Car Talk host Tom (one half of "Click & Clack") passed away

[Dee*Jay]

I arranged many Saturday mornings around Car Talk (back in the day when you had to listen to it on the radio and couldn't get a poscast any time you wanted it) and Tom and Ray made me laugh a million times.

So sad... RIP in Tom.

And don't drive like my brother!

 

[chrono]

Re: Car Talk host Tom (one half of "Click & Clack") passed a

Saddened to hear this too. I still look forward to their replays on the weekends.

 

[VRBeauty]

Re: Car Talk host Tom (one half of "Click & Clack") passed a

Their shows were a weekend staple for me for the longest time, and I still hear the first half of the re-run most Sundays. They were just kind of a comfort - funny, never mean-spirited, and I learned the basics of car care from them to boot. I also loved their down-to-earth world view, like this quote, which pretty much applies to our time here on PS too: "If money can fix it, it's not a problem."

And this one, so apropos...

"I like to drive with the windows open. I mean, before you know it, you're going to spend plenty of time sealed up in a box anyway, right?”

RIP, Tommy!

 

[momhappy]

Re: Car Talk host Tom (one half of "Click & Clack") passed a

One of my favorite weekend shows too - RIP Tom

 

[movie zombie]

Re: Car Talk host Tom (one half of "Click & Clack") passed a

RIP.
the "reruns" are still a hoot to listen to!

 

[azstonie]

Re: Car Talk host Tom (one half of "Click & Clack") passed a

RIP Tommy! You will be missed by so many.

Don't drive like MY brother!

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Re: Car Talk host Tom (one half of "Click & Clack") passed a

So sad!

 

[rainwood]

Re: Car Talk host Tom (one half of "Click & Clack") passed a

The sound of their laughter always cheered us up. Tommy will be missed.

 

[MollyMalone]

Re: Car Talk host Tom (one half of "Click & Clack") passed a

I too was jolted, and am saddened, by this news. My connection to the Magliozzi brothers predates Car Talk, for my then boyfriend -- whose aging car required a fair amount of attention -- became a patron of Hacker's Haven, the DIY automotive garage they opened in Cambridge back in the 70's, which then morphed into the Good News Garage, still in business:
http://www.goodnewsgaragecambridge.com/about-us.html

Tom & Ray definitely made hanging out in a car repair workshop FUN. It was on one of those evenings that Tom and I discovered we shared a love for the MG TD, so I was happy to hear in ~2000 that he made the wildly impractical purchase of a 1953 model. I'd like to think he's tootling around Heaven with this same delighted expression!

 

[minousbijoux]

Re: Car Talk host Tom (one half of "Click & Clack") passed a

Being a Cantab myself, and having their garage being the one that my Mom took her car to, I've known of Click and Clack since, well, childhood. Funny, but I had no idea that what I've been hearing on the local PBS radio station every saturday recently was recorded; I thought they were still on the air. Hearing the news made me think of my Mom who passed also from Alzheimers (and Parkinson's) in 2002; kinda wonder if they are up there together cracking up over her '72 Beetle...

 

[Skippy123]

Re: Car Talk host Tom (one half of "Click & Clack") passed a

I would listen to them and they would make me laugh too! so so sad.

 

[lulu]

Re: Car Talk host Tom (one half of "Click & Clack") passed a

I don't even care about mechanics and I would listen to them every week.

 

[TC1987]

Re: Car Talk host Tom (one half of "Click & Clack") passed a

I too was jolted, and am saddened, by this news. My connection to the Magliozzi brothers predates Car Talk, for my then boyfriend -- whose aging car required a fair amount of attention -- became a patron of Hacker's Haven, the DIY automotive garage they opened in Cambridge back in the 70's, which then morphed into the Good News Garage, still in business:
http://www.goodnewsgaragecambridge.com/about-us.html

Tom & Ray definitely made hanging out in a car repair workshop FUN. It was on one of those evenings that Tom and I discovered we shared a love for the MG TD, so I was happy to hear in ~2000 that he made the wildly impractical purchase of a 1953 model. I'd like to think he's tootling around Heaven with this same delighted expression!

I caught Terry Gross's Fresh Air program where she replayed earlier interviews with the brothers. They talked about Hacker's Haven, and the "bums" that they got for clientele. Said that the "bums" were a lot of fun and Tom & Ray had non-stop fun, but they got a lot of people who didn't know how to fix their cars, and Tom & Ray would end up doing the work while the customers watched and talked. I laughed at their comments, something like "We couldn't make any money at it, because we were charging people just $3/hr and then we were doing all the work for them, for only $3 / hour, and at one point we had to actually hire extra people to do the work." "And then we didn't foresee that the people of our fair city would steal all of our tools." I was whooping with laughter by that time. I guess they gave up on Hacker's Haven, and started Good News Garage so they could get paid.

eta: I have one of their Sistine Wrench tee shirts.

 

[jas]

Re: Car Talk host Tom (one half of "Click & Clack") passed a

For the gift of laughter -- infectious laughter, belly-shaking, hooting and hollering, tear-wiping laughter --
thank you, Tom.