A yellow Ford Shelby GT350 has been engulfed in flames when an engine failure during a track day left the muscle car as a write-off.



The Mustang, owned by Joe Charles, says that while lapping the circuit in the final session of the day, an unknown component failure in the engine resulted in a catastrophic fuel leak. As soon as fuel hit the exhaust, a fire ball began to engulf the car.

Making matters even worse was the fact that soon after, a fuel line burst, resulting in an even more intense inferno.

The blaze was so intense that when Charles tried to brake, nothing happened, as the brake fluid had been boiled. The cable of the handbrake then snapped as he attempted to bring the GT350 to a halt. Heading towards the first turn at 100 mph (160 km/h), the quick-thinking owner slammed the vehicle into first gear and dropped the clutch, destroying the drivetrain but bringing the car to a stop.

This sad tail does have a silver lining however. Ford has been in contact with Charles and said it will replace his 2016 GT350 with a 2017 GT350R.

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