The Incredible Story of Car Talk
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Car discussion a Peabody Award-winning radio show that aired weekly on NPR stations across America. As you probably guessed from the title, the topic usually flowed between cars and auto repair, which sounds like it could be dry content, but it was anything but that.
It was hosted by Tom and Ray Magliozzi, known as "Click and Clack, the Tuppet Brothers". The show was hugely popular due to the chemistry and humor that the two legendary radio hosts were able to bring week after week.
They were master mechanics
Ray was more of an auto repair expert, and soon the brothers were asked to host their own radio show on WBUR, which they continued to do every week.
By 1986, NPR had decided to distribute their show nationwide and they went racing. By 1992 Car discussion ended up winning a Peabody Award because they “provide useful information about preserving and protecting our vehicles. The real core of this program is that it tells us about human mechanics, insight and laughter of the brothers.”
They went to the top
Decades later, they continued to be a huge success. By 2007, the program, which was only available digitally through a paid subscription, became a free podcast distributed by NPR.
In 2012, it had 3.3 million listeners every week on about 660 stations, which was the last year the brothers decided to continue the show. Since then, the show has taken the best material from 25 years of broadcasting and remastered it.
The show was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2014, thanks to the brothers. Ray and Tommy were longtime auto mechanics. Ray received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Tom received a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The two were known for their crazy rants about everything to do with cars. Nothing was forbidden for them.
Oh Evil
They talked about the vices of people talking on cell phones while driving, about the horror of the internal combustion engine, and about women named Donna who drive a Camaro.
They both had a very calm sense of humor that not only infected each other, but also the listeners. They gave their listeners an inside look at the automotive industry that no one else offered in America.
They were walking
What has made them so popular is their unwavering commitment to protecting the environment and driving safely. They constantly criticized anyone in the auto industry who they felt was irresponsible in their actions or rhetoric towards the environment or unsafe driving practices.
In the 1970s, the Magliozzi operated a makeshift garage together, which became a more conventional repair shop in the 1980s. This gave them the credibility of "walking" rather than just "talking" on the radio.
Never do "real work"
After Car discussion took off, Ray was the only brother who decided to continue helping the family business. Tom often appeared on the radio and boasted that he didn't have to go and do "real work" anymore, he could just sit in the studio and complain about people doing real work.
The offices were located next to their Boston store, as well as next to the imaginary law firm they constantly referred to on the air.
There were many spin-offs
While it may be hard to believe, you should know that there have been many adaptations of Car Talk due to its success.
This was the inspiration for the short-lived The George Wendt Show which aired on CBS during the 1994–1995 season. In 2007, PBS announced that it had greenlit an animated adaptation of Car Talk to air in prime time in 2008. The show called Click and click as the wrench turns was to be a fictional spin-off of the brothers.
They made their way to the theater
It was supposed to be based on "Click and Clack" who were brothers who hung out in a garage called Car Talk Plaza. They ended up filming ten episodes before having to cancel them.
Then Car Talk: The Musical!!! was written and directed by Wesley Savik and composed by Michael Wartofsky. The adaptation was presented by Suffolk University and opened in March 2011 at the Modern Theater in Boston. The play was not officially endorsed by Magliozzi, but they participated in the production, voicing certain characters.
Pixar ended up picking up some of their lines
At the end of the show, Ray warned the audience, "Don't drive like my brother!" to which Tom replied, "And don't drive like MY brother!" The original slogan was "don't drive like a jerk!"
These slogans were so popular that Pixar picked up similar slogans that could be heard in the film. Cars, in which Tom and Ray voiced anthropomorphic vehicles with personalities similar to their own on-air characters. It's pretty sweet.
They had some BIG named fans
The brothers also had an official animal biologist and wildlife guru named Kieran Lindsey. She answered questions such as "how do I remove a snake from my car?" and gave advice on how urban and suburban life can reconnect with the wilderness.
Celebrities who appeared quite often also appeared as "callers". People like Ashley Judd, Morley Seifer, Martha Stewart and Jay Leno. Leno was a big fan of the show and was honored to be on it.
They even went to the evening show
In 1988 they appeared on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and Leno was the guest host. That's when they met and found out that Jay is actually a big fat monkey too.
By 1989, two brothers were writing a twice-weekly newspaper column called Tap and click Talk Cars. They were seen in over 200 newspapers around the world, including the Riyadh Times in Saudi Arabia, which always confused Tom and Ray.
Request out of orbit
They had some wild moments on air that made their show so unpredictable and exciting. One day, the brothers received a phone call and were asked how to prepare an electric car for winter. When they asked what the car was, the caller said it was a "kit car", yes, a $400 million kit car. In the end, it was a prank call from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory about preparing the rover for the approaching Maritan winter. Pretty crazy stuff.
The days of people fixing their own cars are over, so the question is whether it was "at the right time and in the right place." If you asked their fans, I'm sure they would tell you that the structure of the show, mixed with the brothers' personality and humor, and interspersed with car talk, was what kept their viewers.
Tom passed away in 2014, but Ray still roams the garage, coming up with the best quiz puzzles they can think of.
