Really, he won't send you a bill

Among the items: An electronic ignition, mechanic's tool kit, hacksaw, crowbar, fire-resistant overalls and a yellow hard hat emblazoned with "San Diego Highwayman." He's also got a first-aid kit, a wheeled stretcher and a kit for delivering a baby (never used, he says, with obvious relief). On one side hangs a pair of rifles -- "a little bit of self-preservation," he says, though he hasn't had to fire them.

Much of the equipment is there "just in case," Weller said. Mostly, he helps people whose vehicles are out of gas, have a flat tire or an overheated engine. In Weller-speak, that's an OOG, FT and OH. For those, he carries gas, water, compressed air and jacks capable of lifting an ambulance or a low-rider.

His vehicle is reminiscent of the "Ectomobile," a 1959 Cadillac that carried around Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray and crew in the 1984 hit movie "Ghostbusters." Weller has embraced the comparison, even though his white chariot is a heavily modified 1955 Ford station wagon.

Weller estimates the rig has gone 600,000 miles -- the odometer broke 10 years ago -- and its lineage has blurred along the way. "Depending on which part you point to," he said, his ride also is a Mercury, Chrysler, Volkswagen, Dodge, Thunderbird and Buick, with components that date from 1955 to 1978.

The San Diego-area California Highway Patrol, which has 34 freeway service vehicles offering rush-hour assistance, doesn't condone Weller's highway hobby.

"It's obviously very dangerous," CHP spokesman Brad Baehr said. "But this is a guy who does this on his own, with his heart in the right place."

Weller says he's careful to stay out of the way of the professionals and to avoid making a hazardous situation more so.

It helps that he knows more than most about what's required. Weller works as a mechanic and trained as an emergency medical technician. He stopped short of earning EMT certification, he says, so he would be covered by California's "good Samaritan" law, which limits liability for non-professionals who provide emergency first aid.

Weller's desire to help others was ignited in 1964. Then a teenager in Illinois, the car Weller was driving slid off a freeway during a blizzard and plowed into a deep snowbank. It was after midnight, and his car was barely visible.

A man stopped, got him out and told Weller to pass the favor on. Two years later, after moving to San Diego and graduating from high school, Weller started his rescue rounds.