Accelerates great, but runs rough

December 29, 2019 3:06 PM

John from Houston calls into Car Talk with an unusual problem with his vehicle.
posted by borkencode (9 comments total)

Well that was fun. Haven't heard that before. Was just thinking the other day that NPR needs more weekend comedy shows, one isn't enough (Wait, Wait is really good though).
posted by Bee'sWing at 3:15 PM on December 29, 2019

John (Grunsfeld) mentions flying to the Mir space station on a Rockwell vehicle - he's talking about the Space Shuttle. Jokes about defects in his vehicle are less funny now than they were then.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 3:22 PM on December 29, 2019 [1 favorite]

Groovy. I miss Car Talk.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 4:04 PM on December 29, 2019 [3 favorites]

Interesting, when I first heard this I thought he was being weirdly glib about the shuttle safety record (it's done a really strange thing twice now) but the call was from 1997, in between Challenger and Columbia, and now I realize he was referring to his two (at the time) total shuttle launches. That makes a lot more sense...

(And agreed, every time I hear a clip I'm reminded how much I miss Car Talk)
posted by range at 4:06 PM on December 29, 2019 [6 favorites]

JPL's John Callas called in a few years later to talk about Opportunity, too.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 4:12 PM on December 29, 2019 [2 favorites]

listening to this made me nostalgic for a brother i do not have
posted by lazaruslong at 5:34 PM on December 29, 2019 [10 favorites]

They used to work on his Sunbeam when he was at MIT! Their laughter is so contagious. I miss this show.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 4:03 AM on December 30, 2019 [1 favorite]

I miss their laughter.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 7:35 AM on December 30, 2019 [1 favorite]

Oops, turns out it wasn't John Callas, it was John Wright
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 11:42 AM on December 30, 2019