It was just another day in Martin Bullen's rather fortunate work life - driving a Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano, and getting paid to do it. Of course, he was driving it to the repair shop, but still, there are worse ways to make a living. And then, while stopped at a traffic light the car made a noise, then burst into flames, destroying the Italian supercar right before his eyes.

Bullen was then faced with the difficult call to his boss, made just minutes after firefighters arrived on the scene, too late to save the car, reports the UK newspaper The Sun. Fortunately the owner of the car, Paul Jaconelli, proprietor of Romans International, a Surrey, UK supercar garage, took the sad news in stride, expecting insurance to pick up the bill.

And Jaconelli will have a strong case to present to the insurance adjuster, should one come knocking to investigate the £250,000 ($488,000) payout. Ferraris are not alone among supercars for their rather pyrophilic reputations - and the 599 is certainly not exempt from the list of past offenders.

What precisely caused the fire is yet undisclosed, but since the car was on the way to the repair shop, it seems likely that whatever was amiss went from bad to catastrophic failure in a matter of moments.