BUMPER
TO BUMPER
My First Car: Dr. Andrew Weil
Andrew Weil, M.D., is one of the most widely
known and respected alternative medicine gurus
in the world. A graduate of Harvard Medical School,
he is founder and director of the Arizona Center
for Integrative Medicine at the University of
Arizona. Dr. Weil appeared on the cover of Time magazine in 1997 when the publication named him
one of the 25 most influential Americans, and
again in 2005 as one of the 100 most influential
people in the world. A resident of Tucson, he
is a frequent guest on the “Today” show, “The
Oprah Winfrey Show,” “Larry King Live” and numerous
others. He has written ten books including Why
Our Health Matters (coming in September 2009).
I recently spoke with Dr. Weil about his first
car.
“My first car was a Plymouth Valiant my father
taught me to drive. It had an automatic transmission
and I took the car to Boston when I was attending
medical school at Harvard.
“However, my most interesting vehicle was my
second one — a short wheel-based Land Rover I
bought in 1969. In the fall of 1971, I drove it
from Virginia to Oregon, then down the west coast
to Tucson. From Tucson I drove south through
Mexico and into South America. For the next two
and a half years, I drove it extensively through
Colombia, Ecuador, the Andes Mountains even to
the end of the Amazon River, studying medicinal
plants for a foundation based in New York.
“After, I shipped the vehicle back to Los Angeles
and had the engine and transmission completely
overhauled and rebuilt.
“In February 1973 I left Los Angeles in the Land
Rover to deliver a baby for friends of mine in
southern Mexico. I got as far as Tucson when
a wheel bearing that the mechanic forgot to pack
with grease burned out and the Land Rover shot
off the road into a ditch. It took six weeks
to get the part and I never did get to deliver
the baby. I also never left Tucson.
“After the Land Rover, I owned a Dodge Dart then
started buying Japanese cars. I currently own
a Volkswagen Touareg with a V-10 diesel engine
that I run on bio-diesel. 
“Some friends and I make the diesel fuel from
waste vegetable oil we collect from restaurants.
It costs us about $.70 a gallon and it’s much
less polluting than commercial diesel fuel.
“My dream car is a diesel-powered Toyota Land
Cruiser. But, Toyota doesn’t import a diesel
to the United States. So, for now, I’ll continue
to drive the Touareg.”
— Jim Prueter
Photo courtesy of Dr. Andrew Weil
