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One of the ‘Car Talk’ Brothers Is Dead at 77. The NPR Show Was Tremendously Popular, and Remains So in Reruns

Nov 3, 2014  •  Post A Comment

One-half of the brother team that formed “Click and Clack” — the “Tappet Brothers” — hosts of the long-running NPR show “Car Talk,” died today. NPR reports that Tom Magliozzi died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease at 77.

“Magliozzi and his co-host brother, Ray, began the show at WBUR in Boston in 1977, taking it to the NPR network, and a national audience, a decade later. In 2012, the brothers announced they were retiring from the show, and it has been heard in re-runs on NPR member stations since then,” NPR reported.

Tom Magliozzi, the older of the two brothers by 12 years, and his brother Ray were both MIT graduates, but they presented themselves on the show as “regular guys” who happened to also be auto mechanics. The call-in radio show was known for its humor, with Tom’s distinctive laugh among its hallmarks.

The show earned a Peabody Award in 1992.

To read TVWeek Open Mic blogger Chuck Ross’ tribute to Tom Magliozzi, please click here.

car talk-tom magliozzi, right, and brother ray

“Car Talk” — Tom Magliozzi, right, with brother Ray Magliozzi

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