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Dick Van Dyke rescued from burning car

B

bpatrick

Saw on ABC this morning that Dick Van Dyke's Jaguar
caught fire as he was headed down U.S. 101 to keep
a dental appointment. Fortunately, an off-duty firefighter
noticed the flame and pulled Van Dyke out; Van Dyke was
unhurt, and in fact was even joking about it. The car was
reduced to just its frame, and Van Dyke joked about having
a used car if anyone wanted it. He did say, seriously, that he
heard a suspicious knocking sound before the fire.

But, thankfully, he's alive and well, and as John Muller (?) said,
"He's still got it."
 
bpatrick said:
Saw on ABC this morning that Dick Van Dyke's Jaguar
caught fire as he was headed down U.S. 101 to keep
a dental appointment. Fortunately, an off-duty firefighter
noticed the flame and pulled Van Dyke out; Van Dyke was
unhurt, and in fact was even joking about it. The car was
reduced to just its frame, and Van Dyke joked about having
a used car if anyone wanted it. He did say, seriously, that he
heard a suspicious knocking sound before the fire.

But, thankfully, he's alive and well, and as John Muller (?) said,
"He's still got it."
Click to expand...

At age 87! Amazing that he's even driving himself.

Like most British cars, Jaguars were infamous for electrical problems, but I would have thought that ended when the company was bought by Ford. Jaguar, like Land Rover, is now owned by Tata - the Indian carmaker.
 
One lucky guy, no doubt about it!

Re car companies changing hands, here's a quote from those Car Talk guys Tom and Ray Magliozzi on the merger of Chrysler with Fiat a couple years ago..."What do you get when you cross a Chrysler with a Fiat? A big car that won't start!"
 
One report I saw said Dick Van Dyke heard a strange noise coming from his car before it exploded and erupted in flames. I wonder if the noise was "chitty chitty bang bang"?
 
JeffM said:
One lucky guy, no doubt about it!

Re car companies changing hands, here's a quote from those Car Talk guys Tom and Ray Magliozzi on the merger of Chrysler with Fiat a couple years ago..."What do you get when you cross a Chrysler with a Fiat? A big car that won't start!"
Click to expand...

ROFL

dmargalotti said:
One report I saw said Dick Van Dyke heard a strange noise coming from his car before it exploded and erupted in flames. I wonder if the noise was "chitty chitty bang bang"?
Click to expand...

ROFL 2.

If you ever owned a British car from the 50s through the 80s, you know a kind of frustration and anger that most people cannot comprehend. You were also likely very familiar with your city's public transit system. I owned a '69 MGB.

Lucas Electrical Corporation provided the electrical systems for most British cars, including Jaguar. On any given day, your dash lights, headlights or radio might not work, only to mysteriously return to life the next day. And the heaters? Forget it -the best you could hope for was an pitiful trickle of luke-warm air - not much of a comfort in a ragtop in winter. Lucas was referred to by critics as "the company that invented darkness," or "the Prince of Darkness."
 
Lucas was notorious on Brit bikes for failing just as you entered a curve in darkness. They also used bakelite switches and knobs which would guarantee complete failure as said device disintegrated into a useless pile of powder after being parked in the sun for more than 24 hours.

Not so bad in cars. I owned a '71 TR-6 which never had an electrical failure (but all the instruments were Smith). I also owned a '74 TR-6 (bought used in 2011) which was still using original switches and knobs flawlessly. My '63 TR-3B never had a problem either but it also didn't have much in the way of heat. I could never understand why, coming from a country that is always cold and wet, Triumph could not build better tops or heaters - or rustproof their cars.
 
landtuna said:
Lucas was notorious on Brit bikes for failing just as you entered a curve in darkness. They also used bakelite switches and knobs which would guarantee complete failure as said device disintegrated into a useless pile of powder after being parked in the sun for more than 24 hours.

Not so bad in cars. I owned a '71 TR-6 which never had an electrical failure (but all the instruments were Smith). I also owned a '74 TR-6 (bought used in 2011) which was still using original switches and knobs flawlessly. My '63 TR-3B never had a problem either but it also didn't have much in the way of heat. I could never understand why, coming from a country that is always cold and wet, Triumph could not build better tops or heaters - or rustproof their cars.
Click to expand...

Yes - my MGB wouldn't fire on all cylinders on a cool damp day in San Francisco (uh...most days) until the car was warmed up, which seemed odd for a car designed in cold wet England. I came to pick up my MGB at my mechanic one day - he had been trying to repair the carburetor, and was actually crying, he was so frustrated. He was an excellent journeyman mechanic, and had raced MGs.

I know we're veering off topic, but I found some Lucas Electrical jokes online. These were the best:

The Lucas motto: "Get home before dark."

Back in the '70s Lucas decided to diversify its product line and began manufacturing vacuum cleaners. It was the only product they offered which didn't suck.

Why do the English drink warm beer? Lucas made the refrigerators, too.

The three-position Lucas switch--DIM, FLICKER and OFF. The other three switch settings--SMOKE, SMOLDER and IGNITE.

The original anti-theft devices--Lucas Electric products.

"I've had a Lucas pacemaker for years and have never experienced any prob..."
 
Lkeller said:
Yes - my MGB wouldn't fire on all cylinders on a cool damp day in San Francisco (uh...most days) until the car was warmed up, which seemed odd for a car designed in cold wet England.
Click to expand...

In a terrible coincidence I also owned my TR-3 in San Francisco (actually San Rafael) which is only slightly less cold and damp. I used to drive it with my right hand placed underneath the heater hoping somehow that the warm blood, if any, would help the rest of me.

There wasn't near enough heat generated to overcome the natural air conditioning (which couldn't be turned off) coming in through the giant gap between the windscreen and the convertible top (which fastened *choke* with little bitty push-pull pins and didn't hold in a wind of over 30 MPH).

Lkeller said:
I came to pick up my MGB at my mechanic one day - he had been trying to repair the carburetor, and was actually crying, he was so frustrated.
Click to expand...

I don't consider myself an expert mechanic but I cried on occasion too, usually when working on my pair of SU's with their "unique" damper system.

Lkeller said:
I know we're veering off topic, but I found some Lucas Electrical jokes online. These were the best:
Click to expand...

Those were GREAT! :D
 
Ok - last British car story, then we'll get back to Dick Van Dyke:

My father related a story told to him by one of his friends, an English ex-patriate. First, he was very angry at my father for buying a "Nazi" car (VW Beatle). That anti-German attitude was quite common in the 1960s among Europeans who had experienced Nazi aggression first hand, and the 60s were, after all, only about 20 years after World War II. Second, he was a stalwart English car owner, and favored those frumpy economy sedans, like Hillmans, and the like.

One day he was driving down the street, looked out the driver's window, and saw his left rear tire and wheel rolling past him. Then, as he braked to stop the car, his seat collapsed.
 
Re car companies changing hands, here's a quote from those Car Talk guys Tom and Ray Magliozzi on the merger of Chrysler with Fiat a couple years ago..."What do you get when you cross a Chrysler with a Fiat? A big car that won't start!"
Click to expand...

And of course, "FIAT" stands for "Fix It Again-a, Tony!"
 
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