In what vehicle did you learn to drive?

[Snake45]

Two other things I remember from Driver's Ed: 

The VERY first thing we did was go on the interstate. "I know y'all want to get out there and go 70 mph, so let's go do that and get it out of the way," the guy said. And we did! Tooling around town came later. 

Also, there would normally be three students and the instructor in the car. Our instructor would always, for some reason, wait until I was driving to start telling the most hilarious, gut-busting, and filthiest jokes any of us had ever heard. It's a miracle I didn't have a major crash laughing so hard. 

[ewetwo]

HAHA! Too funny Snake.

 

[1930fordpickup]

We mowed grass at dad with an early 50's International cub tractor. You had to hand crank it to start it. I think I was around 12 or 13. Mowing 3 acers all summer long while not running into the collection of "stuff", trees and buildings taught me how to drive for the most part. 

The first time on the road Was my brothers 52 F1. He stopped the truck and said your turn. That is the first 3 on the  tree  I drove. 

After I was on my own and legal it was a 73 Pinto Wagon stick for about a year before I got a 76 Cutlass to drive. 

[Roger U]

Learned to drive in my fathers '57 Chevy pickup, 6 cylinder with 3 speed manual transmission.Took drivers ed in high school where we drove early '60s Studebaker Larks.

[Richard Bartrop]

It  was a '67 Rambler Rebel with no power steering.  When my dad got a '73 Pontiac Laurentian with power everything, the lesson continued in that, and I was a little unnerved by how the steering wheel didn't feel like it was connected to anything.

[sfhess]

Driver Ed cars at my high school were 70 Plymouth Sport Furies.  Also drove my parents' 65 Mercury Colony Park and 68 Montego MX 2-door J-code.

 

[Mattilacken]

Started to drive in a 1995 Volvo 850 GLT manual on dirt roads when I was around 13 and kept learning in that car and kept it until I was 20 something. Had 2 different Volvo 240 B23 that I learnt how to drift on snow with and the Chevelle was my car that I had from 16. 

[stinkybritches]

I learned in my grandparent's '68 or '70 (I don't remember which) Impala when I was 14. They let me drive it up and down the dirt road they lived on. Behind the wheel was done in an '82-'83 Cutlass Ciera. I remember that the car had a brake pedal on the passenger side for the instructor to stomp on in case of an impending crash. One day the instructor took us to an empty parking lot and set up cones for us to drive around. There were three of us in the car. A good friend of mine was at the wheel, I was on the passenger side, and the other kid was in the back. My friend got his learners permit the day before we started behind the wheel and had never even sat behind a steering wheel to that point. So the instructor gives us the instructions and tells us to stop when he signals to stop, and go when he signals us to go. My friend takes off and is driving extremely slow, almost comically slow. About the time that he starts picking up speed the instructor raises his arms as the signal to stop. My friend slams on the brakes and almost throws me into the dashboard. Remember, hardly anyone wore seatbelts back then. I was a 15 year old goofball so I thought it was hilarious. After a few second the instructor gives the signal to go. My friend starts to press the gas, but nothing happens. He tries it again, still nothing. He's looking around like there's something wrong with the car. I ask him if the car is in Drive. He says yes. So I tell him that maybe he's being too delicate and needs to give it more gas. He proceeds to really press on that pedal and all of a sudden that thing takes off with squealing/smoking tires and almost jerks the wheel out of his hands. The instructor was none too pleased and let my friend know. To this day my friend has no idea that I had my foot on the brake pedal and pooped it off after he floored the gas. 

 

 

[Sledsel]

First car (truck) I drove was a 70 Chevy C10. My grandfathers friend let me drive it right thru town. I was about 9.

 

[doorsovdoon]

I past my test in an 1980's Nissan Sunny. A couple months later I bought my first car, a 1971 Ford Escort for £80. It was a pile of rotten scrap but I loved it! Lol

[NOBLNG]

I took my drivers test in a 1968 Biscayne with a straight six and 3 on the tree. There was no drivers ed available that I recall, but Dad had a quarter section of land so I’d done lots of tearing around before I was of age. I could even speed shift that baby...not that I tried that during my test.? He also had a ‘61, a ‘63 and a ‘56 chevy parked on the property. I can remember riding in the ‘61 and ‘63 as a kid, but I don’t think I ever drove them? I also had a job driving tractor for a neighbour at the age of 13.?

[RancheroSteve]

Mom's 1960 Falcon and Dad's 1962 Buick Special. Took the test in the Buick and aced the parallel parking bit. That car was a such a pleasure to drive.

[Chuckyg1]

This was about 1972 & I was 13 or 14. There were woods with tons of trails down the street. My friends father was a county cop who moonlighted at a junk yard. If a decent runner came in, he'd bring them home to us. We ran a lot of cars through those woods. If it broke or wrecked, we'd push it off the trail & get another. I recall a 53 buick, a 62 Olds, a corvair & the car that was "mine", a 63 Belair wagon. Straight 6/3 on the column. Actual street driving was limited to getting it to & from home.  Great times & a lot of fun. 

[HomerS]

1978 four door Ford Fairmont.  Dad wanted me to learn a stick but it was three-on-the-tree of a four door 1964 Ford Falcon.  

I always had a hard time with the hand over hand feeding the wheel back after a turn but on the driver's ed road test I nailed it.  However (!) I'm about half way through the tes when I had an Oh S&^% moment and realized I didn't have my seat belt on.  There is no smooth way to grab/fasten it at that point so I continued on like nothing was wrong.  I passed but to this day still recall that moment.

[Nazz]

I'll never forget the first time I drove with the driver ed instructor.  My first drive was first thing after lunch and a bunch of us were waiting to see what vehicle they got.  Everyone was druelling over the 1976 Chevelle,white ,2 door,buckets and a cosole with the Olypic decaling! I just about dropped to the floor when my instructor came out and said, lets go! As it turns out the regular car was in the shop so I got the Chevelle.  She drove like a dream. I'm pretty sure my buddies were jealous.

 

Jerry 

[Captain Spaulding]

Learned to drive on my Grandpa's 1975 Buick Century, one of those old land yachts that took up it's half of the road.

His exact words, you can drive something this big everything else will seem easy.

[THarrison351]

A 1966 Beetle was the first car I drove, but we had a 1968 Karmann Ghia convertible, and a 1970 Torino station wagon. I drove all of them along with a fleet of 1980 cars of various makes in drivers education. The school had a drivers obstacle course with a tower for the instructor. He had a one way radio to talk to us. We were to have two drivers to a car. We had two Volare/Aspens with manual transmissions that no one would pick because they were manuals. I loved them because they had FM stereo radios and I would have them all to myself. Slant six and three speed, but we weren't going fast. 

[mchook]

In the mid 70s my father got an old 1933 Ford school bus from a farmer who use to haul hay on. The engine was shot so he put in a 51 Mercury flathead V8, shortened the frame & made a Doodlebug out of it. He put a Datsun pickup box on it sideways with the tailgate on the drivers side. When I was about 11 or 12 I used it to haul firewood from the woods. The tree tops cut up in the box & 3 trees chained on the rear, it was a beast. He still has it today but no more firewood just junk hauled around with the wrecker boom that replaced the Datsun box. When I was 16 I drove my fathers 66 Ford wrecker, 390 with a 4 speed.

[DRIPTROIT 71]

I started driving the lawn mower before I could reach the pedals. Then tractors and forklifts at the shop where my dad worked. The first automobile that I drove was my dad’s 69 Chevrolet pickup. It had a T10 Borg Warner 4 speed in it. I wish that I would have kept that old truck, but it had no power steering or power brakes.

[charger74]

At my driving school they had a couple of chevy sprint, and with my mom’s oldsmobile firenza

[redneckrigger]

Learned how to drive in a 1962 Willys station wagon, 3 speed stick, 4x4, with the Hurricane 6 engine. Did a few spin and stalls while learning the clutch, but having learned the clutch way back in 1968, it is a skill that has stayed with me ever since, and one I currently enjoy every day in my Corvette and Mustang GT. Wouldn't have it any other way!

[espo]

I had watched both my parents when they drove as I was always interested in cars anyway. As a small boy I remember going with my father when he toke delivery of our new '49 Ford 4 door. About ten years later I would drive it up and down the driveway since I was not yet 16. After watching them operate the shifter and clutch it just seemed very natural and easy to me. My personal choice in vehicles seemed to trend to those with a manual transmissions. With the advancements made over the last decade or so I have slowly started buying cars and trucks with the automatic transmissions, and the fact that in many cases that was the only way they were equipped. We just sold our '09 Jeep Wrangler with the 6 speed manual and our two present day drivers are both 6 and 8 speed overdrive automatics.   

[Bucky]

I started driving around my grandfather's rural neighborhood when I was around 10 or 11. My dad had a '59 Chevy BelAir 4dr, 283 automatic. My uncle had a 1965 shortbed Chevy C-10, six pistons and three speed column shift. Grandad had a 1955 Ford F-100, flathead with three speed column shift, and a 1965 Chevy Biscayne 4dr, with six pistons and three speed column shift. I drove those vehicles all over the area. Back then, there weren't that many cars on the road for a 10 year old to run over. Driver's Ed class had a 1973 Ford LTD, with two steering wheels....you know.... just in case! LoL

My driver's test was in my dad's 1968 Dodge Coronet Deluxe, 4dr., slant six, three speed column shift, no radio, no power steering. I actually parallel parked that one, and passed my test on the first run. Maybe the state trooper giving me the test felt sorry for me.

[89AKurt]

I wasn't as lucky as others, wasn't allowed behind the wheel until about 15 years old.  Took the picture of the Auto Union DKW before dad sold it, it's on a dirt road that got no traffic.  The car I drove from the start was a '77 Honda Civic CVCC, trashed the rear suspension on the berm of a dirt road trying to rally drift a turn.  Got to drive the '60 Mercedes 190 sedan with 4 on the tree a little.  But the "Deek" is officially the first.

Our school didn't have Drivers Ed cars, just lame simulators.  Class consisted of watching movies, the classic was Red Asphalt.  The instructor liked to hang out in the hallway, and at the right moment kick a steel trash can into the room. ?

[magicmustang]

  On 4/26/2021 at 1:30 PM, Deuces ll said:

A '67 Biscayne with an inline 6 and a 3 on the tree.... Been driving stick cars ever since...

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Yep similar, a '64 Biscayne with an inline 6 and a 3 on the tree.