In the car community, it’s often joked about how often Ferraris tend to catch on fire. There’s good reason for this: you don’t have to spend too long Googling before you begin to see a litany of examples of exotic models that cost a pretty penny to buy and maintain, only to go up in smoke due to a ruptured fuel line or some other failure that wasn’t caught in time. The 1984 Ferrari 400i shown here on eBay is actually innocent of such shortcomings as its burn damaged came from a car it was parked next to (another Ferrari, perhaps?) The seller claims it was in excellent, restored condition before the fire and should be fairly easy to repair.

The 400i has been a bit of a dark horse in vintage Ferrari circles, long simmering just about the Mondial in terms of desirability. Something about that imposing profile and professional demeanor has always kept it from becoming a laughing stock as the Mondial has occasionally been, but even the “cheap” Ferrari model is on the upswing. In the case of the 400i, it was likely the overabundance of models equipped with a lazy shifting automatic that kept it from becoming a collector car darling, but the car world has been turned on recently to the easier maintenance requirements of the front-engined Ferrari class.

In other words, you don’t have to remove the engine to perform a timing belt service, which represents significant cost savings compared to its mid-engined brethren. The 400i shown here does appear to be in excellent condition outside of the burn damaged, with a beautifully upholstered interior. It does have the optional automatic transmission, which doesn’t help its value trajectory, and the fire damage means the next owner will have to decide whether they can live with investment compared to the long-term values. Still, the rest of the car does present as well as the seller claims, so if all else has been previously repaired, this is likely worth the risk.

But how can you argue against the appeal of a 4.8L V12 engine? Automatic or not, this is an imposing cruiser of a vehicle, and the beefy engine was good for 310 horsepower and 150 miles per hour top speed. The seller reports that in addition to the fender, the fire melted the plastic brake reservoir and that some off the fuel injection lines melted. This is not overly complex work but it’s not child’s play, either, especially if you find out some other fault has materialized as a result of the injection lines being damaged. The Ferrari is currently bid to $18,000 with the reserve unmet, and it will be interesting to see what the seller has set the sale price at considering the need for repairs and the somewhat stagnant values of the 400i. Thanks to Barn Finds reader Mitchell G. for the tip.