Car Talk is no more

[Cornish Steve]

One of the most popular radio shows in America came to a sad end today with the death of the older of two brothers who hosted Car Talk. Only repeats have been played for two years, but this is the real end of the series. For those who've never heard of Car Talk, it was a call-in program for those having car problems, but it received cult status because of the personalities of the two presenters - brothers who grew up in a really rough area of Boston. Here are some excerpts, and I dare you to listen to the first without laughing.

 

 

[markjazzbassist]

so sad! i didn't know one of them died. they were ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS!!!! their responses to peoples car problems had me LOL'ing in the car all the time. a lot of times they didn't even know but since they knew so much they were able to guess and it was like 99% right (people would call back and report back).

 

side note, unabashed NPR lover. my wife used to work for them as well

[Cornish Steve]

I remember one episode that was very funny because a caller's comment was just so unexpected. Her boyfriend was a car mechanic and she wanted to arrange for him drive a really fast car on his birthday. Could the brothers provide any advice? There was just one problem: he was blind! One of the brothers commented that he must be the one person in the world who uses the braille on drive-through bank machines. Ray's laughter was so infectious, as you can tell from the links above.

[markjazzbassist]

I think the best part about the show is that the majority of listeners (me being one) knew nothing about cars and really have no interest in cars. Their banter and jokes were what people listened for, the cars advice was just a platform for their comedy.