Tom Magliozzi of NPR's 'Car Talk' dies at age 77

Tom Magliozzi of NPR's 'Car Talk" had died from complications related to Alzheimer's. He was 77.

He and his brother Ray - known as "Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers" on air - aired the show for more than 35 years, 25 of them nationwide. They retired in 2012 but repackaged repeats of their old episodes have been airing ever since, including on 90.1/WABE-FM and 88.5/WRAS-FM Saturday mornings at 10 a.m.

"Car Talk" was incidentally about cars. It was more the chemistry between the two of them and their ability to mine laughs out of anything.

"His laugh is the working definition of infectious laughter," Doug Berman, the longtime producer of  "Car Talk," told NPR. 

Although both brothers graduated from MIT, they wound up sounding like two car mechanics just shooting the breeze on the radio.

"His has been a voice in our ears for 30 years," said Celeste Headlee, host of "On Second Thought," a new local show on 88.5/WRAS-FM that began airing last month at 9 a.m. weekdays. "Anybody who listens to public media can conjure up the laughter in their heads. They were big innovators and changed the way public media does its job. You couldn't listen to 'Car Talk' and think of the quiet, smooth voiced announcers public radio is known for."

And Headlee said people enjoyed them because of their constant array of corny jokesh tat they somehow made palatable with their jovial laughter.