Katy Perry Nearly Missed Met Gala After Old, Classic Car Stalled

Katy Perry almost didn't make it to the Met Gala this year, all because her ride started acting like an old hunk of junk ... but she had a prayer somewhere there in the engine.

Katy was literally en route (parade style, it seems) to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC ahead of the Gala Monday, when all of the sudden her 1930s-style whip wouldn't start about a block away from the venue. Eyewitnesses say it was working just fine moments earlier.

In the video -- obtained by TMZ -- you see the panic set in as her driver tries a couple times to get it turned on, to no avail at first. Luckily for her ... the third (fourth? fifth?) time proved to be a charm. She got a big cheer from the crowd around her ... and someone even called her "such a babe" and "so hot" in her fallen angel outfit.