Jump to content

Teaching my grandson to drive a stick


Don Coatney

Recommended Posts

My grandson just got his drivers license last week so I thought I would teach him how to drive a standard transmission with fluid drive. He has never driven any stick shift car before. When I was his age I had to take my drivers test in a stick shift. When I was about 10 years old I sat next to my dad in a 52 chevy. After watching him shift gears I said Dad can I shift for you? So I learned how to shift a 3 on the tree at an early age. So he jumps behind the wheel of my D-24. I said make sure the transmission is in neutral and he did not know where neutral was. I told him to depress the clutch and I would show him. I look down and he depresses the clutch with his right foot. Took a few moments to correct that issue. Then I told him to start the engine BUT DON'T BREAK THE KEY OFF. I told him to push the start button and it took a few more minutes to explain how to start it. Once started I told him to increase the engine speed a bit to let the engine warm up. So he floors it. Got it backed out on the street and I told him to put it in 2nd gear and while holding the brake release the clutch slowly. He did so and I told him to release the brake pedal and give it some gas. Once again he floors it. He wound it up tight in 2nd gear and I told him to depress the clutch and shift to 3rd gear. So he depresses the clutch and still has the throttle floored. He did not know where 3rd gear was so we pulled over for some more instructions. I left the car in 3rd gear for the rest of the drive. Got home and I told him to shift into 1st gear so we could park the car in the garage. Once again I had to show him where 1st gear was. Bottom line we made it home safely and had fun. I few more lessons and he might be ready to solo.

 

IMG_E5433_1.jpg

IMG_5432_2.jpg

 IMG_5430_1.jpg

  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

37 minutes ago, Don Coatney said:

So he floors it.

 

Sounds like he may have driven watching my grandma drive even Before she was too old. I remember riding with her as a kid and what a thrill!! ? ?

 

My dad was the opposite , slow and gas mileage king! BORING!!!  ?

 

DJ

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I learned how to drive a stick shift in my '48 Plymouth sedan. I bought it in 1986 for $500 bucks just before my 21st birthday, and my mom had to drive it home for me! I remember driving the family car behind her as we drove the 7 miles home. She hit a bump and a huge piece of rust fell off from under that car!! Anyway, we made it home and later that day my dad took me out to teach me. I didn't have too much trouble picking it up, but took me a while. I remember about 10 years later I ran into the local police chief at a restaurant and he asked me about that car and if I still had it. He laughed and said all the officers in town knew when I was out "refining" my shifting technique! Here it is 32 years later and I still have that car. It sat in my parents yard for years ignored until I my dad died and my mom got Alzheimers. I had to think about getting it moved when I knew I was going to have to sell the house and move mom into a nursing home. I fell in love with that car all over again. I was a rust bucket then and it's still a rust bucket now and I've put way more money into her than shes worth, but I just can't seem to get rid of the old girl. Too many memories of my youth and my parents, I guess. It now resides in my friends storage barn and I work on her whenever I get time and money. Maybe one day we'll be back on the road together.

Kevin

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, P15-D24 said:

Did you age a few more years in a mater of minutes! ?

 

For Me not really, after the initial shock, I recovered and I was storing the memories for when I got My license to drive! ?

 

My mom instead of dad let me drive with my learners license and I had to behave as If she told dad that my driving was like grandmas (her mother) I would Never get my regular  license in 6 mouths .

 

Then he likes the 64 GTO I had seen for sale on a lot .! What??  Helped me buy it!!  He liked Pontiac's. He had never heard about the GTO's.

Edited by DJ194950
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know some real Army heros, but your the man.

 

I often brag about my wife and daughter.  When I met my wife she had a Ford Maverick with a three on the column.  Our first car in Germany was a Opel Rekord with 4-on-the three, yes FOUR.  When other kids in our area would take their driver's License test on a testing area that is closed to real traffic, my daughter took her test on the city streets in Minnesota, in the winter with a Five-speed Toyota.  One proud Dad.

 

Edited by 48ply1stcar
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Don's story reminded me of when my oldest daughter learned to drive a stick shift car at the age of sixteen.  We bought her a Plymouth Turismo. (don't recall the year).  Till she mastered her shifting, the clutch was waving the white flag.  Oh, the car had previously been "rode hard, and put away wet", so the clutch issue was not a surprise, and certainly not her fault.   She asked me what we were going to do?  I informed her that WE were going to replace the clutch.  My budget dictated that it wasn't going to a repair shop.  So she donned a spare set of coveralls I had, and we proceeded to install a new clutch and pressure plate.  The car was front wheel drive, so it wasn't a fun job, but we got it back together.  The car was back on the road, and she gained some appreciation for car repair.  We still get a chuckle about that, and she can drive a stick shift with the best of em" now.? 

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awesome, Don!  At least your grandson wants to learn how to drive an old car, and he has a master to teach him!  (Although I didn't notice that he "volunteered" to learn...)  I learned to drive in a '72 IH Scout with standard tranny.  I couldn't seem to get the timing down at first, so my dad made me sit on the hood and bombed around a gravel pit to show me that it wasn't that hard, slamming on the brakes when he was done to send me flying into some bushes.  Still haven't figured out how that was a teaching point, but it was kinda fun, and I think my dad enjoyed it a little too much.  l didn't learn "on the tree" until we got a '54 Chevy sedan back in 87 or 88, but I recall it wasn't at all difficult.  Haven't figured out why so many folks are scared of column shifts. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Don:

 

I have my antique car insurance with Grundy here in PA.  You might want to read your policy because some carriers will only permit family members to drive your antique car or truck and then they must also be 25 or older to be covered and for your vehicle to be covered under the policy.

 

Do not want anything to happened to the car and then find out you lost the coverage.  EVERYONE SHOULD CONTACT THEIR CARRIER TO VERIFY WHO AND AT WHAT AGE SOMEONE CAN DRIVE THEIR ANTIQUE CAR OR TRUCK.

 

RICH HARTUNG

DESOTO1939@AOL.COM

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, desoto1939 said:

Don:

 

I have my antique car insurance with Grundy here in PA.  You might want to read your policy because some carriers will only permit family members to drive your antique car or truck and then they must also be 25 or older to be covered and for your vehicle to be covered under the policy.

 

Do not want anything to happened to the car and then find out you lost the coverage.  EVERYONE SHOULD CONTACT THEIR CARRIER TO VERIFY WHO AND AT WHAT AGE SOMEONE CAN DRIVE THEIR ANTIQUE CAR OR TRUCK.

 

RICH HARTUNG

DESOTO1939@AOL.COM

 

Rich, You are 100% correct. Doubtful my insurance would have covered anything that may have happened on our drive around the block. I should have waited 9 years until my grandson was 25 years old before giving him a driving lesson in my 70 year old Dodge. But in 9 years with my health issues I most likely will not be around and if I am not around the car will most likely be owned by my grandson. So sometimes I will take a calculated risk such as driving around the block in my quiet neighborhood where the speed limit is 25MPH. So this calculated risk was worth it to me for the grandson bonding time and the fun factor. I used to be young and foolish. Now I am old and foolish.

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

From the time my wife was nine years old, her father would give her the keys to the truck, to drive around the gravel pit while he caught up on some Saturday office work.   

She quickly mastered the stick shift.  40 miles on the odometer, one Saturday.  Grandma did not know that she was driving over roads right along the deep pits. 

Fast forward to senior year driver's ed. Anyone want to try driving the manual shift?   Llike a champ. 

The instructor called her father, to compliment him, and perhaps fish for some info.  Thanks, but not  a word about the gravel pit escapades. 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I learned to drive in a variety of stick shifts. At the time Dads truck was a v6 dakota with a 5spd. I still have that one although it's in pretty sad shape these days. 

Besides that one was his 39 plymouth road king touring sedan, 40 Plymouth PT105 pickup(before he restored it I used to drive it around in the woods), the 46 dodge 1/2 ton that replaced it as the woods truck, and his 50 plymouth 4dr. 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Young Ed said:

I learned to drive in a variety of stick shifts. At the time Dads truck was a v6 dakota with a 5spd. I still have that one although it's in pretty sad shape these days. 

Besides that one was his 39 plymouth road king touring sedan, 40 Plymouth PT105 pickup(before he restored it I used to drive it around in the woods), the 46 dodge 1/2 ton that replaced it as the woods truck, and his 50 plymouth 4dr. 

Yes I quoted myself-coming back to add pictures. Also this is my Moms car that I also learned to drive in. That's our trailer across the street in the neighbors driveway. 

ed019.jpg

 

39Ply.jpg

 

40plymouthpickup3.jpg

 

cars.jpg

 

DSC00396.jpg

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My first vehicle I drove by myself (as an 11 yo) was a T model Ford. That was interesting...

 

My 16 yo niece is really keen on getting an older car for her first driver - and she's looking at a mid 60's Chrysler Valiant :)  To get her prepared I'm borrowing dad's 29 Plymouth for a couple of days, and then into my 1959 Triumph Herald convertible. She thinks that's cool. 

 

Rick

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I bought my 1940 Dodge in September 1971 whilst in my final year of school, had my learners permit soon after and coaxed my Dad into taking me for drives around the local area......I distinctly remember one time about 10 minutes from home driving along the main southern artery in Sydney, the Princes Highway when the car started to slow down, then started to give out plumes of smoke.................yes you guess it.........the trainee driver had forgot to release the parking brake and after causing a minor traffic jam we were on our way again............lol............this wasn't the last time that Dad took me out for a supervised drive in the Dodge but it was the last time I've ever left the parking brake on and it also convinced Dad that family subsidised formal driving lessons would be a good idea............lol...........I still remember the smell of cooked handbrake lining even now 47yrs later.........so Don........your pics bring back so great memories.........andyd.        

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wish I had a grandchild like yours. When my daughter needed a car, I offered to buy it for her and even help with insurance and maintenance, but under condition that it would be a stick shift. Incentive of a free car was strong enough, and she ended up in passing her driver's exam in that stick shift. She is now enthusiastic driver, and expressed gratitude to me for teaching her how to stick.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I learned to drive a stick in a 1969 Mustang Mach 1. If you didn't get the pedal action right it pretty much jumped straight up into the air. I learned real quick. I learned to double clutch in my 1938 Dodge Brothers pickup. No synchromesh. Once you get into the rhythm it's pretty fun.

 

Pete

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.

Terms of Use