first manual car you ever drove?

My first manual CAR was a 1986 VW Jetta diesel when I was 13. My first manual ever was a John Deere Pro-Gator when I was 11 or so.

 

my moms uncle's 59 chevy p/u ,i still have it and teaching my boys on it.

 

The first clutch I ever drove was a 2 axle Kenworth w900. that was a helluva steep learning curve.

 

1962 Chevy . If my Mom and I were returning from somewhere at night I would talk her into letting me drive. We would switch back to her driving before we got home so as not to have my Dad know. This was in Maine in 1962 and we often wouldn't even meet another car on the road. I was 12 years old.

 

'53 Chevy

 

I've got an '80 Futura coupe with a 2.3 and a 4 speed that is one of my alternate daily drivers. It's underpowered, has a red disco interior, and no air, but I really like it. Fun and easy to drive. And it was cheap.

-KK

 

1938 Chevy 1.5 ton grain truck when I was about 7 years old.

 

Oh, and it's still in my Mom's grove.

 

HAHAHA we had one of those too! but it was an 86 diesel. Not trying to get off topic with the late model rides... but some of us just werent born that early.

 

My father's 1962 Ford unibody pickup, wish I had it now!

 

I can't remember for sure, but it was either my buddy's 56 Metropolitan which had a chevette 4 cyl and 4 speed in it, or an actual chevette my sisters friend had...i think it was the Met though....
Either way i guess i drove a chevette..hahaha

Tony

 

The first manual I ever drove was about a 1986 Chevy one-ton dually fuel truck with about a 1000 gallon tank on the back. Not what I would suggest a new driver choose to learn on, but still a whole bunch of fun, considering I was just newly turned 16 at the time.

 

8 years old, sitting on my father's lap, steering his grandmother's Volvo Duett.

 

1949 Dodge Coronet.

 

55 Nomad with a HiPo 327 and a four on the floor

 

early willys jeepster
14 years old rabbit hunting up north
it was also the first time i drove anything on the road.
lost hunting dogs in a blizzard and Dad and friend were out trying to find them as i drove the roads

never found em

 

A 50's Jeep at a local airport as fire and rescue duty . Oh yah and trash duty, thats when i got to drive it . 14 years old being chased down a runway by planes just trying to dump the trash... WOW what fun...

 

58 IH dually. Dad leaned in the window, explained how it worked and then said "Aw you'll figure it out. Funny parents don't trust thier kids like that anymore.

 

1969 Datsun 1300 L521 pickup. Four speed.
Right after that, a '69 Chevy C20 pickup, also a four-speed.

I was 12 at the time!

 

1976 VW Beetle Cabriolet, with no passenger floor pan whatsoever!

 

'59 galaxie 500.On my 13th birthday.I paid a buck for it at the nieghbor/sellers request to make it legal.My Dad and brother got it running on my 13th birthday.A solid 2 door hardtop,I wish I kept it !

 

1930 Ford Model A Two Dr Sedan. My very first car back in 1960. Sure wish I had it now.

 

1962 - I was 12 and my dad said that it was time I learned to drive. We drove his 1951 Chevy over to the local cemetery, then he got out and said: "Scoot over, son. You can't hurt anyone up here..."

Here's a photo of the '51 taken in 1953, just after Dad finished the garage:
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'70 Gran Prix. One of a very few with a 4-speed. 400 and a posi rear. Still could shoot my dad for selling it.

Just as an example the fun I had with that... one of the local roads I happened on just after they'd oiled/tarred and graveled one lane - I had to cross that lane to make my left turn - the streaks down to the original pavement from the burnout were there for at least five years.

 

14 years old, at Chic Cannon's speed shop, Santa Clara, Calif. 1956.
Chic Cannon was the NHRA Club Advisor, had toured the NHRA Safety Safari in '53 with Bud Coons and Wally Parks...I joined NHRA in 1954, at 12 years of age. I met Chic, Wally, and Bud at the NHRA booth at the Oakland Roadster Show.
When Chic moved his digs to Santa Clara, I was a welcome 'hangaround'.
Eric Bracher was Chic's main pilot for his B Modified Roadster, a '29 Highboy that was Olds powered, a 'main competitor' from San Jose to Salinas and Bakersfield strips.
Eric was the grandson of my Grandma's best friend, Clara Bracher.
I spent lots of hours there.

Ond day Chic asked me if I knew how to drive. I said, "Sure..." He asked me if I'd like to drive his '32. (Chic's '32 had been a Hot Rod Mag feature car, a chopped and shortened bed '32 pickup, maroon lacquer, louvered, bobbed fenders, full load flathead, whitewalls and full moons, spare tire well in right front fender with a tonneau cover that matched the off-white tarp.) Chic used his pickup to tow his '29 Highboy to and from the drags, and as a 'parts chaser' for the shop.
There was a logo painted on the doors, a fat little cannon going off, and the legend:
"NOISE BY CANNON".
Chic pulled the little '32 onto the side street skirting his shop...he stepped out, and I slid over. He got in the passenger side, and said, "Go ahead, let's see you drive..."
I pushed the 2,000 lb. Bear Super clutch in, bracing myself against the red-piped, off- white tuck-and-roll. First gear, '39 box...slipped right in. Chic ran a spoon gas pedal, kind of stiff with its 3-jugger, hard to coordinate my teenage feet.
I let the clutch out, and the little pickup lunged...I gave it some gas, then got ready to shift...Man! 30 miles an hour...got there quick!
I looked down, like I was gonna figure out where 2nd gear was...Chic grabbed the 3-spoke Bell, and said "Watch out! You almost scarfed the short!" I looked, and was way close to the parked cars along the narrow side street...
Chic said, "Stop, let's start again."
He did this no less than 4 times, I was embarassed to tears, but he was a cool head.
"I had to learn too, don't sweat it," he said.
I told him I could practice on my buddy Teddy DeMello's '33 Tudor. He said I should practice shifting without looking at the tranny tower!

I was ready to wager not too many 'cats my age' got their first driving experience in a Hot Rod Magazine Feature car, with a noted speed mechanic! I was truly blessed.

 

47 cj2a jeep flat fender, 60 screaming hp and all LOL

 

Motor Trends car of the year for 1983. A Renault Alliance.

 

What an odd question, well at least to we Aussies. Autos were thin on the ground back in the 80s, well compared to manuals anyway.
I remember when my parents bought the first auto car, a HZ Holden Wagon, worked 308. I didn't talk to them for a week, the embarrassment of having an auto in the family was huge!!
I don't know what the first manual was I drove, it would have been up and down the driveway at home, that or it may have been 'dads' Toyota Ute around his factory when I had a part time job there when I was around 10-11.
My first car was a 38 coupe, 351, 9inch, top-loader, monza red.

Auto's? Nah nothing less manly unless you are pumping some serious HP!!

Doc.

 

An OT Holden pickup at the GM dealership where I had a summer job. This was in 1971. Try speed shifting a three on the tree! We also got in brand new Vega's and one of the shop mechanics taught me how to speed shift a 4 speed. I'm guessing there were a few Vega's running around Guam that had to get their transmissions worked on. lol

 

My older brother's 93 lifted Jeep wrangler.