Did anyone here learn to DRIVE in an old car?

Started driving on the farm, when I was 8 years old. (1954). Drove a '47 Chevy 3/4 ton around the hay field in granny gear, till i figured out how to shift it from watching my dad. Got goin' really fast, in 3rd gear, and hit an irrigation ditch. Busted a tie rod, blew a tire, busted my forhead, got a bloody nose, and punctured lip. That was all of the injuries. (till my dad got there). Had to take that class over, then graduated to my Mom's '53 Studebaker Commander. Hit a post with it. (I learn slow). The best of times!!! would do it over in a heartbeat!!

 

51 chevy 2 ton truck cause I was too small to buck the big bales
chris

 

36 Chev. and farmall tractor

 

My folks had two approaches. Dad was all about precision. Learning to back a trailer behind a 71 Dodge flatbed, I'd have to keep doing it over until I had the whole rig within 6" of the curb and not over it. Mom on the other hand was teaching skills. 74 Torino on 15 miles of backroads and she'd tell me if the speedo went below 65 or I ran off the road she'd kick my ass.

 

Learned to drive in a '48 Studebaker Starlight Coupe. 3 on the tree... I think my dad thought if I could drive that I could learn to drive anything!

 

first car I ever drove was my ole man's Av8. I was 12 and got to drive it up and down the driveway every time I detailed it.

 

Weren't that old then - learned in 65 in a 53 Buick Special & a 59 DeSoto Firedome - parent's dds. School Drivers Ed had a new 65 Malibu & a Biscayne. Kept ending up with the Malibu (6 cyl slug) when we went on the freeway, & the Biscayne barge when we did the twisty mountain roads!

 

Dad stuck us on the go kart at 4. One of those home made ones with the old lawn mower engine.

Then we moved on to tractors & pickups in the tobacco fields. The youngest kids were always the drivers because the older ones were needed to elsewhere.

The night I got my learner's permit, I spent 3 hours driving Dad and my godfather around town in the 55. Drove the 55 every day in high school.

Actually just got back from spending 5 hours in her this morn. It's nice to still have and love the car I learned on.

 

First one was 47 Chevy 3-on-the-tree,6-banger old dirt road and will never forget Dad taking the time to show me how to do a donut.I didn"t care what kind of car it was,I was driving!

 

I had a pedal fire truck...

First 'driving' was the grandparents' Farmall (think it was an F20, I was too young to pay attention to details like that at the time.) Kinda sat/stood in Dad's lap, yes, I still remember what the shifter felt like.

Then there was the '64 Country Sedan I still have, and the '66 Falcon, etc...

 

In 1964, I bought my first car, a '50 Plymouth two door fastback, with an eye to learning to drive on it. My Dad, however, insisted that I take formal lessons through "Young Drivers of Canada". My Mom taught me the fine art of clutch control on the '50 in our driveway which gave me a leg up when it came to taking the wheel of the "Young Drivers" '62 Pontiac four door sedan that I subsequently got my licence on. Mom herself had learned on a brand new '34 Ford Woodie, owned by a rich American lady whom she subsequently worked for as a chauffeur.

 

I learned to drive in a 1951 Chevy in 1967. I've owned two of them since then and still have a soft spot for them.

 

I am 47, bought my first car at 13 after a summer of mowing lawns. $325 for my '60 Chevy Belair, 2 door turquoise with a white top, 3 speed. Man that was my baby.

Lundy

 

We had to cut wood for the winter, the home built saw was at the barn The wood had to go to the house. I tried to haul it with a wheel barrow but it was a no go, to far, so Dad took the back seat out of the 40 Chevy 4Dr and we loaded it up to the rear bumber and he looked at me and said WELL, I said Well What. He said I got wood to cut, you drive it home and unload it, and at 12 yrs old (HA) He got more wood hauled then he could cut. Then he got me a 30 Ford to do the work. Does any one fell bad for me? Yea, I Know I Know. Iceman

 

I am 33 now and I was 8 when Dad bought the ol 48 Chevy and he taught me to drive/learn how to shift when I was 11 or so.. Still have the car and it's my Daily Driver.... Crazy how shit goes down....

 

53 Dodge Coronet with 241 Hemi and Gyromatic transmission. My dad's words were something like "Here are the keys, stay on the field roads and don't go down the coulee to the river". He didn't say how fast I could go so I bottomed it out on a bump and cracked the exhaust manifold. When I came back he told me it was my car now.

 

The local judge had a '29 Ford closed cab pick-up and a '29 Ford tudor sedan, and he used to come by my dad's shop with them. He asked me if I wanted to drive 'em (but never if I knew how): being 13-14 years old I said YEAH. I drove those all over this town whenever he'd come by. The worst thing about it is now I really want one of those trucks.....

 

Was it new?

 

42 dodge truck

 

Yeah, I had my pick of old company trucks..my Dad thought if I could figger out to drive the damn thing I could go for it, couldn't hurt it..So, I'm driving a 58 Ford one-ton SWB mobile-home hauler..I quickly figgered out that bouncing the truck in granny gear I could get the front wheels way off the ground..then I was hauling ass through the woods and jumped it between two trees and broke out both side-mirrors...

 

I just turned 60 last month. In about 1954 my dad put me on his lap behind the wheel of his ‘29 Tudor, and went tear assing around the lumber camp in Boulder Creek, CA. Scared hell out of me.

Next was a Bug Wasp for a couple of years.

When I got old enough to drive we rebuilt the flattie in his Seafoam ‘53 Tudor and that became my first car.

 

the first car I drove was a 40 ford convert, then a 58 corvette, but the car i spent the most time learning was a 67 camaro

 

1963 Impala Wagon!

 

I learned in an old car. But at that time it was a fairly new car.

 

Anything I learned to drive in would be "old" now. Learned to drive in a 54 Chev Pickup, 58 Merc wagon and 51 Vic that was supposed to be mine until one of my stepfather's workers offered more for it than it was worth at the time. I got some stick time in my grandfather's 48 Chev 1 ton (that my brother still has) but none of those were all that old in the early 60's. My 51 Merc coupe was 11 years old when I bought it when I was 16 and that would be the same as a 16 year old getting a 99 model car now. Not as cool but still a 11 year old car.

 

'51 Packard, with my bro...still have it...how about a '54 International Metro milk truck (my first vehicle)? Then, a '74 Fiat 124 Sedan, (yep!), we had one of the first "economy" cars in town! I used that Fiat to teach every cute girl in the neighborhood how to drive a clutch...Took 'em to fairgrounds parking lot, and turned em loose...lotsa fun...

Eric

 

Early as I can remember I was sitting on the old man's lap steering or next to him on the seat running the shifter till I got big enough to reach the pedals. LOL
Started actually driving on fire roads deer hunting in South Carolina in Dad's old 40's and 50's Ford pickups about age 9 or 10. I'd drive and drop off the hunters and dogs then pick them up later. When I got good enough at that, he let me take over on the highways when we did long trips in the family cars so he could sleep. We never stopped cross country except for gas and food. Worked farms and drove tractors and trucks every summer. Popped my first wheelie on a Case 500 tractor.
Got caught by my driver's ed. teacher driving to driver's ed. My mom hated to drive so I drove to drop me off and she rode along.
Bought my own first car from my step dad at 14 when I got my license. It was a 58 Pontiac Super Chief. Cost me a hundred bucks cash. That was 50 more than he'd paid for it. That was in 66.

 

I learned on a '48 Jeep pickup truck.

 

The first truck I got to steer was a 1960 willys pu when I was 6.The first one I actually got to drive and learn in was a 59 ford pu with a six and three on the tree............I guess thats why I am so into trucks still.I was 13 when I got to drive the ford.

 

When I was 14 I worked for a muffler shop that had a 47 Chevy pick up. I would drive it down the RR tracks to get coffee.