet manifold can be glowing red with heat.”