JMChladek Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Web searches don't seem to come up with anything, so maybe someone here knows. I am trying to find information about Drivers Education cars from the 1970s for a possible model project. When I went through Drivers Ed in High School in the 1980s, we just had cars with the extra brake pedal on the passenger side, but I understand in the 1970s, they had some cars with two steering wheels. I haven't seen anything like that outside of an episode of CHiPs. My question is, are there any reference pictures out there showing those types of cars? Was it a common sight to see or just a fad that died out quick? How did that second steering wheel get attached to the rack anyway? Chain drive? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george 53 Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I took my drivers ed in 68 and our cars only had an extra brake pedal on the passengers side. The instructor only had control over them. The rest was in HIS trust in US! Mr. Casanova was a GREAT drivers Ed teacher. Thank You,Mr Cas!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bad0210 Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 (edited) lol Edited February 17, 2012 by bad0210 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggon Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Like George the car I learned in circa 1972 only had an extra brake pedal. However the Drivers Ed teacher had loooong arms to grab that steering wheel! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agent G Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Ditto Glenn's comment. DE in the early 70's provided large Pontiac Bonnevilles with only a brake pedal on the passenger side. G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bartster Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 No 2nd steering wheel for me in'78. I've never heard of it, but small mid-west towns wouldn't be as apt to want, need, or have $ to spend on it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob McKee Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I took mine in 1981 and the car only had the extra brake pedal on the passenger side. I actually have seen many with the second steering wheel in the last 10 years or so. I thought it was a new thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trogdor Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I got my license in 74. Never took drivers ed classes but friend of mine did. I've never seen two steering wheels. Can't say for certain about the brake pedals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Johnny Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Just a normal full sized Pontiac with nothing extra for the instructor. They also had ordered a car with a standard trans (Pontiac Lemans) that they were going to make all students learn to drive. But too many complaints from parents killed the idea and they sent the car back! I drove three blocks and the instructor pulled me out from behind the wheel and I just went along for the ride the rest of the training schedule. I had been driving since I was 10 (farm trucks with blocks on the pedals) mostly plus grandpa's car. I was driving to school already starting with the first day of my freshman year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony T Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 The white 2-door AMC Hornet automatic with blue vinyl bench seats I learned on in 1979 had a second brake pedal only. I'd like to find that car now! I did see a Honda CRX Del Sol a couple of years ago that had a second steering wheel on the passenger side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrObsessive Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I had Driver's Ed in '77 (School had a Cutlass Supreme, Grand Prix, and a Caprice) and they only had the brake pedal on the passenger side. BUT I do remember seeing local driving school ads from back then which did show a steering wheel on the passenger side. How they were attached to the steering mechanism I have no idea, but THAT would make for a neat modeling project! Johnny, I wish more schools taught standard trans driving with Drivers Ed! It's amazing how many young people absolutely know nothing about driving a stick. My Dad always said............"If you can drive a stick, you can drive anything!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick2005 Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I love that video above! We had "Drivers Safety" but we didn't actually drive in the class. After that year they eliminated the class all together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swifster Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I took driver's ed in 1979. We had Plymouth Volare and Dodge Aspen DE cars. No extra brake pedals on ours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMChladek Posted February 17, 2012 Author Share Posted February 17, 2012 (edited) A buddy of mine told me about that video scene, but I have never seen it until now. That would be so fun to try in the UK where it isn't entirely uncommon to see cars with steering wheels on the left and the right side. Keep it coming guys, SOMEBODY out there has to have seen such a creation as a Driving School car with two steering wheels. I don't get why parents would complain about kids driving a stick shift. Granted I first learned on automatics, but my dad taught me the early finesse of stick driving on his Subaru GL wagon. I much prefer stick driving to autos as three of my last four cars were sticks and I LOVE driving my 2001 Ford Focus ZX-3 with its 5 speed manual. It is also nice to know that dumb criminals are less likely to get that far in a stick as many are too dumb to drive them. Edited February 17, 2012 by JMChladek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weasel Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 dunno, i took mine in 1966 summer school!!!! there WAS another brake pedal on the passenger side, and sometimes another mirror instead of a sunvisor... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diymirage Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 i took drivers ed in early 2000 and "my" car (believe it was a toyota corrola) had an extra brake pedal aswell as an extra clutch on the passenger side of course, i grew up in a country where you actually had to know how to operate a car and not just steer in as a mather of fact, unless you were handicapped takeing drivers ed in a car with an automatic tranny was out of the question and even then it would be listed as a restriction on your license Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger U Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 OK, we're going way back here. When I took driver training in high school, in 1963 , we drove standard Studebaker Larks with no pedals or steering on the passenger side. First we took Driver Education in a classroom then we took Driver Training for actual driving practice. I also feel that people should learn to drive with manual transmissions as it would make them concentrate a little more on their driving and give a slightly better understanding of how cars operate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMc Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 A quick search said check the UK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMChladek Posted February 18, 2012 Author Share Posted February 18, 2012 Clutch and brake pedals, interesting (I suppose necessary to keep the engine from dying if the student driver doesn't hit the clutch when he stops). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Handley Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 I took driver's ed in the early 90's in suburban Chicago, only had the second brake pedal on the Corsica and Tempo I drove......as well as a useless passengerside mirror. The instructors had a habit of adjusting that mirror for their use instead of our use. Helped teach me how to drive a car with no passenger side mirror though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Anderson Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 While I took Driver's Ed the second semester 1960 (great way to learn winter driving), DE cars in the US never really did have dual steering wheels that I ever saw. Our DE car, a '59 Chevy 6-cyl 4dr, had a 6 with 3spd, and a second clutch and brake pedal for the teacher. Beginning with 1961-62 school year, they went to automatic transmissions, so only a second brake pedal. In a lot of the country, AAA sponsored Driver's Ed in high schools, automakers, through their local dealers, provided the car, AAA provided the extra pedal setups. Art Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Flowers Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 My stepsister drove a Drivers ED car from New Jersey home to Ohio with two steering wheels in it. The steering wheels were connected with a gear on each column and chain running between them. Plus a brake pedal on the passenger side.This was in the early 80's . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Handley Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 That sounds like some of the Postal RHD conversions I've seen on line, James. On the Cherokee's like mine as well as some of the Subaru's, they could be ordered RHD like ones being made for overseas markets, but IIRC those were very pricey. This is a newer XJ like mine (but in a lower trim level) that has been converted in what should not only be a correctable manner, but adaptable to a twin control car like you mentioned. http://cache.jalopnik.com/assets/images/12/2006/02/rh_drive_cherokee.jpg Now here is a purpose built, '97-'01 Postal XJ http://en.visonerv.com/cgi-bin/md/M10955/s5.pl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 I took drivers ed in 77, we had a extra brake pedal, but no extra steering wheel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Flowers Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 That sounds like some of the Postal RHD conversions I've seen on line, James. On the Cherokee's like mine as well as some of the Subaru's, they could be ordered RHD like ones being made for overseas markets, but IIRC those were very pricey. This is a newer XJ like mine (but in a lower trim level) that has been converted in what should not only be a correctable manner, but adaptable to a twin control car like you mentioned. http://cache.jalopni...ve_cherokee.jpg Now here is a purpose built, '97-'01 Postal XJ http://en.visonerv.c...md/M10955/s5.pl Yes it looked like the first one only with both steering wheels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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