Art & Inspiration Teaching others how to drive

Hello,

When it was time to teach my mom to drive a stick shift, I had heard the idea across the dinner table many times before. My dad would have none of it…”Sorry, no time”. My brother would have done it, except for the fact that he had an after school job. So, the task was daunting, but, it fell on my lap to complete. Secretly, they both chuckled and thanked someone above, that they did not have to do that difficult task.

So, how old was I? It was 1959 and I was 15 years old with a great grade in my driver’s education class. I had to wait in study hall until 15.6 to do the behind the wheel training and get my license at 16. But, since my dad and brother were unavailable, they both said since I was not technically driving, it was ok. Plus, it was ok to drive with a licensed driver, which my mom was, but she had never driven a stick shift car, before.

She had studied hard and got her license in my dad’s 57 Buick Roadmaster, but that car was too big for her. My brother’s Impala was slightly smaller and was better suited to sharing the car during the school weeks. The drag racing time period was winding down in the A/Stock class in the 58 Impala. We were starting to check out the neighborhood old coupes for possible reconstruction duties.

So, since my brother could get to his after school job without a car, the Impala sat in the garage not driven in the afternoons. This arrangement was going to point right at me. So, I was already driving the 58 Impala around the block, neighborhood, and with my brother to various places in Long Beach. This “teaching Mom” thing was going to be a snap. How hard could it be?

Jnaki

Ha! What ! (a great description of the events that followed.) First, after spending time in the driveway adjusting the seat back to go forward to fit a 5’2” small stature woman, we were ready to go over the dash, stick, clutch and brake. I was crammed up against the glove box with my knees slightly at an angle to make sure I did not get crunched on the metal dash.

When I thought she was ready to move, I parked the car in the empty neighborhood parking lot to practice forward with the clutch. That was the hardest thing to do for her. But, after several bucking bronco leaps and bounds, we moved smoothly forward. I kept telling her that to let the clutch inch its way up slowly as the car crept forward. When she felt the car creep forward, she could not keep the strong heavy duty, racing clutch in and it usually popped out, causing the bucking bronco act.

Ok, that was done over and over until she was ready to go to second gear. She flew through that easily, but for some reason 3rd gear cruising was not to her liking. When she put the brake on, she remembered to engage the clutch, but it was too late and the motor died. A simple task for hot rodders, but hard for unsuspecting first time drivers, especially if the drivers behind were honking their horns.

Finally, we never got to the down shifting around corners, but stopped at the dead motor episode over and over. Finally, she said one telling thing…why can’t this Impala act like the 57 Buick, with one brake pedal and one gas pedal ? (Well, because it is a stick shift car?) After explaining it on the way home, she kept killing the motor and getting more honks from others.

So, after a week of teaching moments, I finally heard the “tell all” answer to her problems. Can this Chevrolet act like the 57 Buick and the 56 Chevy Bel Air like our cousins down the block? (That meant an automatic transmission.) But, nooooo, not a Powerglide transmission for the Impala…!!! Yikes… She did not want to buy another car as she knew that it was going to be a once or twice a week driving the Impala. So, I said yes, the Impala could change over to an automatic transmission.

She knew we did not want to spend money on that transformation, so she offered to pay for the whole changeover if it could be done within a week. My brother was all for the transformation. He had been reading about the modified transmissions and realized that gave drag racing cars an advantage off of the starting line. So, our first call was to B&M transmissions in LA and they said we could buy their stick hydro transmission, but we would have to do the transformation ourselves. What????

Finally, C&O Transmissions in Torrance said they could do the changeover if we brought in an old hydramatic transmission for the exchange. That was simple as the hydramatic transmissions were readily available just about everywhere in Long Beach and Wilmington. C&O was just starting, but had the recommendation of our expert mechanic from LA to give us the go ahead for the swap. (He had an extra hydramatic transmission laying around in his LA shop, too.)

It took about four days for the total transformation from the stock 3 speed to the new, C&O stick hydro transmission. The first drive down the block was an instant eye opener. My mom would be surprised, but it is an automatic transmission, after all, just like the 57 Buick Roadmaster... yessss!

 

I was 19, my brother was 16 and just got his learner's permit. I was on my way out, he tells me I promised to take him driving, he's had his permit for 3 days. I said, right now... go get your permit. So he gets it and I have him back my '64 Ford out and go down the street.

"Pull in here".. what.... this is the beer distributor. I told him to wait... went in and grabbed a 6-pack of 16 ounce Schaefer. I sat down, popped the 1st beer and simply said "drive". And drive we did, I drank, he drove. I had him on the parkways, Long Island Expressway, all over.

I taught my sister after she failed 3 road tests with a driving school. That was 38 years ago and she is still a white knuckle driver, very scary to be a passenger when she drives. Anyway, I was out of work that summer and she already had a car, a nice Buick GS hardtop. I would be on the beach all morning, drinking and doing whatever else and the afternoons were reserved for lessons. I even had her drive me to pick up something illegal that could have gotten us both locked up... lol. I concentrated on parallel parking, took her to the test site (after hours) so she was familiar with it. I spent 6 weeks with her, 5 days a week and she took her road test and passed.

I had a neighbor that came from a home where both the parents were big drinkers and seldom had a working car. She went to a driving school to take her road test, which used to be around Babylon Village on Long Island. How she did it remains a mystery... she managed to wreck the test car, she side-swiped a 1/2 dozen parked cars in the course of her test.

 

I taught our twin girls to drive in my 64 Falcon, 3 speed and they darn near destroyed the transmission and scared the crap outta me but finally got the hang of it, it amazed me how quick my granddaughter picked it up. HRP

 

I think the day that you learn to drive, will also be a day that you will always remember. I taught myself to drive on a old 1950 Studebaker pickup, with three on the tree. I was probably 9 or 10 years old at the time. It was my grandads old farm truck. It was so beat up that if I hit stuff, {trees etc.} you couldn't even tell it. lol He also taught me to drive his Ford tractor. But he wasn't aware that I had already been driving it. When I met my girlfriend, now my wife she was only 16. I taught her to drive on my 69 SS 396 375hp four speed Camaro. It was not a great experience! lol I have two daughters, I taught both of them to drive on my 68 Vette, with a Muncie four speed. My oldest wasn't so easy. But my youngest was a natural. Maybe I just became a better teacher. lol All the girls like to drive straight transmissions. My youngest still loves a straight trans and, she has a Pt Cruiser, a camaro, and stills loves to drive the old 68 Vette that she learnt to drive on. When the grandkids are old enough to drive. I hope I can teach them too. The photo isn't of my Grandad's truck, but looks very similar. He sold it for scrap. Ron....

 

Best idea right there in my opinion, get them use to a clutch in something that's easy to get moving because of the gearing. Turned both my boys loose in the backyard with my CJ5, picked it up in no time.
Oldest grandson has had his permit about a month and attempted his first lesson in my coupe. Probably the worst thing to start with considering the 3:00 gearing and the blown smallblock but he got it rolling a couple rather jerky times. I'll bet it was still the highlight of his weekend though. Probably need the get the CJ running again...

 

I taught my older kids how to drive with my '67 Ford PU. 352, manual everything with a granny low four speed that you'd swear was full of rocks by the way it shifted. They wanted to learn on my '64 289/4-speed Comet... they were told over my dead body... LOL. But after learning on the truck, they never had any issues driving any other car other than the usual young male stupidities.

But I do remember my Dad teaching my older sister to drive a stick. It was a '55 Ford wagon, V8 w/OD. It took about three weekends before she had the throttle/clutch coordination down well enough to start without drama. I'll swear she got the front wheels off the ground at least once, and the first lesson was aborted when my Dad hit his head on the dash… LOL. But she eventually 'got it', and went on to drive school buses for 25 years. She was an excellent driver (although heavy-footed, a family trait inherited from our mother) until her Alzheimer's got bad, then it got scary as she'd make turns with no warning when she realized she was missing the turn.

 

Without having a full curriculum you should not be teaching anyone to drive.
Drivers courses have 40 hours classroom teaching,, do you
You forget one minor point it could cost your child their life. I been driving big trucks for 40 years and see many scraped off the pavement due to poor choices or a moments lapse of attention but of course everyone thinks they are just totally awesome drivers
JMHO

 

I taught a girl I was seeing years ago how to drive a manual on my O/T Mustang GT that I had. She got the hang of it pretty well. I think V8 sticks are easier to teach people on, the torque of the engine makes the car harder to stall and gets it moving easier, whereas a economy minded 4 cylinder takes a bit more finesse to feather the clutch out to get it rolling.

I look forward to teaching my little one to drive. My buddies and I are already planning how to modify some Power Wheels to get more power. Just trying to expose my little one to the cars and tools now, want it to become second nature for her, just something we do.

 

Teaching my Daughter to drive a stick was not what you would call fun. My family is not known for it's patience or calm demeanor and she is certainly no exception. After a short drive through the neighborhood (in her newly acquired '72 VW Squareback) she stopped in the middle of the road, yelled at me, got out and walked home ( seven years later it's funny..........then, not so much).

About a year later she stated 'I don't know why I cant drive the Comet once in a while.' I told her to get in and reminded her that the seat isn't adjustable. I asked if she could reach the pedals............'just barely'. I told her to try and push the clutch in..........'it takes both feet'. I also had to remind her that there's no power steering, wipers or heater/air and oh yeah, it's got Cheater Slicks on it too. By that time she had already soured on her VW and it had been 'upgraded' to an Escort wagon.........she stuck with that.

 

I taught my daughter to drive in an old Honda Civic 4 speed and she picked it up real quick, then started my grandson in racing a go kart when he was 10 and then a motorcycle when he was 12, so moving up to a car was quite easy for him and he was very happy to drive with a manual trans for his first car, which was previously his mother's. I think it is imperative to teach them to drive a manual trans car when they first start driving as they will always be able to get in any vehicle and drive it whenever they need to.

 

Was teaching my sister how to drive stick and as usual when something didn't go right it was always my fault - she didn't do anything wrong. Well that lasted only so long before I had enough of her attitude and made her go down a road that had a stop going uphill. We were there for a good half hour - she stalled it every time. No matter how she tried she could not get it going. After the tantrum, and then finally tears, I reached over, took it out of 3rd and put it in 1st, and told her it's better to start in first. We still laugh about it today.

With my youngest daughter she picked it up really quick and started to get a little cocky about it. So same thing - find a stop on a hill. She tried 3 or 4 times and stalled it each time. There was an elderly couple watching us from their front porch. Well her cockiness took over, rev' the crap out of it and dumped the clutch. The old guy gave us thumbs up as we squealed through the intersection.


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Good points. My kids both took driver's ed in HS. Then the 5-hour course in the class room, believe it was at a driving school. I took driver's ed too in HS, learned a lot from it. First time driving with power steering for me, I thought something was wrong with the cars... they turned too easily. My oldest son took his road test in my OT Altima, my wife told me to check under the seats, she didn't want a beer can rolling out during his road test...

 

Kids who already learned to drive a motorcycle early on have no problems with an automobile clutch, same principles apply.

 

Guess we are a little different down here. The less rules and laws the better. MERICA!

 

No grandkids yet, but I did get to teach daughter in law (she was son's girlfriend at the time) how to drive the Volvo 544. She also picked it up quickly.

I also taught all 3 of my sons, they generally drive better than I do, of course.

 

I spent a bunch of Saturdays and Sundays teaching my wife the finer points of driving when we had been married about a year. We had a 59 ElCamino that I had put bucket seats in and we made a pad for our son behind the seats and away we went on the central Texas backroads.
Luckily all three of my kids took diving lessons and I didn't have to do the actual teaching.
My last task in the Army in June/July of 69 was teaching a city boy who had never driven a car and had no plans to ever own one how to drive so he could be the company Commander's driver. For a bit over two weeks it was check out a Jeep first thing in the morning. Make sure the tank was full and drive the less traveled back streets of Fort Hood Texas all day with a stop back at the Mess Hall for lunch. Luckily he was a good learner with good motor skills and by the end of it he was a capable driver.

 

I helped teach Brenda how to drive but may have taught her a little too much about driving faster than she should.

This is from one of her earlier post.HRP


I have told this story in the past but since Danny brought it up it may be of interest.

I have always been a car gal, my daddy and my granddaddy both taught me to love cars. My daddy said if I was going to drive I needed to know how to take care of my car, but it was Danny that showed me the love of speed. Running through the gears and watching the speedometer hit 100 was better than any drug for lifting the spirit and calming the nerves.
My junior year in high school I had classes with a girl who just kept bragging about her "guys" 55 chevy, and how he was teaching her to drive it. It was a nice car and it had some serious power, but it was not that special, but she just keep on, and on, and on.... She drove it to school one morning and she just pushed my last button. I told her my "guys" car was faster, it also had some serious power.
At lunch that day I left school and took my mustang to Danny ( he was at work) and I drove the falcon back to school. I could have probably beat her in my car but it wouldn't have had the same effect. I pulled through the parking lot and back down on to the main road in front of the school. She saw me and followed me. We lined up and she missed a gear. POOR BABY she wanted best 2 out of 3. We lined up again and I took her by over 2 car lengths. That conversation was over.
We pulled back into the parking lot and went on to class. ten minutes or so and we were called to the office. Highway Patrol Officer was there. He said he knew it was us but he did not witness it so he couldn't do anything but he would be watching us real close from then on.
Before I got the car back to Danny he already new what had happened. He tried to be mad but the truth was he was both proud and impressed that I had learned how to handle the car and a mouthy female.
When I got home Mama was waiting on me. The school had called. She had 2 questions,"are you going to pull a stunt like that again, and do I need to tell your daddy?" No Mam! As I turned to walked away she asked if I out ran her? Yes Mam! I still love the feeling of seeing a speedometer peg out.

 

I taught my wife to drive a standard when we were dating in high school. Taught two daughters and a cousin to drive a standard as well.
I once had a girlfriend with a daughter with a learning permit who asked me to teach her to drive a standard. As I was driving her out to the county roads she said her dad made her nervous, griping about her driving and she stayed tense because of it. I said to myself, okay she did not ask you to teach her to drive, she asked to teach her to drive a standard. I don't care, as long as she stays between the fences, I will not gripe about her driving, It was a good thing I decided that because Michelle was the worst driver I have ever ridden with. But I did not complain, I just showed her how to operate the clutch and shift gears. It was the scariest afternoon of my life. After a couple more lessons, she could shift fairly well. She never did drive very well, but she could shift, and that is what she asked me to show her.

 

Wife Joey was 17, inherited the '67 Valiant slant six/ 3speed. She had never driven a stick, (her Dad was going to teach her, 'next week'...but she had to get to school. NOW.)
Started the engine, (in driveway) knew that the clutch had to disengage, so she was ahead of the game...Push the stick up for reverse? Oops. second? Wait. Pulled back, and up.
She backed out into the dtreet, killed engine in low, 3 or 4 times...Finally, it's going. Pulled out onto busy 4 lane Blossom Hill Road, made it practically all the way to City College, in second gear. Tried for third, ahhhh. "Nice. But I'm gonna have to do it all over again...when I come to a light..."
When I met her, she had a '69 OT VW Fastback, 4 speed, drove it like a veteran.
She drove our shop Old Time drag car, 472" rat with a Muncie, stiff MacLeod clutch, smooth as glass. She's a good driver. I've gotten 'rusty'...but can still powershift, etc.

 

My oldest daughter learned to drive in the pasture behind the house, a 74 Ford Courier with a four speed, her and her cousin spent the afternoon learning how to drive. Later on I got her a Monza (not the Corvair) with a four speed, she did fine, later I inherited two step daughters, the oldest got a Dodge Colt (Mitisbishi) with a four speed, we went to the county fair grounds and drove around, stopping on up hills, she loved that car. I didn't remember teaching the second step daughter how to drive but while my grandson (her son) was here yesterday he said that his mom said I taught her to drive in a cemetery so we wouldn't kill anybody I wish I had more memory of those events

 

The way some folks drive I honestly believe they found their drivers license as a prize in a box of Cracker jacks. HRP

 

Taught my kid sister how to drive, at the time my dd was a '61 vw bus. Standing outside at first, I didn't know the nose of that bus could jump so high when she let off the clutch the first few times. All three of us did survive though, my sister, myself and the clutch...

 

I can just imaging a 61 bus bouncing up and down. HRP

 

My granddaughter teaching her younger sister proper driving techniques in her politically correct electric vehicle.

 

when I bought my first car at 16 my buddy drove it home, then we went out and I had to figure out how to drive it. all that chirping and bucking and lurching. I couldn't make a car do that now if I tried.

I have never owned a daily driver that was not a stick shift. had a few 60's cars that were auto's, but they were not daily's

 

I think the problem today with shitty drivers is because the majority of them just drive to get from 'A' to 'B' in the quickest time possible. Most of us drove because for us it was an experience, something that felt 'cool' to do. How many of you used to gather a couple of mates, some food and possibly alcoholic beverage, and just go for a drive. As the miles grew so did the pile of bullshit from the stories.
Nowadays any passengers are gawking at their 'phones finding the quickest way there.
I drove 6 hours straight last Sunday after racing all day and enjoyed every curve and every hill. Admittedly I was piloting a late model Nissan diesel tow car but it's a manual gearbox and still requires you get the shifts just right. Yes, it was nice to be finally home, but I wasn't knackered from the drive because I enjoy driving. The HA/GR in my avatar is a manual 'box as well.

 

This was posted on the Old Farts group, Funny since I was teaching my granddaughter to drive ba stick shift. HRP

 

That would clearly explain the # of road fatalities per capita in USA.
Driving courses for automobiles are not mandatory in Ontario however those who do pass a recognized course see a 50% reduction in insurance premiums as soon as they are licensed while someone who does not take a course will take years for their premiums to reduce provided they have no accidents and don't accumulate any points.

 

The United States has more fatality's because we have more licensed drivers, as of the 2019 year The United States have 227,754,100 drivers verses the 2017 Canada statistics that list 22,000,000 drivers.

With means we have 205,654,100 more people behind the wheel. HRP