TV icon and comic actor Dick Van Dyke and his wife, Arlene, were involved in a not so comical situation on Monday afternoon when their latest gen Jaguar XJ saloon burst into flames on a Los Angeles highway, but fortunately, this story had a happy ending for the couple, but not so much for the Jag…
Passers-by noticed the white XJ parked on the shoulder of the Ventura freeway with the engine bay spitting out clouds of smoke and the 87-year old actor slumped over the steering wheel trying to make a call.
A group of motorist, one of whom was reportedly an off-duty fire-fighter, pulled over, and quickly moved him out of the car, shortly before the engine bay blew up.
“They thought I had passed out so they yanked me out of the car,” Van Dyke told TMZ according to Yahoo. “It just started making a noise, and I thought I had a flat at first, then it started to smoke, then it burned to a crisp,” he stated about the incident adding that he counted himself lucky to be alive. “Not only that, there was a fireman, a nurse and a cop just happened to be passing by. Somebody’s looking after me.”
Both Van Dyke and his wife Arlene escaped unhurt. One of the motorists who helped Van Dyke filmed the incident, which you can see below the break.
Following the accident, Van Dyke posted a picture of the melted Jaguar via his twitter account humorously stating “Used Jag for sale REAL CHEAP!!” while his wife Arlene shared a video of the incident.
Used Jag for sale REAL CHEAP!! pic.twitter.com/SpQMsg3s2O
— Dick Van Dyke (@iammrvandy) August 20, 2013
Van Dyke's melted car @iammrvandy He's fine thank God!! https://t.co/LqPpxE4Sa1
— arlene van dyke (@speakyteeth) August 19, 2013
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