Ferrari technicians reportedly helped YouTuber Mat Armstrong get a crash-damaged 296 GTB running by tracing its hybrid-system charging problem to a disconnected handbrake, then identifying a separate fault in the steering-wheel start-stop control. The account comes from SlashGear’s October 6, 2026 report; the technical findings have not been independently confirmed here.
From a crash in Cyprus to a UK rebuild
SlashGear reports that Armstrong bought a Ferrari 296 GTB its previous owner had crashed in Cyprus and brought it to the UK for repair. His plan was to make it road-legal while drawing inspiration from the Ferrari 296 Challenge, a track-only model.
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According to the report, Ferrari stopped Armstrong from buying additional Challenge parts but agreed to inspect the car once his team had completed it, rather than while it was disassembled around the workshop. The car then spent a week with dealer technicians.
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The disconnected handbrake and hybrid charging
SlashGear says Ferrari technicians traced the plug-in hybrid system’s charging problem to the handbrake. Armstrong’s team had disconnected it to make the car easier to move during shipment from Cyprus and had not reconnected it. The technicians reportedly found that the car’s safety systems interpreted the handbrake state in a way that prevented charging.
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The steering-wheel start-stop control
The touch-sensitive start-stop control on the steering wheel also did not work. Armstrong had tried a used replacement wheel, but SlashGear attributes damage near the button to airbag deployment in both that wheel and the original. A new steering wheel reportedly resolved the control problem.
What happened after the diagnosis
After the charging and steering-wheel issues were addressed, Armstrong reportedly completed the cooling system, fitted the remaining parts and drove the car on the road. In its October 6, 2026 report, SlashGear said the legal process to re-import the Ferrari to the UK had been completed and Armstrong had taken it to the mainland for track testing.
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That report also said Armstrong still planned to remap the car to address a remaining warning light. This describes the project’s status when the article was published, not a verified update on its present condition.
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What the reported repair does—and does not—show
The account describes two distinct problems: a handbrake-related interlock affecting hybrid-system charging and a failed steering-wheel start-stop control. It does not establish that these faults are common to other Ferrari 296s, nor does it provide an independently verified technical report from Ferrari or Armstrong. The chronology and diagnosis below are as reported by Mark Cowley for SlashGear on October 6, 2026: SlashGear’s account of Armstrong’s Ferrari 296 rebuild.
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