OK, so this weekend we did an overnight trip. The wife and I headed out for a family gathering without the kids so we took the Smart. Got to the first birthday party for my Aunt (80 years old) and spent the great day, not a cloud in the sky, nice breeze etc. Afterwards we were to spend the night at the in-laws about 15 miles dwn the road. We got about 10 miles and the wife said she smelled something 'HOT'. About this time, the wipers started up on their own and made 1/2 a pass and stopped. I started and stopped them and they parked like normal.next, the dash went crasy, speedometer disappeared, lights went on and off and the horn turned on continuously. I checked to see if something hit the key and noticed brown smoke around my feet.
I pulled over quickly and shut off the key, found I couldn't get into park or remove the key. By now the car was filling with smoke and the stench of burning plastic. I told he to get out now and proceeded to do the same only to get tangled up in the darn seatbelt...
As I climbed out on my hands and knees, I saw flames under the dash. I grabbed an unopened can of Mountain Dew and shook it up, popping the top to spray it under the dash. I was rewarded with a sticky face full of smoke and hot dew. The wife was on the cell phone to 911 but she didn't know what street we were on.... I flagged down a truck with a boat and asked for some pliers to pull the battery, he tossed me a pair and grabbed an extinguisher out of the boat, As I was removing the negative terminal. he shot the underside of the dash which was again burning away and dripping melted plastic onto my all-weather floor mats.. I got the battery disconnected and he hit the dash a third time as it was still burning.
During all this, the wife had pulled everything out the back and dumped it alongside the road. The police car that had just passed us going the opposite way showed up, along with the volunteer fire department from St Bonifacious (where my wife grew up) They made sure it was out and we had a little training class on Smart cars.. My father in-law was the fire chief in St. Boni years ago and my wife went to school with a number of the firemen that showed up.. They also had a new fire station which was less than a mile from where we were.
I called the 800 number and they dispatched a flatbed to pick up the car and take it to the dealer on Tuesday So... there I am, 75++ miles from home with no car, We called her parrents and they swung by on the way home from her brother's house. The arrived at the same time as the tow truck.
SO...3 weeks to the Dells rally, No car, and a reservation to put cruise in a car that is burned up like toast....I need to be at work with no car to get me there... NOT A GOOD WEEKEND!!
We will see what happens in the morning when the car gets to Bloomington.
Sorry to hear this Jim; glad you're both OK and help was near by. Will be very interested in hearing what caused this (and will be picking up a fire extinguisher tomorrow.) If the car isn't on the road in time maybe someone with an extra seat can get you to the Dells anyway. 
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