A HILARIOUS video captures a man’s very British reaction to his car blowing up on the motorway in the middle of the night.
Justin Szwec had been making the journey back from Manchester to his home in Leeds, Yorkshire on the M62 two weeks ago after returning from holiday when his head gasket suddenly blew up.
The video begins just after the 19-year-old has pulled into the side of the motorway, as his car billows out a thick cloud of white smoke whilst warning sounds can be heard chiming from the dashboard.
The motorway is fairly quiet and shrouded in darkness, but is even less visible thanks to the clouds of smoke that continuously pour from beneath warehouse manager Justin’s motor.
The on-screen text reads: “That moment when your engine blows up midnight on the motorway.”
Justin reacts to the precarious situation in the most British way possible, seemingly very calmly accepting the circumstances and swearing repeatedly at the car.
Justin says: “Well boys, I think I sent it a little bit too hard, f**k, that stinks. S**t.”
Justin then clambers out the engulfed vehicle in an attempt to examine the damage from the outside, despite the blue Ford Focus ST being barely visible through the curtain of smoke surrounding it.
“S**t, F**k. My car’s burnt, my car’s f***ed. S**t, no way.”
Justin later uploaded a second video that further explained what happened saying: “Right, so for everybody that wanted an update on my engine blowing on the motorway, basically the head gasket blew up at 3am at night on the motorway.”
He then shows a picture of the wrecked gasket as well as the destroyed engine.
He continues: “I’m getting a full engine replacement at a garage, but for now this is what the engine sounds like.”
Justin then shows himself attempting to start the engine, but is met with a a struggling whirring noise from under the bonnet.
He says: “Well, the car doesn’t even start, it doesn’t even start up so for whoever commented saying ‘you’ve got no coolant’, obviously I’ve got no coolant.
“The head gasket blew up that’s why I’ve got no coolant – because it mixed and it burnt, that’s where all the smoke came from.”
Justin then showcases the underside of the car’s bonnet, which is stained with splashes of the coolant.
He adds: “Look at it all up here, that’s all the water that exploded everywhere from the coolant, so the engines totaled, what can I say I’m waiting for a replacement.”
Justin uploaded the video of the incident to TikTok the same day with the caption: “Head gasket left the chat.”
The video has received over 70,000 likes and more than 900 comments from users who looked to crack jokes at Justin’s ruined Ford’s expense.
One TikTok user wrote: “Eco boom is it?”
Another joked: “The first Ford to reach 70mph.”
A third commented: “Red Bull 2026 season prediction.”
Another said: “When you go 75 in your 1.2.”
A fifth user replied: “Another common Ford L.”
Speaking today Justin said: “I was driving back from Manchester on the M62 after being on holiday and on my way back I suddenly heard a heavy tapping noise while I was accelerating.
“I thought it was my wheels driving over the white lines on the edge of the lane at first but as I was further accelerating, my temperature gauge skyrocketed on my dashboard and a coolant warning light came on as the car lost power.
“I quickly stopped on the hard shoulder in the middle of the motorway and turned the engine off, got out of the car and opened the bonnet quickly to see the situation there.
“The car lost coolant and white smoke covered the motorway so I immediately knew it was probably the head gasket, which upon diagnosis it’s confirmed that it was.
“I called for my breakdown recovery and waited from 3am up to 4:20am in disbelief, finally getting home at 6am.
“I was definitely in shock, and worried about the financial problems the situation will bring me on top of the thought of it being 3am at the time and needing to get home.”
