Car explosion

I'm going to have to say no on that one - unless it was simultaneously hit with an RPG from the other side.

I've read a bunch of analyses of the scene from a scientific POV, and they do all seem to arrive at the same conclusion. Unless the tank was near-empty, it's unlikely that the oxygen/gas mixture would be such that the burning rag would cause an explosion.

On the other hand, I don't mind. Same as I don't mind what happens with the crop-duster in North By Northwest. That makes even less sense, but a well-timed explosion is always appreciated. It's amazing what a storyteller can get away with if the pace is swift and/or the character/s involved are diverting enough.

I'm gonna try it right now in the driveway. I'll post the results in a few minutes.

Me and the wife were sleeping one night and at about 2am we heard a big boom in the alley behind our house. We flew outta bed, thinking it was some kind of fire cracker when we saw an orange glow out the window. A Mercedes was fully engulfed in flames. We found out from the Police that a rag stuffed into the gas tank set it off. I had feared that there was a corpse in the trunk when I watched the Fireman open it. Luckily there was not. It didn't blow up like in the movie, but pretty darn close.

No. But this was a necessary plot device carried over from the novel.