Who Fired That Shot?

One of the most popular radio shows over the past two decades has been “Car Talk,” the highly unusual automotive help-line program conducted on National Public Radio by two unlikely broadcast personalities, the brothers Tom and Ray Magliozzi, also known as Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers.

An outgrowth of the radio show has been a syndicated newspaper column which, like the radio show, ostensibly offers automotive advice. But, some questions simply give rise to more questions:

“Ellen” wrote, I have a ‘93 Honda Civic Del Sol with 127,000 miles. Last week a 40-caliber bullet came through the door and hit me in the chest. I suffered no injuries. Is it worth fixing the bullet hole?

The Tappet Brothers’ answer was, Fix it? Are you nuts, Ellen? A bullet hits you in the chest and bounces off? You walk away unharmed? That car gave its own sheet metal to save your life. How could you even think of fixing it?

But we can’t help but wonder, where did that bullet come from? Ellen provided no details on whether she was driving in the countryside or in an urban environment. Both Ellen and the Tappet Brothers appear to consider this bullet in the same manner that you might consider an errant pebble or an unfortunate windshield bug. Y’know, just an everyday thing...