A Tribute to Tom Magliozzi

by Collin Woodard

I always loved my dad’s 1989 Mazda 626. I can talk for hours about how cool the oscillating air vents were, the automatic seatbelts were basically out of a spaceship, and I’m convinced that my love of manual transmissions sprang from my dad letting me help him shift. It wasn’t just that the car was cool though. Part of what made it stick out so strongly in my mind is all the memories that I have driving around in it with my dad.

My dad had a favorite bluegrass musician from North Carolina named Mike Cross, and it’s hard not to hear “The Scotsman” in my head as I think about riding in that car. It probably wasn’t the most appropriate song for a little kid to know every word to, but I thought it was hilarious and would sing it at the top of my lungs. Years later, I saw Mike Cross in concert and after the show, he was kind enough to call my dad and talk to him for a few minutes.

We had another tradition too though. Any time we were in the car and Car Talk was on, we made sure to tune in to catch the latest antics of Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers. In the early-to-mid 90s, I had no idea what they were talking about when it came to car problems, but they were hilarious, and I was hooked. Prairie Home Companion took many more years to grow on me, but man, I loved listening to Click and Clack. They made me laugh, they’re part of why I love cars, and they’re entirely responsible for me telling my dad that I thought my first car should be a Dodge Dart. They’re also responsible for many fond memories of riding in the car with my dad.

As news spread about Tom Magliozzi passing away after a battle with Alzheimer’s Disease, many other people began posting about the memories they have of listening to Car Talk with their dads. A few had the opportunity to share Tom and Ray Magliozzi’s offbeat sense of humor with their kids. These guys were just two (MIT-educated) clowns cracking jokes and talking about cars, but everyone who tuned in loved them. Listening to Car Talk made your day better, and for over 30 years, they did just that.

You didn’t have to even care about cars to love Car Talk. Tom and Ray had a way of drawing you in with their amazing senses of humor, riffing off of each other, never taking anything too seriously, and making you laugh, even if you had no idea what they were talking about. They taught me that it really was possible to write and talk about cars in a way that non-car people could enjoy, and any time someone tells me something along the lines of, “I’m really not a car person, but I loved reading that column you wrote,” that’s due to Tom and Ray’s influence.

Alzheimer’s Disease is terrible and indiscriminating though, and ultimately, it took Tom away from us. If you’ve ever known anyone with Alzheimer’s, you know how horrible it is to watch your loved one become a shell of who they once were. My grandmother was in the later stages of the disease when she passed away, and my heart goes out to Tom’s friends and family who are still coping with his loss. No one deserves to go that way, and my thoughts and prayers are with all of you.

Tom was more than just a talk show host. He touched the lives of millions of people, and he will be sorely missed. So here’s to all the perfectly good hours we squandered listening to Car Talk. We’ll miss you, Tom.

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