The 46-year-old man, who has not yet been named but was from Rotherham, was driving his blue BMW 5 series along the Jaw Bine Hill section of Station Lane, Oughtibridge, when the accident happened.
His car is believed to have ran out of control after an overtaking manouvre and smashed into shrubs and small trees before hitting a field gatepost and bursting into flames.
Passers-by alerted the emergency services and tried to get to the driver but were forced back by heat and flames.
Firefighters from Elm Lane and Rivelin fire stations used four water jets to extinguish the flames while one crew member dragged the motorist from the blazing BMW.
His clothes were alight and he had already suffered severe burns when paramedics treated him before rushing him to the Northern General Hospital, where he died during the night.
The road was closed for several hours after the 9pm smash, near to the Pheasant Inn pub, to allow police accident investigators to establish what happened.
n A 27-year-old woman suffered serious head and chest injuries after the taxi she was travelling in was involved in a collision with another car.
She was flung from the back seat of the Ford Mondeo taxi ending up in the boot, which then smashed into a stone wall on the perimeter of Redmires Golf Club, trapping her inside.
The taxi, driven by a Chap-eltown man, was also trapped but escaped with whiplash.
The accident, which involved a Toyota Corolla driven by a 17-year-old Sheffield woman, happened on Redmires Road, Lodge Moor, at its junction with Blackbrook Road.