Graham Taylor – who gave up his living at Cloughton, near Scarborough, to write best sellers such as Shadowmancer and The Curse of Salamander Street – was returning from a school appointment in Bristol when a wheel flew off the hired S Class Mercedes.
He said: "The car had been on the chauffeur's drive overnight and someone had taken out all the bolts but one from one wheel. We drove
all the way to Bristol on one bolt.
"We were travelling about 70mph on the way back when it started to vibrate." Driver Sarah Hill, 32, then pulled off the motorway. "As we were going down the side of the carriageway the wheel came over our heads, overtaking a passing car and narrowly missing a pedestrian," Mr Taylor added.
"We crashed and were only 4ft away from plunging down the Avon Gorge."
The car was later placed on a recovery truck which burst into flames a mile down the M6, causing severe congestion.
Mr Taylor, 44, of Scalby, Scarborough, fought the flames with an extinguisher and bucket of water. Then the car was loaded on a second recovery vehicle for the journey back to Yorkshire.
Since the incident on Thursday there has been speculation it might be connected with hostile internet messages Mr Taylor receives about his books. "But I think it was just an extraordinary series of co-incidences," he added.
mark.branagan@ypn.co.uk