At what age, and in what car did you learn to drive?

[MarcDeSoto]

The year was 1965. I was just 15 and my dad who had just left us a year ago was visiting. He was driving his 64 Mustang. We lived on top of a hill in San Diego so there was very little traffic. He taught me how to work the stick shift, but I never got to drive his Mustang solo. I really learned how to drive with my mom's 65 Chevrolet wagon which had an automatic. So why do I have a nostalgia for Mopars? My grandfather died in 1953 so my dad inherited his 52 Dodge club coupe. I remember riding in the back on Saturdays when our dad drove us to his work. My mom drove a 53 Mercury wagon and since my parents were not Mopar buffs, my dad sold the Dodge in 1957 and replaced it with a Ford Fairlane convertible.

[DLK]

In 1964 in my sophomore year in H.S. my Dad let me buy a 31 Model A Tudor that was for sale a couple blocks away from us for $135. We lived in a suburb but you could safely drive in the neighborhood without risk of being pulled over. He let me drive that car around the neighborhood within about a 4 block radius. The car had two major issues - it had an extremely grabby clutch and it had a bad pitman arm so the steering was really loose. We sold the car before I got my license in January 1966.

[busycoupe]

1969. I was a Junior in HS and learned on my Father's 66 VW squareback and the school driver ed. car. The school had a 69 Mustang with a 3 spd stick. In those days you chose whether to get tested on standard or automatic. I chose standard because my father's car was a stick. Also if you had an "automatic license" you weren't supposed to drive stick, but if you tested on a stick you could drive an automatic.

Dave

[YukonJack]

First drove at 13, 1959 Thunderbird. When I got my learners permit, 66 Lincoln Continental.

[old stovebolt]

I started out on skates.

Then I took drivers training.

That was very funny, great photos, thank you.

[old stovebolt]

Age 17, 1933 Chevrolet 3 window coupe, which I still own.

[55 Fargo]

Age 3, 1959 Ford, 6 cyl 3 speed on the tree. LOL. Would sit right beside, Dad, and knew exactly when to shift the gears.

Learned to drive, on a 1968 Old Vista Cruiser, at 16

[Chester Brzostowski]

Age 17 in a new 1965 Plymouth Fury III. My first car was a 1957 Dodge Dart

Chet...

[PatS....]

I was 9 and my Dad let me drive his new 63 IHC in the city on a stretch of road built to be part of an expressway that never was, so 4 lanes and no traffic...he wanted me to learn the shifting before I ever had to deal with traffic. My Mother was none to impressed but wasn't surprised either.

[Niel Hoback]

Man, that things got whitewalls and full wheel covers! Pretty spiffy.

[fstfish66]

dirt bikes in my young teens,,my folks had a permenet camp site and i had dirt bikes,,,then one time it was killing me to drive the camp ground owners/farmers pick up mid 50s era GMC i think, 3 speed on the tree,,, got to move it around one time off of the main road to let campers by,,guessing i was around 14,,then got my first car at age 15 A 64 barracuda 273 push button,,,,the bikes had to go ,,,took my drivers test day after xmas 1974 in my barrracuda

[Reg Evans]

I learned to drive at 11 (down hill anyway) in my home made no door sedan with a trunk rack and dual side mounts and no brakes. My friends much older brother clocked me at 45 mph down a long steep road.

[OldDad67]

I learned to drive at 15 1/2 in California on a learners permit using my dad's 59 Chevy 3/4 ton stakeside truck. Dad made mom teach me because I think he was afraid to ride with me. Then my first car was a P-15 in 1960, 50 Pontiac tail lights, lowered, small grille bars cut out, no door handles, trunk light removed, heated rear seat. (just kidding about the seat)!

[49 Dodge Dude]

I learned how to drive in my Dad's old 1967 Chevy Bel-Air station wagon, the one with the rear-facing seat and the electric tailgate window that constantly slipped out of the track, and the one I took across the Mississippi River bridge at 120mph when I was a teenager.

About a year ago, some guy on eBay was selling one for $12K that looked EXACTLY like the one my Dad had. I didn't have the funds to buy it. Broke my heart.

God, I miss that car

[Hawkeye]

I learned to drive when I was 14 in my mom's '66 Mustang. We lived in Yorba Linda, Ca., which at the time was very rural. My dad would let me drive him around quite a bit before I got my learners permit.

A couple of years ago, I finished the restoration of that same Mustang.

Edited January 22, 2012 by IowaMark

[Jim Shepard]

The first "vehicle" I drove was my Grandfathers Allis-Chalmers Model C tractor. When I was about 13 I'd drive it out to the mail box and get the mail for him. The vehicle I learned to drive in was my Dad's 1951 Henry J. The vehicle that introduced me to my first traffic officer was my Dad's 1957 Studebaker Golden Hawk. He got rid of it shortly thereafter...

[Jim Shepard]

I learned to drive at 11 (down hill anyway) in my home made no door sedan with a trunk rack and dual side mounts and no brakes. My friends much older brother clocked me at 45 mph down a long steep road.

Hey Reg! Your photo sure brings back some fond memories. I bet we were "driving" about the same time...

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[Reg Evans]

Wow Jim ! Looks like you were really barreling down that road

[MBF]

When I was 5 I remember sitting on Dad's lap and steering shifting his 53 Chevy (still have that car-came home from the hospital in it-son is restoring it) to my grandparents house about 5 miles away. I learned to use the pedals on a Model A doodlebug when I was six. Dad attached 2x4 blocks to the pedals so I could reach them. He worked for NY telephone, and had a 52 Dodge company truck that he brought home at night in case he was called out. I drove that around the driveway until I got good enough to put it in the garage at night. I aint been right since. Mike

[Jim Shepard]

Wow Jim ! Looks like you were really barreling down that road

Yeah. I betcha I was doin' 2-3 mph...