CAR TALK

Car Talk began in 1977, when Tom Magliozzi agreed to participate in a radio call-in show about car mechanics at Boston University’s WBUR. The following week, Tom brought along his brother Ray, giving birth to their radio alter-egos, “Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers.”

It was at WBUR that the Magliozzis honed their freewheeling approach: they bantered, bickered, and gleefully acknowledged that some of their advice could be wrong. Listeners with questions eventually got answers, although most agreed that the real fun was hearing the brothers’ light-hearted verbal sparring with their callers and one another.

In the fall of 1987, fellow Radio Hall of Fame member Susan Stamberg -- the host of National Public Radio’s Sunday Weekend Edition – invited the Magliozzis to host a weekly Car Talk segment. The following year, NPR launched a national Car Talk program, which aired on over 350 stations. The show’s success led to a Car Talk book and a twice-weekly newspaper column, “Click and Clack Talk Cars.” In 1992, Car Talk won the prestigious George A. Peabody Award for their unique and entertaining contribution to radio.

Tom Magliozzi died on November 3, 2014.

Car Talk was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1998.