Father/son projects are the bomb.
When I was around 13 (1993) I convinced my parents that I should be able to use my saved up money to buy a go-kart. I ended up purchasing a 2-seater with a 5HP Briggs, had an absolute blast for about 4 weeks. Then one day I was showing my buddy how we could hit the end of the driveway at full speed, cut the wheel, and the back end would slide out... so cool! Except this time the kart flipped, throwing my friend about 10 feet onto a lawn and pinning me under the kart. We were both wearing helmets and were relatively unhurt, but mere seconds after extricating myself from the cart the gas which was leaking from the seal between the carb and gas tank got to the muffler, and WHOOOSH!
It took about 2 minutes for us to get a hose all the way out there and put it out. My dad and I spent the next several months ordering all of the replacements for melted parts on the engine, replacing burnt tires, etc. Then the next year we bought an 8HP motor and spent a weekend setting it up. That was the beginning of my interest in not just driving vehicles, but working on them for fun.
By the time I was 14-15 I was outgrowing the kart and my dad had let me know that he thought we should find an old Mustang or Beetle to fix up. We ended up buying a '73 standard Beetle in yellow. The car needed new pans, new brakes, some significant body work, new paint, new front axle beam... and we did all of it. I have great memories of working on that car with my dad as we both learned to weld, to shoot paint, etc. Most of what I know about cars I learned from working on that one with my dad.
I ended up driving that car from senior year of HS through college before selling it to buy my 944.
Here is a pic of me about to take off for my senior prom in the bug... I believe the paint is less than 2 weeks old in this pic
