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Folks Of Interest Did you learn to drive a stick or a automatic?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by HOTRODPRIMER, Apr 18, 2017.

  1. gimpyshotrods
    Joined: May 20, 2009
    Posts: 23,268

    gimpyshotrods
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I learned to drive, not go along for the ride.

    1931 Model A pickup (still in the family, running, and on-the-road).
     
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  2. hotrodhoodlum
    Joined: Oct 25, 2009
    Posts: 8,049

    hotrodhoodlum
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    my first car was a 1967 chevy impala fastback automatic
    my first 4-speed which I did not know how to drive was off a car lot
    my dad said here you go and see you at home
    soooo I taught myself real quick before it got dark
    thanks Dad may he rest in peace
    steve
     
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  3. Zippi
    Joined: Nov 27, 2016
    Posts: 156

    Zippi
    Member

    My older brother had an old Ford van with 3 on the tree. We lived in the country so practicing daily up and down the rock roads was a blast.
     
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  4. upspirate
    Joined: Apr 15, 2012
    Posts: 2,299

    upspirate
    Member

    Drivers ed car '70 Pontiac Catalina with auto.
    Learners permit on my Dad's '67 A100 Dodge van with 318 auto, and my first car, hand me down Grandpa's '65 Buick Special V6-3 on the tree.
    Took my road test on the stick Buick
     
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  5. junkyardjeff
    Joined: Jul 23, 2005
    Posts: 8,588

    junkyardjeff
    Member

    In this 37 Chevy p/u on farm fields with no brakes,it had a 3 speed then and did not look anything like it does now when I was around 12 or 13.
     

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  6. Cyclone Kevin
    Joined: Apr 15, 2002
    Posts: 4,223

    Cyclone Kevin
    Alliance Vendor

    Well I guess I learned by watching my Aunt banging gears in her O/T sports compact, so by the time 1979 rolled around and me as a 15yr old punkster who just acquired his 1st set of wheels had to grind them gears all the way from the house that I got it from.... I remember my Dad's face....."So you're old enough to have a car, I guess that you're old enough to pay rent, etc.
    Recall that it was one of my Faves!!!!!
     
  7. Humboldt Cat
    Joined: Feb 20, 2003
    Posts: 2,235

    Humboldt Cat
    Member
    from Eureka, CA

    Learned on a stick shift on my dad's O/T '78 Accord hatchback (that he got from his high school best friend). Initially outgrew the lengthy Church of the Good Shepherd parking lot (Arcadia, Ca), then advanced lessons in Santa Anita Racetrack parking lot: where the Griswolds arrived to Wally World in "Vacation", with the faux-"Chariots of Fire" running scene. I was 15.

    Sent from my LG-US996 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
  8. patterg2003
    Joined: Sep 21, 2014
    Posts: 864

    patterg2003

    61 Chev Biscayne, A 6 with 3 in the tree. My dad used to let me drive at 14 or 15 on the logging roads when we were hunting. My dad let my younger brother drive under age too until he was looking at the same thing as dad and slowly put it off the road. It took them awhile to get unstuck so that was the last time for my brother until he got into driver ed. Our high school driver ed car was a 67 Dodge Polara and if a person could parallel park those boats they could park anything. The first car was a 60 VW beetle with 36 hp. Almost had to give it the Fred Flintstone assist on big the big hills in my area with the risk of getting Kenworth embossed on the trunk. It was always easy to find a parking space among the late 60's cars. I drove the car to college that was fortunately on the prairie so speed, hills and gas stations were not an issue. I bought a 69 Mustang Mach I with 6000 miles on it in 1972 that had a transplanted 427 sideoiler that was built with the intend to race it. The change from one fastback to the other was noticeable. I loved the rumble of the 427 and I recently went for a ride with a friend that had a 427 side oiler in a Cobra replica that made me grin a week. Love those engines.
     
    Last edited: May 7, 2017
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  9. Dave B.
    Joined: Oct 1, 2009
    Posts: 225

    Dave B.
    Member

    1951 Chevy Fleetline - 216 six, 3-on-the-tree:
    [​IMG][/IMG]

    This photo was taken the day my dad brought it home in 1953 - and just before he pulled off the fender skirts and threw them in the garage. (I still have them - found them when we were moving!)

    Here's the story. In 1962, I was a car-crazy kid, probably 12 or 13 and always bugging Dad to let me drive. One evening, he took me up to the local cemetery and told me to to slide over and take the wheel. When I asked why we were in the cemetery, he said: "Son, you can't hurt anyone up here!" (True story!)

    Dave B.
    [​IMG]
     
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  10. b-bob
    Joined: Nov 4, 2008
    Posts: 1,097

    b-bob
    Member

    40 Plymouth sedan. My mother was a serious diabetic back in the early sixties and my dad worked shift work. Dad picked up the Plymouth , told me it was for me. I was maybe twelve or thirteen, the deal was that if mom got real sick , i was to drive her to the hospital. I never had to, but i used to drive that thing back and forth in the driveway, dreaming that i was really driving. Some times i went to where my dad worked and was allowed to drive around the industrial park during the day.
    When i turned 16 i thought i was ready to go, but i failed the first time because the examiner said i couldn't learn to drive in the one week that i had my learner's licence. Waited a couple of weeks and passed in my mom's stick '63 Studebaker sedan. That was in 1965. Mom died in 1968.
     
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  11. Learned on a six speed Farmall tractor when I was 14. After that, driving an automatic or a stick was pretty easy.


    Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
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  12. Ebbsspeed
    Joined: Nov 11, 2005
    Posts: 6,251

    Ebbsspeed
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Way back in 1965 I learned how to use the clutch on a 1954 model, with a 4 speed manual transmission. Ford 2-ton grain truck.
     
    Last edited: Nov 10, 2020
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  13. 1940 Chevrolet Special Delux Fordor. Three speed. Latter part of 1952.

    Ben
     
  14. Deuces
    Joined: Nov 3, 2009
    Posts: 23,759

    Deuces

    A 67' chevy with an inline six and a 3 on the tree.... :)
     
  15. Learned on a stick... '42 John Deere "H". Then moved up to a 1947 Dodge pickup; a long time ago...
     
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  16. gimpyshotrods
    Joined: May 20, 2009
    Posts: 23,268

    gimpyshotrods
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I had a '46 H, but got it after learning to drive.
     
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  17. I was 15 and visiting with family in Tennessee. Already had a '53 Ford (3 spd.) back home in Maryland that I had been driving a little (illegally) in the neighborhood. Didn't have my license yet. Somehow I got hooked up with two of my Uncles who had been imbibing in the local homemade, fruit jar refreshment. One was driving his 1950 International and I was with the other in a '53 Plymouth Wagon that he had recently purchased out of a farmer's field. Both Uncles were probably drunk by this time but the one in the truck was liberally trashed and had no business driving. The only way that he was staying on the road was to move from one side to the other 'til he ran off the asphalt! The Uncle I was with managed to stop the other and shoved him over into the passenger seat and then hollered to me," We're going to get some more moonshine, follow us." Neither of them needed anything more to drink but they took off up the road and I was forced to learn pretty quickly how to drive this decrepit old Plymouth with 3 on the tree and likely a fifth under the seat! The car had no back glass and everytime that I let off the gas the car filled with putrid blue smoke. I followed them, barely, and gave the one Uncle a piece of my mind when we reached the destination. Thankfully, my Mother never heard this story as these were two of her brothers and I'm sure she would have given them a tongue lashing for putting me in such a position. I guess you can say that I learned on a manual purely out of survival!
     
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  18. 2 years old 57 chevy must of had neutral worked fine until dad jumped into window and stopped it just before I smashed it into a telephone pole! Next car 16 years old four on the floor volvo doing laps around rodeo arena in the dirt!
     
    Last edited: Oct 31, 2020
  19. Budget36
    Joined: Nov 29, 2014
    Posts: 13,175

    Budget36
    Member

    61 or 62 Bug. My dad got a gig leveling the arena at the rodeo grounds and I’d spend Saturday and Sunday driving the bug around the outside of the arena. I was probably 11 or 12
     
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  20. The summer I turned 6 my Dad taught me to drive his black,'49 GMC, half ton, 5 window,4 spd. I got to drive in the pasture first checking cattle, then from field to field helping him move trucks and machinery. I already knew how to drive our Fordson tractor the summer before when I turned 5.
    I brought my boys up the same way except I waited until they were 7 or 8.
     
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  21.  
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  22. metalman
    Joined: Dec 30, 2006
    Posts: 3,297

    metalman
    Member

    Definitely stick. 50 Chevy pu, 3 on tree and 44 Chevy 1 1/2 ton you had to double clutch. Barley old enough to reach the pedals. Of course growing up on a farm that wasn't unusual.
     
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  23. How was the moonshine? lol!
     
  24. .....It was always the best, you have to know your sources.:)
     
  25. blowby
    Joined: Dec 27, 2012
    Posts: 8,661

    blowby
    Member
    from Nicasio Ca

    Don't remember, but by the time I took driver's training in high school they had a Chevy II three on the tree. Four at a time in that thing, plus instructor, grinding that poor gearbox to chips. One time Roberta Smith was driving, got frightened and farted. We just about died laughing in the back seat.
     
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  26. goldmountain
    Joined: Jun 12, 2016
    Posts: 4,444

    goldmountain

    Started off with motorcycles. Automatic bikes are still scarce.
     
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  27. Sky Six
    Joined: Mar 15, 2018
    Posts: 9,480

    Sky Six
    Member
    from Arizona

    Learned with a stick, my dad's 52 Nash Rambler station wagon with the wood accents on the side. six cylinder and three on the tree....
    A real chick magnet. My sister wouldn't even be seen in it.
     
  28. 59 Plymouth, 3 on the tree, 313 V8 (Canadian)
     
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  29. klawockvet
    Joined: May 1, 2012
    Posts: 580

    klawockvet
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    52 Mercury 3 on the tree
    55 Mercedes 190 with 4 on the tree. I also learned to speedshift that car until I got caught and that ended the fun.
    Got my license in early 58 with a 40 Ford
     
  30. Slick34
    Joined: Jan 22, 2016
    Posts: 45

    Slick34
    Member

    First car back in 1963 was a 55 Merc. that started off with an automatic, when that went south installed a three speed on the floor. Second was a factory 3 speed 55 Thunderbird (beat the hell out of that car) sure was a fun car, had that when I was in high school. Next was a 65 Comet Cyclone that had a 289 cu in with 271 hp. 4 speed. Bought it new off the showroom floor. Had it in Texas while I was stationed at Dyess Airforce Base. Sold it when I was transferred overseas to Viet Nam. When I came back and after being discharged I bought a 61 Vette, 327 4 speed. Chrome and stainless trim was in excellent condition, painted Honduras maroon with black interior. Selling that car was one of my biggest mistakes!!!!!!! Sure wish I had it back (maybe one of these days I'll own another one) Yah right! not at the prices they are going for.
     

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