A lot of cars back then could foul out spark plugs (remember 60’s and 70’s cars were only 10-20 years old then) one or 2 depending on the rings, different times back then and only 2 spark plug sockets sizes (mainly) and they came in most small tool kits that you could carry in the (very large back then) trunk or where ever… A lot of country folk kept a few tools in there truck, remember that trucks didn’t cost more than a BMW back then and were used as awork trucks back then…
Also, remember that a spark plug socket was either a 5/8 or 13/16 for most cars and spark plugs were mostly on the side of engines so a standard socket would work, just had to be careful not to drop it… Plus a lot of mechanics carried some tools with them for working on home projects or side projects, I still know a lot of guys that do that (it’s a mechanic thing), something a lot of white collar workers would not know much about or deal with, cause they don’t have all or most of there tools at a shop that is locked up after they leave…
Just explaining the reason why someone might have had tools in their vehicle back then… And someone with a few tools would be more likely to try to help somebody start their car then someone with limited knowledge and NO tools…
There are too many possibilities with that old puzzler. I remember those old socket sets that often got carried in the trunk of cars (if at all…) and if they had a “Deep Well” Spark Plug socket in the set, it was probably a 13/16"…
And the standard spark plug for a GM 400 CI V8 was the AC/Delco Resistor Spark Plugs 19354415 and this plug is a 5/8" plug…
Here is a better puzzler…
Three friends go to a car show. The individual entrance fee is $10 and they each pay $10.00… After a few minutes, the Ticket Master realizes that they qualify for the “Friends and Family” discount of $25.00. the Ticket Master tells his assistant to go find them and hands the assistant five $1.00 bills. While looking for the guys, the assistant gets greedy and keeps $2.00 for himself. When he finds the guys, he hands each of them $1.00 back…
Now, each of the friends paid $10.00 and got $1.00 back, so they each paid $9.00 totaling $27.00. The assistant has $2.00, that makes $29.00 in total…
But they originally paid $30.00, where is the missing dollar?
Yeah, that is a good puzzler. The red herring is in the clever, disparate presentation. Yes, the friends paid $27 but that is the misleading part. They needed to pay $28 if the TM kept $2.
Yup, it’s a good puzzler. But they did pay $10 each and each got $1 back, that’s a total of $27… The assistant still has $2 in his pocket… that’s $29… Where’s the missing dollar, or is the missing dollar all “smoke and mirrors?”
As I wrote in the hint, it’s all smoke and mirrors. Using the old adage: “Follow the Money…” In my version I tried to make it car related with a “car show” verses a hotel.
The Ticket master still has $25, the assistant has $2, and each of the attendees have $1 each…
Spot on. It’s not easy to get your brain to understand what’s going on given the red herring presentation. If the friends paid $27 (they did) and the TM kept $2 (he did), the car show got $25 (they did). Nothing confusing there. I’m easily confused so these types of puzzlers work a part of the brain that most of us never have to use. Good stuff.