When did you learn to drive ?
 

Did dad teach you ? I was 15. My friend John was trying to pick Michelle Feldbaur's locks , so he tossed me the keys and told me to drive . Did good for my first time with a stick and a few beers in me .
Yesterday, I let my 11 year old take the Cayenne around the yard, and up and down the driveway. He was apprehensive about doing it at first, but 100 yards down the driveway, he said " this is awesome " He did good. I was a proud dad .
We have 3 basically flat, and open acres of grass, so it is fairly easy to stay out of trouble .
I let him drive a beat up old plow truck around the yard a little bit last season, but I kept my foot inches away from the brake pedal the whole time . Last night, I buckled up , gave him some brief instructions, and off we went.
I knew a bunch of farm kids, who could drive a semi at 14 years old .
How about you?

My early driving experience was with a 15 hp, 3 speed manual transmission lawn/garden tractor. I think I was doing this from age 11.

Before my sister was turned loose with my parents manual transmission econobox, my dad took her out to a parking lot. He then let me drive it as well, and I know I was driving better than my older sister! I think I was 14.

When it can time for my driving test, my choice was a Datsun 310, front drive manual, or a 1977 Ford LTD station wagon (The devastation wagon!). I chose the manual.

Been behind the wheel of lawn tractors since about 9, a car at around 12....

I plan to learn how to drive someday :)

I was put on the farm tractor when I was small enough that I had to brace myself with the steering wheel in order to put enough force on the clutch to depress it.
When was 12, my sister was leaning to drive the truck. She gave me lessons in reversing and shifting.
By the time I took driver's ed. in high school the biggest problem I had was dealing with the super sensitive power steering on the big Mercury driver ed car.
Best
Les

I was promoted to mowing the 1 acre lawn for my Dad on his 1650 Cub Cadet (big garden tractor for the late 70s) and he trusted me so much more than my 2 year older brother. Mowing on the same tractor, he hit the house and car, on separate occasions. My freind bad a Datsun 210 with a manual, so he and I took it around the block a few times, and it just felt natural. My first car was a flood damaged 75 Pinto Wagon in 1981 (woody) with an automatic, and a top absolute shaking speed of 69 MPH.

I got my driver's license at 17. Took me three tries as I'd been out of driver's ed for 6 months and other than that, my parents took me out to practice once.

I didn't really learn to drive until I had my own car shortly after that.

13 in the 356 ....

"Dammit, keep your foot on the gas in the corner!"

I was 15 when I drove a Triumph TR-3 for the first time.

I learned in 1961 in school driving a Corvair with an automatic transmission. It was donated by the local Chevy dealer which had been letting the school have one since 1935 or so.

So young I can't remember.

Seriously.

Was one of those kids that drove while sitting in someones lap.

Once I was too big for that mom used to let us steer and shift from the passenger seat while she worked the gas / brakes / clutch.

The shifting from the passenger side was great as it taught you to pay attention to RPM's and anticipate shift points.

Bought my first car at 14, before I even had a permit.

First time I drove car was when I was 12 or 13 in my dad's 320i in an office park. When I got my learner's permit at 15 and started driving on the road - mom's Volvo 740 wagon, dad's 320iS - I was comfortable with the clutch and shifter thanks to having learned years earlier, but was initially still a bit intimidated by getting going on hills without rolling back too far.

In the less literal sense, the first time I "drove" was standing on my cousins' grandfather's lap in my aunt Polly's '52 Dodge in Colombia when I was, I dunno, 6 or 7.

I am from the era before kids car seats. I stood up in the passenger seat or sat on my parents lap and helped drive. Or in my mind I did. To the day my mom quit driving if she had a passenger in the car and she hit the brakes hard, her right arm flew out to hold them in place. Even if they were adults and buckled in.

I learned to really drive at age 14. My brother and I built a dune buggy from a old VW bug. It had rolled over and it was totaled. We unbolted the body and sold it for scrap. We cut the wheelbase down to 5 ft 11 inches axle to axle and built a custom heavy walled pipe body. We covered that in screwed on sheet metal and a rattle can black paint. It was ugly but fun in the mud.

I learned to drive it and after I turned 16 I took my driver's test in my 1960 VW Bug. Back in those days a real cop was giving the driver's test. Within a few minutes he asked how long I had been driving. I told him "two years sir , but all off road!"

I passed with flying colors.

When I moved to Oklahoma I had my 1974 914 2.0 already paid for. I had to get an Oklahoma Driver's license so I went to the state testing office. Took the written test and passed that with a perfect score.

A cop followed me out to the parking lot. Saw my 914 in the parking lot with the roof off. It was a 100 degree day. He looked at me, looked at my car and looked back at me. He asked how long I had been driving and I said since I was 16 sir. He muttered "this is stupid" turned around and signed my form and I got my Oklahoma license.

That Datsun 310 had an absolute top shaking speed of about 65.

The Datsun B210, the above described "econobox" ended up being passed around and I ended up with it. I think it topped out around 80, maybe 85. It cruised nicely around 70 mph at 39 mpg! Not bad for a car built in 1977!

The Datsun B210 had a 1.6 liter, 70 hp, carbureted engine. If the tires had been replaced with 60 psi tires, and the engine replaced with a 1 liter OHC FI engine, I bet the thing would get better than 50 mpg. It was very aerodynamic.

Mine was dark blue.

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c1...oxFreak/14.jpg

Go cart 4-5 on a track. Motorcycle 7or 8 on road, car Willis Jeep in a field 8, boat( Glastron 19ft) 13...actual driving a car on road unattended 15, Mg Midget bought it for 600$ when I was 14 1/2 :)

Had an Oregon learners permit shortly after my 15th birthday. Mostly drove Dad's Buicks with automatics. But I spent my 15th summer on a family friend's cattle ranch outside of Adin, California. There I leaned how to drive all sorts of machinery, from a John Deere to a chevy truck to a WWII surplus jeep. I got pretty good at double clutching that jeep by summer's end. Bucking alfalfa bales did toughen me up some as well.

Yep, that looks just like the one my freind had....we called the color sh_t brindle brown with the same hubcaps, and it's nick name was the "TURD"...LOL !

Sitting in someone's lap at 6 or so...I remember being thrilled.
On the back of a Harley at 8 ...one of those huge Harley leather saddles. Even more thrilled - I was viscerally hooked on m/c's.
Farm equip't at 12 or so.
Drove a '52 Chevy p/u back/forth to town (15 miles) for parts during harvest season at 14 (unlicensed).
Drove grain truck from fields to granary during harvest season at 14 (unlicensed).
Learner's permit at 16...licensed at 17 in North Dakota.
Farm kids learned quickly back then.
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My first vehicle at 15 - used '60 BSA Super Rocket. Kept in neighbor's garage. My mother never did find out about it.
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1989 in a Toyopet. I was 14. It was the same instructor who taught my mom in 1974.

I was all of 14 and my mother took me out to learn to drive. In Louisiana at the time you could get a license at 15. I drove tractors and go carts at a very early age, 9.
The car I learned to drive in was a 1964 Chevy, three speed.

My first car was a 1960 VW bug with a 36 HP (when new) engine. It had at least 115,000 miles when I got it. On flat ground with no headwind I could almost hit 70 and the speed limit was 70 at the time. With any headwind or even a slight hill, it slowed down. Much more than a gentle incline required downshift to 3rd.

I bought a set of 4 tires mounted and balanced for under 30 bucks. They were recaps but with 36 HP they were fine.

When I bought my brand new 1973 Bug with 60 HP is was a really fast rocket. I put radials on it, and it would hit 90 with an crazy kid driving it. :eek:

Learned to drive when 8 on a 3 speed lawn tractor. Took Driver's Ed at school when not quite 15-1/2 so did not have permit. Parents let me drive after go my permit, but already knew the rules of the road from Driver's Ed.

Didn't actually get a car until 17 because already had a network of friends I rode with. Saved my monies so I could get a nicer car. Ended up buying my brother's old Ford station wagon for $1 so could continue to save for a nicer car. 6 months later got a Plymouth Satellite Sebring Plus. 383 slapstick etc of a Cuda, but looked like a basic Satellite esp the wheels. A factory sleeper.

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A 1935 Morris 8 Tourer (4 cylinder) back in 1963. The car was lent to me and I returned it after 2 years. I learned to drive it first of all in the backyard.

I grew up on a farm, where you grow up fast. Watched the farm animals practicing the birds and bees from the time I was born. I started raking hay with our Ford 2N when I was 8. I don't remember my age, a little older than 8 I think, I learned to drive our IHC KB7. I had to drive it instead of the smaller pickup because it had a hand throttle and I was too short to drive Dad's pickup, which didn't. I couldn't push the throttle and see out the windshield at the same time. That didn't last long, I was in the pickup soon, and then in the Henry J that I traded a calf to our neighbor for.

"and then in the Henry J that I traded a calf to our neighbor for."
~~~~~~~~~
What a hoot!

Another ranch kid, born in 1970...I really don't remember when I got behind a wheel. From tractors to swathers and everything inbetween. I used to take the tractor to town to pick up chickies to take to DQ for ice cream, when I was in grade school cause there was no age limit or DL needed.

My kids have all steered the pickups while I feed hay. The first thing taught is to shut off the key if scared or I yell. Then you put it in gear hop out, kid slides over or walks and steers the pickup idling, in first gear, while you feed hay. From ages 5 and up.

Its very important to teach your children to drive on a ranch the very instant they can touch the wheel. Its a safety thing they might just have to drive you home or to the hospital if you get hurt. Or at least it was before cell phones. Well I still adhere to the old ways.

I do remember my folks being gone to a cattle show and I took the pickup to my new girlfriends house. She lived twenty miles away, I took all dirt back roads, only had one three mile stretch of pavement. I was 12. I didn't take my DL test till I was sixteen, and my first road trip was from Eastern Oregon to Lake Tahoe two weeks later. Driving life is different in cattle country.-WW

When I was 3, my dad used to put me on the neighbor's John Deer or Ford tractor in low low (slower than you can walk) and let me drive around the fields. Was driving the riding mower around and mowing about 2 acres when I was 5. First car at 9, but I couldn't shift (too short).

I grew up in San Francisco and learned to drive when I was 14 (without my parents knowledge of course).

My best friend and I both had paper routes. He had the good fortune of delivering papers to two large apartment buildings (25+stories each). His route was about 2000 papers and so he made pretty good dough.

One day, he shows up at my house with a '63 Buick Riveria. We spent the next several months driving that think all over San Francisco. One day, we were going over the Golden Gate to Marin and the car broke down in one of those tunnels on the Marin side of the bridge. We were 14 & 15 so we didn't have any option except to abandon the car and walk home.

About two weeks later, my friend shows up with a '65 Chevelle. It was awsome!! That's basically how I learned to drive.

When the time came for my parents to teach me how to drive....well, I already knew what I was doing.

Karts at 14. Behind the wheel of a 74 VW at 15. License at 16.

Driving an actual car on the road happened when I was 15 and got my learner's permit. My dad had a 1944 military Jeep he drove back & forth to work. He bought a piece of half I-beam and made a front bumper out of it and announced, "OK kit, you can learn to drive." Got my license when I turned 16.

In 1980 I drove a 1971 Dodge Colt, my father and I were running errands, he pulled into a empty commercial subdivision, parked half way up a hill and set the parking brake.

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He asked me if I wanted to drive, I said yes, I had driven ride on lawn mowers, neighborhood kids go carts, mini bikes and a couple of 125 dirt bikes. I was ready.

The car was a wheezy 4 cyl with a 4 speed manual. He told me to get in the drivers seat and to go.

He set me up for failure. It was impossible to get that car going forward up the hill with little coaching. To this day I have no idea why he set me up for failure like that.

That was my first attempt at driving a real car.


My now 24 year old son had a much more pleasant experience. I took him to a large empty parking lot at 12 years old and let him drive my 2003 Mini Cooper JCW around the lot. He got the hang of the clutch pretty quick but he did not like how "squishy" the car was. He has a lot of seat time in racing karts at that point.

My younger son is 13 and going to turn 14 now, a little less mature than the older guy, I have a 1981 320i on its way to me, I really wanted his first car drive to be my 1978 Mini I just have too much to do to it, I think the 320 may be his first car drive.

He also has a decent amount of racing kart time. Not as much as the older one.

1960, started driving age 12 on my paper route on sunday morning, no one on the streets. 120 customers was too big to wagon the papers so my dad drove me in his 58 Olds super 88.
At 15 my brother went off to college and left me his keys to his 57 ford. one night parents out for a wedding and home alone, out I went hotroding the streets only to hit a patch of ice and ended up hitting a big oak tree on drivers door. it almost threw me out the passengers door and I would have run but broke 3 ribs and punctured my lung. The judge wasn't too happy with me and told me I couldn't get my real drivers license till 18.
My brother wasn't too happy with me either when he came home from his yr at college.

First thing I ever drove was my neighbors 8n (maybe 9n) ford tractor. I was around 11-12 at the time. I didn't weigh enough to stop it. I still don't think I weigh enough to stop it. Those brakes sucked.
Then my uncle bought a 46 willys jeep ( still here out in the weeds somewhere) that we all drove around the farm.

Had my learners permit on the first try on my 14th birthday.
Drove the 64 Galaxie the VW MG kitcar the 75 LTD and the 74 VW Thing and a 74 1 ton Ford.
Truck was tricky manual steering, standard trans and power brakes... My dad said if you can drive this you can drive pretty much anything.
Got my DL on my first try in the land yacht LTD a few days after my 16th birthday.
Was driving the Thing after that time followed by many more VW products.

not sure the first time but i often sat on my dads lap and steered and shifted his suburban. I recall once when i was 6 or 7 i couldnt wait for my mom to come out of the house so I left with her 87 buick. I made it almost to the end of the road before she caught up to me lol First time driving a stick for real was my brothers 69 nova on the road i was 13 or 14 no problem at all. then i got my 46 willys jeep at 15 and drove that alot around the woods before i hit the road with it. Manual trucks with low range are the easiest to learn on with the low gearing its hard to stall you easily learn the clutch. but we always had gokarts very young so were familiar with the ways of the machine

My first job when I was 13 was pumping gas at a garage. One of the guys I worked with let me drive the cars around the lot. That's how I learned to drive standard.

1974 in Santa Barbara CA. I was 12 and my Dad took me to the parking lot of the company he worked for in his '67 VW square back. Looked just like this but in a burnt red.

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Spent a couple evenings practicing in that parking lot. End of the week my Dad says "Drive us home". I remember clutching that plastic steering wheel with hands that were dripping in sweat. It was a 3 mile drive home and sure enough a Police car pulls up along side us at a red light. My Dad was laughing at me the whole time saying "relax and sit back in the seat". Haha, I made it home no incidents.

OP, thanks for the thread. It brought back a good memory of my Dad.

I grew up driving golf carts - That said my dad took me out when I was 11 or 12 and taught me how to drive a manual in his 1983 911sc

Country roads and I was doing great until I came to a stop sign on an hill. I stalled a few times and a sheriffs car pulled in behind us. My dad told me "don't panic just give it a little more gas"

I gave it a lot more and peeled out - sheriff pulled me over. Walked up to the car looked at me and then walked to the passenger side and asked my dad to take over and have a nice day

AT 15, in 1968 I took drivers ed. New Cutlasses and Coronets. I got my license 1 week after I turned 16. It was Christmas eve and I am pretty sure everybody passed that day. Thank you Santa. my first car was a 50 Chevy pick up exactly like the one posted above.

Driving small/mid size tractors since I was 8, dad figured out the best way to make me help him building the family summer house was to put me in the seat. Started driving boats around the same time first one being a 6hp fishing boat.

First car 12 years old 1966 rusty as **** VW bug my brother helped me turn into a bush buggy, I ran it down back roads, fire trails, snowmobile trails... got chased by the cops...never got caught.

When my older son bought his first standard car, we flew up to a Pelicans home n South Carolina to drive it back home. It was a 1990 325is.

I wanted to set up a Go Pro and record the hilarity of someone driving stick for the first time. He was mortified and pleaded with me not to.

In hindsight I wish I had, it would be something he would enjoy when he got older and someone asked a question like OP's.

I will be sure to record my younger sons first drive. He will be mortified too.

Both hate social media, forums and the like, they prefer complete anonymity.