As far as test drives go, flying to France to drive a 1994 Ferrari 355 GTB is about as good as it gets. Tarek Salah flew all the way from California to Marseilles to test drive one of the best Ferrari's ever made.

Salah's video starts nicely enough. You get to see an interior that's obviously been well looked after, some French countryside, and the faint rumble of that epic 3.5-liter naturally aspirated V8 that only produces peak power at 8,250 rpm. Just in case you need a refresher, the 355's V8 produced 375 horsepower, which was good for a 0-60 mph of 4.5 seconds. There are faster hot hatches these days, but none of them provide that orgasmic flat-plane V8 soundtrack.

While on the highway, the 355 started burning. Salah and the owner noticed a gas smell but assumed the car was running a bit rich - not uncommon in older exotic sports cars. Minutes later, it caught fire, and the car was not equipped with a fire extinguisher. Not that it would have made a difference because the fire burned through the entire car within minutes.

In a deeply unfortunate case of irony, Salah and the owner were on their way to the owner's mechanic so he could confirm that everything was in order. In a later post on his Instagram page, Salah said that he's still not sure what went wrong but suspected faulty fuel injectors.

The 355 is not known for burning to the ground, though there were enough cases for Ferrari to issue a recall in the USA. This recall was only applicable to models built from 1995 to 1999. Independent repair shops may have improperly installed certain screw clamps that are located close to the fuel lines. Improper installation of the screws may damage the fuel supply lines, leading to the inevitable. Ferrari fixed the problem with a fuel divider block that increased the distance between the screw clamps and fuel lines.

Why independent repair shops? Ferrari 355s became surprisingly affordable 10 to 15 years ago, but they had one fatal flaw. The engine had to be removed for every service, which cost a lot of money. So owners cut corners and went with the cheapest option.

These days values are slowly rising, and you can expect to pay at least $125,000 for a good one.

The Ferrari 458, which may be the best Ferrari ever made, also had a fire issue. This one came straight from the factory, as the adhesive used in the wheel-arch assemblies melted and caught fire. Even though it was highly publicized, it made absolutely no dent in second-hand values.

A used Ferrari 458 in good condition is worth more than a brand-new 488, and that's most likely because it's the last naturally aspirated V8 supercar the famed Italian brand made. It's nowhere near as fast as the 296 GTB, but more special.

It's also the best. (We will die on this hill.)

As for Salah and the 355 he wanted to buy, well, he'll need to keep looking. We hope the current owner had a good insurance policy.