Utah man shares the wild reason his Lamborghini Gallardo caught on fire as he begins rebuild after it was declared a 'total loss'

A man from Utah thinks he has finally solved the mystery behind the fire that left his Lamborghini Gallardo as a ‘total loss’.

The beloved Lamborghini had to be written off by insurance after flames engulfed the rear of the car while he was driving.

But instead of saying goodbye forever, he bought the Gallardo back and is now tearing it apart to uncover exactly what went wrong.

After hours of stripping the car down, he thinks he’s finally found the culprit.

The Lamborghini Gallardo fire started in one unexpected place

A man who’d owned a Lamborghini Gallardo for 11 years after buying it from Newport Beach in 2015, had put more than 40,000 miles on the supercar before disaster struck.

When the fire broke out, quick-thinking bystanders rushed over to help the YouTuber, James, known online as the Stradman, with fire extinguishers while another passerby called 911, helping save the car before it was completely destroyed.

Insurance ultimately declared the Gallardo a total loss and paid out its market value, giving it a salvage title.

Thankfully, James was allowed to buy the Lamborghini back directly from the insurer instead of watching the burnt-out supercar disappear through a salvage auction.

That meant he could rebuild it.

The project started with a thorough clean before the damaged supercar bodywork, wiring and engine bay components were removed piece by piece.

While the fire looked devastating, the interior escaped almost untouched and even the rear bumper could be repaired instead of replaced, saving thousands of dollars.

As more of the Lamborghini came apart, the scale of the damage became clear.

Burnt wiring harnesses, melted hoses, destroyed electrical connectors and damaged cooling components all had to come off before the real investigation could begin.

What could have caused the fire

At first, James suspected the problem was a ruptured power steering line.

It seems that forums online often point to leaking power steering fluid dripping onto hot exhaust components as one of the more common causes of Gallardo engine fires.

But after inspecting every power steering line, reservoir and fitting, he found very little evidence that the system had actually failed.

He then turned his attention to the fuel system, but the fuel tank, filter and supply lines also appeared intact.

One clue kept coming back to him.

Just minutes before the fire started, he remembered smelling fuel while sitting in traffic.

At the time, he assumed it was coming from another vehicle.

Now, after stripping away the damaged quarter panel, he noticed that the worst of the fire damage centered around the car’s EVAP canister – the component responsible for capturing fuel vapors before they escape into the atmosphere.

According to the creator, every component surrounding the EVAP canister was significantly more burned than the neighboring power steering, oil cooling and air conditioning systems.

He believes a failure somewhere in the EVAP system allowed flammable fuel vapors to escape before they ignited on a hot exhaust component or from an electrical spark.

He stressed to his followers that it’s still only a theory rather than a confirmed diagnosis, but says all of the evidence currently points in that direction.

With the suspected cause likely identified, the next challenge will be sourcing replacement wiring harnesses, body panels and mechanical parts – or perhaps even finding a damaged donor Gallardo to complete the ambitious rescue project.