Tom Magliozzi, the popular laughing brother of the Car Talk duo on National Public Radio (NPR) every week, has died at age 77. The popular show was listened to by more than a generation of NPR listeners, many of whom tuned in specifically for the Click and Clack Tappet Brothers, as they were known. The show ended in September of last year when the two brothers retired.
“His laugh is the working definition of infectious laughter,” says Doug Berman, the longtime producer of Car Talk.
Tom was the older of the two brothers, being about 12 years his brother Ray’s senior. The Car Talk show ran for almost three decades, starting in 1987 as a nationally-syndicated NPR show. His colorful career included a consulting business, cameos with his brother in the film Cars as the owners of Rusteze (the company sponsoring Lightning McQueen), in an animated series for PBS based on Car Talk, and more. This in addition to the garage the brothers co-owned and the weekly radio show and its various publicity and charity dates nationally.
Tom Magliozzi died of complications from Alzheimer’s. Although he will be missed greatly by an adoring public, including those of us here at CarNewsCafe, his laughter will forever live on as the show re-airs regularly on NPR and collections of show recordings continue to find fans young and old to cherish.
