RAY: Hi, we're back. You're listening to Car Talk with us, Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers, and we're here to talk about cars, car repair, and the ... the answer to our most recent Puzzler.

TOM: Yeah, which was old. It's old.

RAY: Well, this was an automotive Puzzler, kind of. You remember our pal Vinnie Goombatz?

TOM: Yes.

RAY: Well, he had two cousins, Rocco and Throckmorton.

TOM: From different genealogical pieces.

RAY: Oh, yeah. And they found themselves in the middle of a little mob fracas once, and the next thing you know, they're both locked in the airtight trunk of a late-model Lincoln Town Car.

TOM: Yeah.

RAY: So after the gunplay subsides, Rocco and Throcko realize that if they don't get out, they're going to die. So Rocco begins beating on the trunk and screaming, "Let us out, let us out!". Of course, nothing happens because there's nobody around, but he expends considerable energy and most of the air supply. Finally, after several hours ...

TOM: This is an airtight trunk, which is not usual in many cars, but the Lincoln Town Car was particularly, purposely made ...

RAY: Well, I mean ...

TOM: For that purpose, as most of us know.

RAY: It turns out it's an option--do you want the airtight trunk?

TOM: Yeah, right.

RAY: We shouldn't ... we shouldn't ...

TOM: No, no ...

RAY: It's not just the Lincoln.

TOM: We're in enough trouble now.

RAY: You can also get this with several models of Cadillac.

TOM: That's right. Don't go any further. You're in enough trouble now.

RAY: Anyway, after several ...

TOM: Which Cadillac has the option?

RAY: After several hours, Rocco ceases his banging and screaming and, in fact, he expires.

TOM: Oh, man.

RAY: During this time, Throckmorton has done nothing--hasn't made a sound. He's been, like, in a trance, just been lying there, saving his breath, breathing very slowly, while Rocco sucked up all the air. Hours later Throckmorton is still alive. He hears a car approaching, figures this is his chance. For good or bad, he's going to bang on the trunk. Sure enough, it's the police. They open the trunk and let him out. The question is: How could Throckmorton have possibly survived for hours after Rocco had sucked up all the air and expired? Pretty good little, nifty little story, hunh? Pretty crummy little answer coming up.

TOM: Oh, really? I wondered ... I don't know what the answer is ...

RAY: You don't?

TOM: And I know ...

RAY: That you're not going to like it.

TOM: That I'm not going to like it. I knew three weeks ago, when you brought up this Puzzler, that I wasn't going to like the answer.

RAY: Can I expect a [MAKES "RASPBERRY" SOUND]?

TOM: I would.

RAY: Go ahead. You might as well just do it now.

TOM: No, no. Go ahead. No, I want to hear it.

RAY: Well, what would you do, Throcko, if you were in there? How would you have survived?

TOM: How would I have survived? I would have stuck a plastic bag over my head, so at least I would have a little air after Rocco sucks up all the rest of it.

RAY: No, you should have put the plastic bag over his head.

TOM: No, but the plastic bag would have been a good idea. That would have been good.

RAY: No, but if you're going to hold your breath, you want to at least save some of the air ...

TOM: Yeah, yeah.

RAY: That Rocco is going to be sucking up.

TOM: Yeah, yeah, but you didn't have a plastic bag.

RAY: Did I say you had a plastic bag?

TOM: No, you didn't.

RAY: So why ... why would you deduce that you had a plastic bag?

TOM: I don't know.

RAY: What else is in the trunk, besides Rocco?

TOM: Oh, the spare tire.

RAY: Exactly. Throckmorton, being the lowlife that he is, that we knew he was, had to wait till Rocco expired ...

TOM: Ohhhhh.

RAY: To maximize the time he would have on the spare-tire air. So he waited and did nothing, while Rocco beat his brains in, the poor thing. I can just see him now, eating a meatball grinder, the sauce dripping on his tie.

RAY: The winner is Sean Devaney.

TOM: That's a nice name, isn't it?

RAY: Yeah, Sean Devaney from St. Louis, Missouri. And for having his answer selected at random from among all the correct answers that we got, Sean will get a $25 gift certificate to the Shameless Commerce Division at the Car Talk section of cars.com.

TOM: Whew [WHISTLES].

RAY: And with that $25 gift certificate, he can get five-ninths of an official Car Talk all-season shell, which is, what? What is a shell? It's a blue and red nylon jacket with a hood and a Car Talk logo on it, which you can rip off if you don't want it. It's, according to those who know, one of the least fashion-challenged pieces of clothing we have ever offered. In other words, people actually like this one.

TOM: No. They didn't dislike it as much.

[ Car Talk Puzzler ]