Joe Ottati is the owner of Ottati Car Detailing, a founder of VALT Auto Club, and a part-time Auction Specialist for Cars & Bids. He is also a co-host of the VALT podcast, which can be found on YouTube.
Soft-spoken but always ready for a chat, many Bay Area car enthusiasts have likely had a conversation with Joe Ottati from the other side of a folding table, beneath a big VALT Auto Club tent. As one of the club’s founders, Ottati’s dedication to growing the car scene in the Bay Area and keeping it as inclusive and positive as possible can easily be seen in the way he interacts with everyone that comes through the tent: with kindness and small hints of the vast wealth of car knowledge within. But cars aren’t Ottati’s only hobby; he extends that interest in all things mechanical to his wrist, too.
Like most of us watch nerds, Ottati’s first timepiece came in the form of a Casio. As an 8th grade graduation gift, he received a green G-SHOCK, a watch that he still owns. “It still keeps accurate time on the same battery, fourteen years later,” he says. We are currency outside his shop in Concord, where he details cars as his main job. Inside, a smörgåsbord of European beauties lie in wait, but he steers the conversation back to watches, first. “After graduating high school, I was gifted an Autodromo Stradale, which was my first mechanical watch,” he explains, “I wore it literally every day for years.” The exhibition caseback displaying the Miyota movement within is what got Joe hooked, though. “I thought this was absolutely amazing and it was a major reason I started to get intrigued [by watches]”.
For a car enthusiast, Autodromo is an ideal first mechanical watch, a fact not lost on Ottati. “My dad was mildly into watches at the time, and I think he crossed paths with the company since it had ties to cars,” he says. The senior Ottati, it turns out, has a lot to do with Joe’s hobbies and career. “I grew up in the back seats of pure enthusiast cars,” Joe says. He gestures again to the cars inside, including his own BMW E30 coupe and E28 M5. “My dad’s Dinan-modified E39 M5 was the car that started my love of cars…one day in grade school, my dad picked me up in [it] and proceeded to launch it out of the school parking lot. This was my first sentient experience with oversteer and the first time that a car put a smile on my face.”
That love of understated elegance and power translates easily to BMWs and Mercedes wagons, Ottatis vehicles of choice. “I’m generally unimpressed with supercars and I think it’s because my poster cars were never the Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggeras or Bugatti Veyrons,” Ottati says. “I remember going to Monterey Car Week, seeing a Ferrari 360 when they were new, and not being interested at all because I knew that [conversely], the BMW E34 M5 was hand-built. For me, the car is less important than the actual story behind it. The E39 was probably what started that.”
Much like the Bimmers, Ottati’s curiosity and desire for both practicality and design led him to the watch-mania rabbit hole. “Sometime during my first couple years of college, I decided I wanted a watch with a stainless steel bracelet and some water resistance, so I went to the nearest big box store and found myself a Seiko PADI diver with a Pepsi-colored bezel.” This Seiko would, of course, be the catalyst for the rest of his collection. “I bought the watch simply because it was water proof and it looked cool…I had no idea that it had lume and an automatic movement.” It’s a story that most watch enthusiasts can relate to: complications and mechanical wonderment that sends us tumbling into timepiece nirvana.
Unlike some enthusiasts, who may purchase only with their eyes and pockets, Ottati goes for stories and substance, and does intense research on every car and watch he buys. His reasoning is faintly philosophical, but practical all the same: “I think the true reason why people like watches and cars is because of the passion and craftsmanship that is felt in them and their stories. I never collect or purchase a car or watch because of the brand name or the way they’re seen in the media. I strictly search for things with stories of passion and excitement.”
His most recent car purchase, the E30, is a perfect example of that ethos: “[it] was purchased new by the previous owner while he was stationed in Germany. He put 248,000 miles on the car, and it was his one and only car from 1985 to 2025. This version of the E30 is the least desirable by a large margin due to its low power, drum brakes and more. However, the story of the car and the passion of the owner was so captivating, I had to have it.”
His wife seems to share that knack for finding things with meaningful stories behind them, and Ottati smiles widely as he shows me a Grand Seiko SBGA413 that she gifted him for their wedding. “She chose the Cherry Blossom dial because we were married in February during the two-week period where the Cherry Blossoms at our college are in full bloom. Her grandmother is also part Japanese and named Cherry.” It’s a sweet story on its own, but as someone who lives for good stories, Ottati has forged even more meaning out of the watch. “I also love the story of how the dials are crafted in Japan by a select few watch makers,” he says, “as someone who details the finest cars in the world, owning something that is created by people who are extremely passionate about their craft gives me a certain pride.”
Back to cars, though, as Joe and I move both of his Bimmers out of the garage and into the parking lot for glamour shots. The E30 has just been detailed and polished by Ottati, and it gleams bright red next to the sleek, no-nonsense black of the E28 M5. Both represent Otatti’s love for the brand, but also his penchant for practicality, a note furthered by the imminent arrival of his first child this winter. In keeping with his character and love of cars and watches with stories, Joe has set out to create his own with a new watch, a 36mm Tudor Ranger in cream. “The Tudor is special because I purchased it to eventually hand down to my first born son, who is expected in mid January,” Joe explains. Leaning on the M5, the Tudor’s dial gleams in contrast with the black paint on the car. “The M5 is special because it was a dream of mine to own one. With the monumental life experience of becoming a father, I hope to create a story with my son, this car and watch.”
It’s a sentiment that’s hard not to appreciate, especially with Joe’s own father’s influence on his life and aspirations. As we chat, his dad pulls up in his own Bimmer to greet us, and help work on some of the cars looming in the shop behind. In terms of watches, the junior Ottati has brought his dad back into the wrist game, of course. “He now has a vintage Rolex that is super cool, an Omega Speedmaster Reduced, a vintage Glycine Airman, and some others, all of which were purchased after I became addicted.”
In the winter chill, it’s easy to be drawn into the warmth of the Ottati shop, and not just because of the central heating system. Joe and his dad both share a passion for cars and watches that leaks into everything they do and say, and through VALT, many a budding Bay Area enthusiast has found a space to learn about and celebrate the joy of cars.
Elodie Townsend
2026-01-09 20:00:00