RAY: It's 1936. Europe is on the brink of yet another war. In a secret location in Germany, German officers are gathered around the table with the designers of its new personnel carrier. They're going over every little detail, leaving no stone unturned. They want everything to be flawless.

One of the officers stands up and he says, "I have a question about the fan belt. He asks, "How long do you expect this belt to last?" The engineer replies, "Thirty to forty thousand kilometers, Colonel."

The officer says, "Not good enough! We need it to last sixty thousand kilometers." The engineer says, "It's merely a matter of taking the belt off and turning it over, because this is a flat belt. Not a V belt."

The Colonel replies, "That's unacceptable. Our soldiers will be engaged in battle. We can't ask them to be changing fan belts in the middle of the battle"

TOM: Well, he's got a point!

RAY: So, all the engineers huddle together, and they come up with a clever way to extend the life of the belt to 60 thousand kilometers. They do not change the material of the belt. In two minutes, they have a solution to the problem which satisfies the Colonel.

[ Car Talk Puzzler ]