Charles River Web of Somerville, Massachusetts, and Metropolis Creative have been contracted to provide an overhaul of cartalk.com, the companion website to one of America’s most popular radio shows, Car Talk from National Public Radio. Hosted by brothers Tom and Ray Magliozzi, Car Talk is an hilarious, fast-paced and informative radio program focusing on the joys and woes of all things automotive.  It has been a staple of National Public Radio for over two decades and is today enjoyed weekly by over four million listeners around the world.  The cartalk.com website is similarly popular and supports an active community where forum participants discuss cars and car ownership. Nearly 7 million visitors come to the web site, annually.

Charles River Web has been charged with the task of remaking the site using a contemporary and facile content management system that will engage the community in new ways while helping to improve navigation and administration.  Both parties have agreed to use the Drupal open source CMS which is today one of the premier tools of its kind.

According to Doug Berman, producer of Car Talk, “Car Talk chose Charles River Web because of their expertise in Drupal, thoroughness of preparation, and creative approach.  We look forward to working with Charles River Web to help us modernize our site which today has ten year’s worth of content in numerous formats.”

Car Talk co-host Ray Magliozzi commented, “We can handle a clutch rebuild. We can fumble our way through a transmission rebuild. We can even figure out an engine rebuild given enough time… but a web site rebuild? We can’t even fake that!”

Tom, “Fortunately, we found Charles River Web literally around the corner from Car Talk Plaza. They work hard, they’re smart, talented, have great judgment and they’re totally cutting edge.”

“In short,” added Ray, “They’re everything we’re not.”

Charles River Web CEO, Seth Itzkan, stated, “My father turned me on to Car Talk nearly twenty years ago and I’ve been listening to it ever since.  It is an honor to be associated with this American tradition.  Their nuts-and-bolts wisdom and uproarious humor make Tom and Ray a brotherly Mark Twain of the modern era.  Charles River Web looks forward to helping to modernize Car Talk’s web presence so that their following on the Internet can be even more fully engaged and empowered.  We believe the Drupal open source content management system fits their needs perfectly and we are eager to begin the migration”.

Partnering with Charles River Web for user interface design is Metropolis Creative of the South End.  According to Michael Flint, President of Metropolis Creative, “The Car Talk website is the perfect type of project for us. They have a strong brand, and are a lot of fun. We’re already working on some creative solutions to bringing their content and their community closer together.”

Charles River Web, incorporated in Massachusetts in 2007, are specialists in open source content management solutions including Drupal CMS integration.