That happened to me and my granddad in the early 70's in his Austin A35 estate.
We were travelling down the road and this wheel came bouncing past us to which granddad says " some bugger's lost a wheel", at which point the off side rear goes down and near side front comes up.
Brake drum saves the day.
I went off to retrieve the errant wheel which was re-fitted with 1 nut from the other 3.
No damage to anything.
Happy daze.
Same thing happened to my dad also in an Austin an A90. Dont remember how we fixed it but we got home in it.
I had an experience with my '64 Corvair at speed where I seized a left front wheel bearing and twisted the stub axle clean off, suffering, as you say on that side of the pond the "loss of a road wheel". A term from my Triumph owners manual warning against loose wheel spinners I believe.
I successfully got it to the side of the road, singing the refrain from the famous Kenny Rogers tune: "You Picked a Fine Time to Leave Me Loose Wheel"
