"‘Car Talk’ co-host Tom Magliozzi dies at 77"

"Popular public radio personality Tom Magliozzi died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease, NPR announced on Monday. He was 77."

Boston’s NPR news station, WBUR, posted a statement from “Car Talk” executive producer Doug Berman:

“Tom’s been such a dominant, positive personality amongst us for so long that all of us in the public radio family — and I include our millions of listeners — will find this news very difficult to receive,” Berman wrote in part.

5 Hilarious Audio Clips From 'Car Talk's' Tom...

We Interrupt Ferguson Coverage For A Feel-Good Story

This kind of thing is why I love car people. 

In the spending orgy that Pebble Beach week has seemingly become, I witnessed something special last night that will probably get lost in all the talk of $38-million Ferrari GTOs.

There was a 1957 Buick Caballero Estate Wagon on offer at Gooding that carried a pre-auction estimate of $100,000-$125,000. For those of you not familiar with the '57 Caballero Estate, it's a pillarless hardtop station wagon—a rare car that stood atop the 1957 Buick lineup. Being a wagon fan, it was on my list to follow after checking it out at Thursday's preview.

As the car rolled up to the block, David Gooding introduced Jay Leno, whose Big Dog Garage restored the car at no cost to benefit The George W. Bush Military Service Initiative, which honors post 9-11 veterans and works to help them transition back to civilian life.

The Buick, signed by President Bush, sold for a staggering $300,000

Then something magical happened.

The new owner walked up to the stage—a highly unusual occurrence at an auction—and donated the car back to David Gooding. The auditorium erupted in a two-minute standing ovation.

With Leno still up there, the car was auctioned off a second time and sold to the original runner-up bidder for $280,000. Another standing ovation followed.

I blame Bush!