John Stephenson Explains Why He Lit Himself on Fire While Pulling Car With Penis

The man who pulled a car with his penis is explaining why he went with the fiery hat on a hat for his recent stunt ... revealing he's not the first person to use his Johnson to jerk a car.

John Stephenson stopped by "TMZ Live" to talk about his recent dong-defying feat -- he pulled a car weighing two tonnes 131 feet using only his member ... and, he explained he wanted to do a truly original stunt to raise awareness about prostate cancer.

The Brit explains he -- like us -- figured pulling the car would be enough ... but, it turns out another dude's already whipped it out and yanked a whip down the street, so he needed another layer.

Stephenson immediately jumped to the idea of flames -- a pretty extreme measure -- to add his own flair to the situation ... and, the stunt will now live on forever in the One-Eyed Wonder Hall of Fame (patent pending).

John said he didn't think twice about doing this ... joking with us that he's done having kids ... and his you-know-what was just hanging around, ready to be put to work. He actually pulled off a feat recently when he made a similar haul with his balls.

As for how the car didn't stretch John's Little Stephenson out like taffy ... well, you'll just have to watch "TMZ Live" to hear that answer for yourself!