Bimmer Doc and the Next Generation
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NOTE: This article was published in the 2023 Fall/Winter issue of BimmerLife.
by Matt Baratz
Carl Nelson; his wife, Amy Weinheimer; and their children, Owen and Sara, are no strangers to Laguna Seca.
Carl Nelson is among the most celebrated members of the BMW Car Club of America. Known as the Bimmer Doc, he owns La Jolla Independent in San Diego. He’s been a long-serving national technical advisor for the BMW CCA, and was named a Friend of the Marque by the International Council of BMW Clubs in 2013.
Nelson’s expertise in all things BMW is well known, and he is consulted far and wide. His infectious passion for BMWs has spread to his whole family; Carl’s wife, Amy Weinheimer, owns a number of the family’s 47 BMWs. His daughter, Sara, and son, Owen, have become distinguished BMW CCA members themselves. Nelson explains with a sly smile, “It all started with a set of snow tires.”
Nelson’s affinity with cars began in high-school auto shop in Edmonds, Washington, over 60 years ago. His first after-school job was as a parts puller at a junkyard, but that soon led to a job as the lot boy at a Buick-Opel dealer in Seattle. It wasn’t long before the dealer realized that the young man was mechanically gifted–a realization that others express repeatedly in the years to come. “They found that I could do more than just clean cars, so I started fixing all the cars for the used-car lot,” he says.
Owen has become an expert on BMW Isettas…
Volvos were Nelson’s first automotive passion, but his work for Buick-Opel, soon led him to move to the much sportier Opel GT. Nelson owned many Opels, and even rallied some of them. “Still have my Opel GT–and mostly, I love it,” he notes wistfully.
Despite his affection for the Opel GT, it was not well suited for skiing, one of Nelson’s other great passions at the time. “I was heavily into skiing, and it’s really hard to get your ski boots on in an old GT,” he notes, adding, “I had a pretty decent collection of studded snow tires, and I discovered that BMWs had the same bolt pattern as the Opel. It was natural for me to buy a small BMW sedan so I that could use my studded snow tires.”
…and he knows a thing or two about 2002s, too.
In summer 1970, Nelson acquired his first BMW, an 1800 Ti/SA. “I got my 1800–that’s where all the problems started,” he says with a wry smile. This was before BMW of North America was established, and there were few independent distributors and dealers. “I would pull in and they would ask, ‘What’s that? It’s older than anything we have, and we don’t know anything about it.’ A friend and I fell in with a guy who was autocrossing 1800s, just like old Ray Korman, and he would show us the ropes. I am still in touch with those guys, and they all have been heavily involved in BMW racing.” As for the 1800, he adds, “I still have most of it; the body finally rotted away over the years, and we’re restoring it right now.”
Along with the 1800, Nelson and his team at La Jolla Independent maintain and restore 2002s, 2800 CS’s and other BMW classics. Sara sums up her father’s contribution to the community, saying “My dad has offered a wealth of knowledge to the BMW community. Nothing has been impossible or off limits to him. He has collected parts for the past 50 years–he has it or knows where to find it. He has supported the CCA for decades, and has made friends across the country. It has helped build our BMW family.”
Sara in her 3 Series: She was profiled in the Fall/Winter edition of BimmerLife in “E30s for the Under 30.”
The next generation is active in the BMW community; Dad got Sara and Owen involved with BMWs from an early age. “They didn’t want to come down to the shop at first,” he says, “but when they were about twelve, I would buy them a car that had a blown head or a bad transmission. If we got it up and running they had the option to fix it and make it something functional for the family or sell it for the college fund.”
Today Sara and Owen are young adults. Sara is finishing college in Washington State, and Owen works in IT in Chicago. Both have become avid CCA members and dedicated racing enthusiasts. “I feel like I was born in the CCA,” Sara laughs, then adds, “I was only a month old when I attended Monterey Car Week in 1999!” She has a racing license and is eligible endurance racing when she’s not turning wrenches on race cars, or restoring BMW classics. Sara is particularly proud of her 2000 CS restoration, which was displayed at the San Diego Automotive Museum.
A young Sara peers from the Batmobile.
As often as time permits, Owen works on challenging BMW projects with renowned technician Ben Thongsai. Carl, though understated, modest, and careful with praise, notes, ”Sara is a talented technician who can do all sorts of jobs that challenge even my regular techs. Owen is beyond any of them–by far.”
The Nelsons’ BMW journey started with the discovery of both the practicality and technical benefits of the marque more than 60 years ago. Two generations of Nelsons–and the global BMW community–agree that it’s was very fortunate that Carl Nelson’s studded snow tires fit not only his Opel, but also a BMW.
