Flattened spark?

[gamboler]

Short dialogue taken from a British movie released in 1961
Context: A London policeman comes to help a guy whose car has got a flat tire.

Policeman: I saw you got the [flattened spark] down the road. Cor! It went off like a gun, didn't it?
Driver: Yeah.

What does he mean with "flattened spark" if this is the expression he really uses?

See attached file.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Hm. Good question.

I saw you get a flat in a _______ down the road.

Let's see if someone else catches that word. I couldn't.

 

[probus]

The policeman says "I saw you get a flat and I sparked down the road."

 

[gamboler]

Could it be "I saw you got a flat when I was parked down the road"? ('flat when' instead of 'flattened', 'was parked' instead of 'sparked')
Would it make sense?

Or maybe he uses "spark" in the sense of rally (to rouse or revive fom inactivity, to wake up)? [From my online dictionary]

Would it be good grammar?

 

[GoesStation]

Could it be "I saw you got a flat when I was parked down the road"? ('flat when' instead of 'flattened', 'was parked' instead of 'sparked')
Would it make sense?

Or maybe he uses "spark" in the sense of rally (to rouse or revive fom inactivity, to wake up)? [From my online dictionary]

Would it be good grammar?

As so often happens, once my mind was primed with your transcription, that's exactly what I heard. I'm certain you have it right. The speaker speaks with an accent that suppresses a lot of syllables. "Was" is nearly absent, "the" is only a little more present, and "got a flat" comes out sounding more like two syllables than three.

It wouldn't make sense with "spark".

 

[Roman55]

I hear, 'I saw you get the flat when I was parked down the road...'

 

[gamboler]

Thanks, Roman55.
I think you are right. It makes sense.