£260k Ferrari crashes and is left a smoking wreck just an hour after it was bought

They say a car can lose up to 20% of its value once it has been driven off the lot, but spare a thought for the owner of a brand new £260,000 Ferrari 430 Scuderia whose pride and joy was rendered completely worthless just an hour after it was bought.

In an accident that would leave any car insurance broker reeling in horror, the jet black vehicle worth more than a quarter of a million pounds, skidded off a motorway in wet conditions near Barnsley, south Yorkshire on Thursday (27 July) and slid 50 metres across a field before bursting into flames.

The driver, who will also be rueing the loss of his no claims bonus, managed to escape relatively unscathed, albeit with a few cuts and bruises.

South Yorkshire Police posted images of the wreck on Facebook, posting the message: "Afternoon folks, were you stuck in traffic this afternoon on the M1 south around junction 37? If so, here's why.

"Officers were deployed to a single vehicle collision with reports that the vehicle had left the carriageway and burst into flames.

"As we are an inquisitive bunch, we found the driver and were amazed to see he only had minor cuts and bruises!"

"The serious part of this post: Over the past couple of weeks there has been a number of collisions where driving styles have not reflected the road & weather conditions - please take more care."

The Ferrari 430 Scuderia goes from 0 to 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph) in 3.6 seconds, with a top speed of 198 miles per hour (319 km/h).