Am Sad & Will Miss NPR's “Car Talk”... But Glad Tom & Ray Were Here

Ray (on the left) and Tom Magliozzi

If you've been cave dwelling since 1977, NPR’s “Car Talk” is a show where two fraternal mechanics take calls from people asking for help with car issues. The issues range from the mechanical and electrical to the philosophical, emotional, and/or marital.

No question was too hard, stupid, or silly. But some of the callers … man, there were some gems. 

Tom passed away in 2014, and they’ve been doing “Best Ofs” since. They are finally signing off this September. 

The Brothers Magliozzi are genuine, fun, glib, silly and smart at the same time. Nothing was ever taken too seriously. Tom and Ray are a great duo. Like Batman and Robin. Ross and Rachel. Bert and Ernie. Abbott & Costello. Derek and Clive. They were always engaged, in the moment -- a couple of bungling buddhas. I always felt in on the joke. 

Everyone who called in was in on the joke. The guy who let his check engine light go for months. The woman that drove with the death rattle that she couldn’t find. The wife who wanted her husband to pay more attention to HER CAR rather than his truck. The guy who dealt with the clunk in the trunk by whistling louder. That old guy from New Orleans who swapped out trannies but had extra pieces left over.

If I had to be stranded in the desert with an old jalopy – I’d do it with Tom and Ray. In a heartbeat. Here's what I’ve learned from them.

1) Laugh. You can never laugh enough
Having a sense of humor will get you through a lot. Even $3,000+ engine rebuilds.

2) Empathize with people
Tom and Ray always cared about where people were from and they always made a connection – it was amazing how quickly they did it.

3) Anything safety related was important – the rest – meh
There are things you should care about – tires, brakes, radiators. Other stuff, well if it made a noise but still ran – meh, turn up the radio. Or put black tape over the "Check Engine light." Or don’t put a $2,000 engine into a car worth $800.

4) Don’t be afraid to say, “I don’t know.” Know what you don’t know
But try and solve it anyway. Don’t be hindered by the thought process. There is this great show where they help a guy named Paul fix the electric brakes on his cattle trailer. 

5) Failure can be funny
See #4.

In the shower, I listen for Tom’s laugh alone. Don’t care I can’t hear the caller. They were born to it – you taste their passion and the fun through the speaker.  

In Tommy’s obit from 2014, producer Doug Berman said, "I'd just hear this laughter … And then there'd be more of it, and people would sort of gather around him. He was just kind of a magnet."

We should all be so lucky. And happy.


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(Find more info here if you've, in fact, been a cave dweller since 1977.

And here is a link to Click and Clack quotable quotes. Tell me your favorite...mine's the one about driving with the windows open.)