RAY: This new puzzler is from my putrid collection.

TOM: Just like the coin puzzlers, and the string series puzzlers?

RAY: Yeah. There's a whole wing at Puzzler Tower, devoted to the putrid collection.

Car parts have changed composition over the years. For example, the wheels of cars used to be made with wooden spokes, and then they evolved into steel. Now, most wheels are made out of some kind of magnesium-aluminum alloy. Dashboards used to be made out of wood, and now they're made out of steel.

So, here's a "What am I?" I'm going to tell you what I used to be made out of -- and you're going to tell me what I am. Here it is:

"In the early days of cars, I didn't even exist. When they saw a need for me, I was first made out of wood. Later on, when they discovered that that didn't work too well, I was made out of leather. Some time later, I was made out of cotton. Today, I am made out of a mixture of things, some of which are steel wool, iron, and bronze"

What am I?

TOM: Who am I? I love it! Go ahead.

RAY: For the purposes of obfuscation,I took a little poetic license and left out a few years of advances in automotive technology. You know, between the cotton and the next step. Well, I left out about 75 years.

TOM: Well, that could be all right.

RAY: But I if you listened carefully, I said "I am made out of a mixture of things, some of which are, and I didn't mention all of them, obviously, steel wool, iron, and bronze." Of course, I did leave out the bonding agent, the thing that holds those three components together, which is some kind of resin. And what all these things were, believe it or not, were brakes. The first cars did not have brakes. When they saw a need to stop the car, they actually used blocks of wood.

TOM: Was that like the first day?

RAY: The first afternoon.

TOM: The first afternoon. And was it right after the word oops?

RAY: Yeah.

TOM: Man, that's a mystery to me. No, I would never have gotten this in a million years.

RAY: Who's our winner?

TOM: The winner is Dave Knight.

RAY: Atta boy, Dave!

[ Car Talk Puzzler ]