Close to 100 people watched on as a beautiful piece of motoring history went up in flames in the underground carpark of a Canberra hotel and apartment complex.
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The late 1950s Porsche Speedster burnt out underneath the Hotel Realm Quarters on Tuesday night.
An ACT Emergency Services Agency spokesman said the fire began in the car's engine shortly after 7pm and quickly enveloped the vintage vehicle.
The car's owner had been driving out of the basement carpark at the time but leapt out of the vehicle when he saw the smoke and flames, the spokesman said
The driver called triple-0 and shortly afterwards the carpark's sprinkler system activated.
Firefighters arrived shortly afterwards and a small number of people were evacuated while they extinguished the flames and ventilated the building.
This model, first introduced in 1950, first put the German automaker on the map and set the standard for all Porsche sports cars to follow.
