The third potential source of fire after the arcing instrument rheostat and the melting fuse panel was the cigarette lighter. Do you remember the days not so long ago when cars came with cigarette lighters and ashtrays instead of auxiliary power sockets and latte-holders?
The Ferrari lighter is marked Brico Pram around the top and works differently from regular lighters. First you drop the cigarette in the little hole. Then, to light it you push down on the black ring and wait until it pops up. Then if everything has worked, your cigarette will be alight and your interior will not be. However, if you unfortunately hit a bump just as the lighter went pop you have a few seconds while driving your high performance Italian sports car to find and retrieve the lit cigarette that was just ejected from the dashboard somewhere into the interior of the car.
Above: serious scorch marks behind the center console: the Ferrari lighter does not appear to have been so safe. This thing was common on Alfas, Fiats and Ferraris in the 60s and 70s but now occasionally turn up on Ebay and sell for literally hundreds of dollars. Any guesses why they are so hard to find now?
Mine was in a pretty sorry state with burnt, melted connectors and a lot of corrosion. I never tested it but I doubt it would have worked very well. Since I don’t smoke, and you can’t plug a phone charger into it I had zero use for it. However I do like the way it looks in the console so I decided to keep it but just disconnect it.
Disclaimer: This website describes the restoration work I perform on my car and only my car. I am not a professional mechanic. The website content is presented for entertainment purposes only and should not by seen as any kind of advice, information, instruction or guidance for working on any other car. The opinions stated here are my own and no-one else’s.
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