Luxury: Louis Saha pictured with his £170,000 458
Italia Ferrari
Everton striker Louis Saha narrowly cheated death on
Sunday night when he smashed his Ferrari sports car on a busy
country road.
The former Manchester United ace, 32, was on the Altrincham
Road, in Wilmslow, Cheshire, when he lost control of his car
shortly before 9pm.
Police sources have indicated the damage to the vehicle was
'extensive'.
Amazingly the Frenchman - who was in the car alone - escaped
without injury and did not need hospital treatment.
A Cheshire Police spokesman said: 'We can confirm there was a
road traffic accident on Altrincham Road, Wilmslow, at 8.54pm.
Fortunately there were no injuries.'
A source added: 'The car was extensively damaged. He is lucky to
be alive.'
Action: Saha played for Everton against Sunderland
on Saturday
It is not known what Ferrari he was driving but the star
does own a £170,000 458 Italia model, of which all 1,200 were
recalled by the manufacturers in September last year as a design
fault could cause them to catch fire.
The first incident occurred in July, when the driver noticed the
rear panel of his 458 Italia was on fire while he was driving in
Paris. A passer-by used a fire extinguisher to douse the
flames.
A few days later the engine of an Italia driving up a mountain
pass in Switzerland caught fire. In August last year a 458 in China
and one in the US burst into flames.
After sending its engineers around the world to investigate the
reports of 'thermal incidents', Ferrari asked the owners, including
around 50 in Britain, to bring them in for modification work.
Eric Clapton, the rock star, and Chris Evans, the broadcaster,
are also among the car's owners.
Ferrari said the problem had been traced to adhesive used in the
wheel-arch assemblies. In certain circumstances the glue
could have begun to overheat, smoke and even catch fire.
In extreme cases, the melting of the adhesive could lead the
heat shield - the liner protecting the engine - to deform and move
closer to the exhaust, causing the lining to catch fire.