Folks Of Interest Did you learn to drive a stick or a automatic?

Learned on my avatar at about 12 or 13. Had an LT-1 and a 4sp. Of course it belonged to dad at that time.

 

I grew up on the farm, so by the age of 8 or 9, I had everything figured out. The first automatic I drove was my Grandpa's hired man had a '58 Impala. I was about 11 or so.

Pop had a '60 Buick Lesabre convertible with a dyna-flow that I got my license in.
After that everything I ever owned was a stick, but then I've only owned 12 cars.

 

Stick, 1961 Ford in a gravel parking lot before the Friday night Boy Scout meeting. Why Dad had me start backing up is a mystery, but it all worked out. Bob

 

62 full size Ford sedan, 6 cylinder 3 on the tree. In those days (1966) automatics were something fancy rich people had.

My first car was a 48 Chevy, also 6 cylinder 3 on the tree.

 

'48 Ford pickup when I was 14 at my uncles farm. He gave me the keys and said drive it around the field till you know what your doing. I ended up breaking an axle.. Got my drivers license in my dad's '52 Plymouth 3 on the tree.

 

Stick

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It was both for me we had a GMC pickup and a 65 Chevy impala convertible with auto and a Fiat 124 and Alfa Romeo Giulietti with manuals. The Fiat had a 5 speed and the Alfa was 4 on the tree. I miss those cars.

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I learned to drive in a 85 Nissan hard body 5 speed

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Learned on a '69 Datsun truck, drive around the field, shoveling up horse crap for grandma's garden, 12 years old.

 

My brothers 2 door 49 ford 3 on the tree front coils cut 4" front clearance.

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VW Bug. Not the automatic stickshift version.

 

Standards!Being a farm kid my brother and I would take the '56 ford 1/2 ton out to the different fields to pick roots and stones when he was 8 and me at 9. He would kneel on the seat,steer and shift the 4 speed, I would sit on the floor with my back against the seat and run the pedals. I don't think we ever got out of 1st.This was not something my mom was fond of but I can remember dad saying he wanting us to learn everything possible. At 14 I received my drivers licence, very restricted as it was for use only for farm purposes,driving tractors,combines,etc on the roads.I never knew what an automatic was as my dad thought they were useless until I borrowed my older brothers '59 Chevy 4 door so I could take my "real" licence when I turned 16. It was so rusty the headlight buckets were held in with haywire, the driving instructor got in and when he shut his door the window fell down inside the door! He looked at me and asked it this wreck had brakes, after pumping them a couple times to show him we were off. To this day I still use my left foot for the brake, if it don't have a clutch.
Randy


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1963 Holden wagon with side plates 6 cylinder with a 3 on the tree with no sincro first gear!


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I learned stick shift, in high school my Auto body teacher gave me keys to a Chevy Sprint ( like a geo metro) I made laps in the parking lot until I could drive it!!

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straight stick in a couple family cars
fluid drive in another one
automatic in another one

no wonder I'm confused

 

Not exactly H.A.M.B. Friendly, but 89 wrangler 5 speed when I was 13


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1949 chevy 3 speed columm

 

Seems like everyone is learning to drive on something sweet! I learned to drive a stick.... and 87 Nissan Pulsar... hey you take what you can get when you're 15.

 

Yes.

 

I actually learned to drive on an early Ford tractor. Grandparents had farms and dad had a landscape business on the side (professional firefighter). At 10 or so, I was driving the tractors putting up hay and straw, grading yards...easy stuff but it taught me clutch control and steering. Later I would drive grandpaw's '48 3/4-ton Chevy and my papaw's '63 C10. Dad's '74 Suburban was the first auto I ever drove. In between, Dad bought my younger brother and I a King Midget to use as a go-kart of sorts on my grandpaw's farm and the surrounding dirt roads. It was a 2-speed auto but that 9-hp Wisconsin would push that thing around pretty good, especially for a 12 year-old hot rodder!!

In driver's ed class over one summer (1978), I went to the high school that had the county's drivers ed range (large paved/fenced lot adjacent to the sports fields). All the cars were autos, except for a slightly older VW Rabbit. During one road session, it was my turn to drive. After a moment or two, the instructor asked, "You've driven before, haven't you?" Fearing the worst, I answered honestly. On our next driver's range outing, we were learning proper passing techniques. The instructor pointed to me and one other guy and said, "You two get in the Rabbit!"

 

I learn on a 1958 VW bus at 8 years old

 

At age 13, my brothers '53 Pontiac with 3 on the column.

 

8N and a 63 Comet

 

My dad's been an automatic fan since the Mercedes bug bit him, when I was about 6. Consequently the cars I learned on were automatics: the little Mitsubishi "Plymouth" wagon we had when we lived in Canada for a while, and my mum's Audi after that. I learned to drive a manual on a friend of my parents' Toyota pickup: four on the tree. I've never owned an automatic car myself.

 

1948 Ford sedan up and down between the rows of an orange orchard. 3 of us on board all "learning" to drive.

 

59 Ford wagon, 292, 3 on the tree.

 

grandfathers 56 chevy pickup 4 speed, still can hear him saying lo-low = first gear

 

1960 econoline window van.
200 from a mustang.. 3 on the tree.
Dad's work truck. Hauled all his carpenters tools..
I changed 12 clutches , 2 engines and 1 rear end in that thing.
Dad kept it from 69 till 90..
31 years I did all the work on it...
Funny... I've never owned a Ford myself......

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Learned on both a 58 Chev Biscayne,6 stick and a 55 Pontiac with auto depending on which was available.
Remember how you went for a short cruise when your parents sent you out to get a gallon of milk? "Check me out, I'm driving!" Lol

 

Stick... Dad had a fiberglass dune buggy that he used to let me drive around in the field and on dirt roads when I was about 10 years old. Plus I drove tractors and hay trucks etc. on my Grand Dad's farm. When I was 11 there was a big celebration going on in the city park. My mother and a friend had some sort of craft booth in it. They spent the whole morning loading everything into a VW Bus and then found neither of them could get it out of the driveway. I finally spoke up and said you know I could drive the bus to the park for you. After some seriously painful looks between the two they finally agreed. I climbed in and delivered them to the event with no issue. Then I guess forgetting what was going on or excited about their booth etc., they unloaded the van and sent me back home (LOL). Mom said it didn't register with her til later in the day what they had done. She said at some point she looked at her friend and said, did we just send an 11 year old kid home driving by himself! But I was a good kid. I put the old van right back where I found it, grabbed my bike and headed to the park again.