Car Talk on NPR

[wavinwayne]

I've never heard this show before, probably because I'm not a frequent NPR listener. Anyhow, I found the CarTalk podcast whilst perusing iTunes. I'm listening to the most recent episode, and these guys almost made me spew a mouthful of water onto my computer screen. I think they are hilarious! Some of their jokes are obvious set-ups, but still funny. They seem to be fairly knowledgeable mechanics, too. How have I never heard of this show until now?

 

[PF52]

I love the show; have been listening since the early-90s. I believe they started in 1987.

 

[Burt]

You must have been living in a cave. Go to their website. You will find that they are both MIT engineering graduates. One turned into a hippy house painter for awhile. And then they got together and decided to run a repair garage. At first they just rented the space and tools to amatuers and that concept did not work. So now its conventional repair with a radio show on the side. They have interns to screen the 10,000 calls they get per week down to the handful that you hear.

they also provided some of the voice work on the Disney animated movie, I belive it was called "Cars".

 

[CivicFan]

That's what you get when you have MIT graduate mechanics. It was actually their show that got me interested in DIY.

 

[opus1]

Been a listener for years; the only show on NPR that I listen to.

I think I saw something on TV about them, which prompted me to find NPR and see when they were on in my area. I'm guessing sometime in the mid-90's.

 

[simple_gifts]

The "Dewey, Cheatham and Howe" office actually exists in Harvard Square right near the Harvard Coop; a girl I was dating made it our first stop when I visited her in Boston.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/acordova/3300113673/

edit: not sure where wayne has been; but check out "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" as another excellent NPR show. Last week someone asked "Where was Kanye West when Qhadaffi spoke @ the UN?"

 

[Nayov]

wow...there are some NPR listeners here? Never would have guessed.

They also have a column which is great. Go to cars.com and the link is buried there somewhere. Actually they are in many newspapers. In our paper it is the Sunday edition. The call themselves called "Click and Clack."

 

[UNC197]

I have never heard of this, but then again, I do live in a cave. Now I am intrigued to find out more.

 

[wavinwayne]

Originally Posted By: simple_gifts
..edit: not sure where wayne has been; but check out "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" as another excellent NPR show. Last week someone asked "Where was Kanye West when Qhadaffi spoke @ the UN?"...


I listened to that episode this morning. WWDTM is a very funny show!

 

[MONKEYMAN]

Originally Posted By: Nayov
The call themselves called "Click and Clack."


The Tappet Brothers....

I used to stream their weekly programs a lot. Still get a kick out of the program when I am going to work on the weekends. NPR is about the only radio station I listen to in my car.

I found a nice repair shop using the reviews in the Mechanics Files at there website:

http://www.cartalk.com/content/mechx/

 

[huffmuds9320]

I first heard of Car Talk when I was in a chemistry class. The instructor was talking about quantum mechanics and asked if anyone listens to Click and Clack. Then he said on one of their shows they mentioned something like to work on a Quantum, you need to know quantum mechanics.

I usually try to catch the show on Saturday morning on the radio. I never seemed to really know how to solve their puzzler of the week.

 

[hillclimber]

It's been a Saturday morning staple forever here. I've almost grown bored with it but still listen regularly.

"Wait, Wait.." on the other hand can be so hilarious that I always try to download it if I miss a show. Roy Blount, Jr, rocks.

 

[javacontour]

I listened to the podcast today. I've been a listener since 1992. I even won their triva contest back in the mid to late 90s. I got one of almost everything sold in the Shameless Commerce division for winning.

 

[javacontour]

From the internet wayback machine...

http://web.archive.org/web/19981202205840/cartalk.cars.com/Contests/Trivia/

I can't find where I won, but they did run a daily trivia contest and picked a monthly winner back then...

 

[Kestas]

I actually look forward to working in my man-cave Saturday mornings so I can listen to them uninterrupted.

 

[javacontour]

Tommy's rant on education

http://web.archive.org/web/19990220100156/cartalk.cars.com/About/Rant/r-r.html

 

[GMBoy]

Click and Clack are awful and give misleading advice very often. Motorwatch (used to be Nutz & Boltz)is much better and I am a 20 year member and technical advisor for them. Dre knows his stuff.

 

[mormit]

Originally Posted By: Kestas
I actually look forward to working in my man-cave Saturday mornings so I can listen to them uninterrupted.


Man-cave, coffee, and Car Talk. Doesn't get much better on a Saturday morning!

"Don't drive like my brother"

 

[javacontour]

"And don't drive like my brother."

On facebook, Tommy looks like he needs a haircut, urgently.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/cartalk?v=feed&story_fbid=279479285695

 

[tom slick]

I also podcast them and have been a fan since they wrote newspaper columns.
They even had a cartoon on PBS a couple years ago! (not as good as their radio show)

"CarCast" with Adam Carrola is another great car podcast but they focus on car collecting and have guests like Jay Leno. Warning: It is "car guys" sitting around talking like guys in a garage so the language on the show would offend the tender ears of many BITOGgers.