Interesting Podcast: Doug Berman, Peter Sagal & Car Talk

#1

Just an fyi. This program was on the radio this weekend, just happened upon it by accident. Car Talk fans may find it an interesting listen. The main focus is NPR’s, Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me; however, there’s some interesting discussion about Car Talk too. Doug relates some insider tales; one in particular is a hilarious story about the unintended consequences resulting from a caller asking about purchasing a Chrysler Mini-Van, and which engine option is the better choice.

To download the mp3 audio file, right click on “Play”, then “Save Target As”

“https://player.fm/series/commonwealth-club-of-california-podcast/wait-wait-its-peter-sagal-and-doug-berman”

#2

I am sure it is probably great, but my attention span is not. Cliff Notes?

#3

Spoiler Alert … Don’t read beyond this point if you want to listen to the full podcast.

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Spoiler Alert
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Here’s the funny story Doug told in response to the moderator asking if Tom and Ray ever had to address any legal problems as a result of what they said during the show. Not many, but one in particular caused a team of Chrysler lawyers to phone up the next day threatening legal action.

Caller asks which engine is the best option. Ray: “Well, that vehicle has eithr a 4 cylinder engine made in the USA, or a 6 cylinder made in Japan, by Mitsubishi. The 6 cylinder is the better choice, more power etc.”

At this point Doug says "Everything would have been fine to that point, until Tom chimes in with …

Tom: That 4 cylinder engine, that’s why Chrysler gave this thing 7 seats, so 4 people could get out and push on steep hills"

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#4

If the four cylinder was the 2.2 carbureted K car engine, Tom was totally correct! I had a Rampage with manual transmission, the 2.2 could only be described as adequate. Drove a 90 K car provided by the company I worked for, so underpowered it was scary.

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