Tom Magliozzi

BOSTON — Tom Magliozzi, a Boston-area mechanic and MIT graduate who became an unlikely radio star as part of the brother duo that hosted “Car Talk,” one of public radio’s most popular show’s ever, died Monday of complications from Alzheimer’s disease. He was 77 years old.

On “Car Talk,” Tom and his younger brother, Ray, dispensed sound advice about repairing cars mixed generously with sharp one-liners, self-deprecating humor and off-topic digressions on philosophy and other mysteries of life.

“I like to drive with the windows open. I mean, before you know it, you’re going to spend plenty of time sealed up in a box anyway, right?” Tom once quipped on-air.

“Car Talk” reached more than 4 million people a week on more than 600 radio stations across the country at its peak. It continued to be a top-rated show even after the brothers stopped taping live shows in 2012 and the network began airing reruns and archived materials.

“He and his brother changed public broadcasting forever,” Doug Berman, Car Talk’s executive producer said in a statement. “Before Car Talk, NPR was formal, polite, cautious ... even stiff.”