Each kid is different as they should be. My experience was with a 16 year old son that had been slinging hash at a Bob Evans for a year. He saved and wanted to buy a car. I really didn't think he was responsible enough at that time to own one. My proposition to him was "We'll use the money to build a street rod". My thoughts were it would prolly take a year and he could mature a little more. He called me at work one day and wanted to look at a truck (F-100). We looked 1954 model with a 1955 grill and Hemi. Top caved in, minimal rust poor bed, all the glass, no tranny you know haw it goes. Guy wanted $500 for the lot, told him I'd give him $175 and he keep the hemi. Tow barred it home with my son steering it on a peach crate and started working on it a a rented garage with no heat and little electric. About a year and a month later we put it on the road. Went to Stengers Ford in Dayton, OH. with it to pick up the NOS headlight rims; parked it by itself in the parking lot. Got the rims and went back to the truck. 5 guys lookin' it over; one was the service manager. He asked me if it was for sale and I told him it wasn't mine he'd have to deal with my son. Manager told him he'd write him a check for 5K. Son sais thanks but I think I'll keep it for a while. We had about 4K in the truck including the $250.00 I paid for the 350/350 combo with 12K miles. (Note the emblem in the V of the grill.) He soon after pulled a float in a parade with it. Long story short the truck still resides in his garage since completion in 1976. Married, 3-kids and he still kept it. Father and son projects can be treasured for a long time. Here he is last summer at a car club picknic with it 31 years later:
Im young myself (28) but I think this is the same reason my father opted to pass down the truck to me when i was getting my first seat time. First and foremost, I would suggest talking with him about what it is he wants for his first car but also regulate that by what you feel is best for a new driver/teenager. Find a compromise point and go from there...will save you $$$ and most of all stress. Already sounds like your motivated to help with a project and or be supportive if even its a newer import or something. Sometimes our wants outweigh our needs and if you can get that across to him, Im sure the first ride will be a pleasant journey for the both of you. Also if you havent gotten rid of the C10 yet, see if there is intrest there! I used to own a 65' and mayn it was a blast to work on, parts readily available, tons of options as to how you want to build it, parts hauler for if he wants to build a rod or other project, single cab (no need in worrying about other kids piling in)...plus chics dig trucks and Im sure he will be pleased to hear that! hehehe.
We've all heard the stories, only they are not stories. They are true events. Teenager works hard all winter saving money to buy the car of his dreams. Would let your son buy a high powered older Firebird? Some people just don't know 1 car from another and let their kids get them and don't understand when they and their friends never come home ever some night. Made my son pay for his own car and had to have my approvel. He wanted something for the girls . Big and comfy. He always drove like an old lady. Not like me when I was 16, thank the Lord.
That's one of the compromises you have to make. Do you want your son to go fast and be unsafe, or do you wanna be a grandpa?
Welp. I dont know if he is a ford, chevy, dodge... Ect type of guy, but I know if it was me, here in Kansas (Im 14) I like the later 50's Chevy pickups... 55, 56, 57. Or the later 40's Ford pickups... '48-'49. I also like the '51 chevy coupe or somthin like a '49-'50 ford shoebox. Im not sure but I know I love the '56 Buicks. Just my .02
I remember when I was 16, hell, got into my first accident when I was 13 (Dad knew the judge, those things mattered back then). First car (that ran) was a 390 Galaxie HT. BAD idea, but Dad didn't know. Finally lost it on a corner and wiped out the left side. Fixed that on my dime and got a little more respect. Anyway, perhaps a Mercedes diesel for a first car. Turn the ALDA (fuel) down a bit and loosen the wastegate and it's super slow. Handling is great for a more-door, coupés are available and cool-ish, four wheel discs, and a reputation for indestructability both on the road and into a bridge abutment. Wrenching is easy-peasy, and the OM617 ('76-'85 4 and 5 cylinder iron heads) can easily be converted to run waste veggie oil, allowing child to roam relatively cheaply. Nope, they aren't HAMB-friendly, but as a learning tool they're pretty great. And diesels can be hopped up, they just get different things done to them, some pretty cheap (more boost and more fuel makes 'em tire burners!!). Big bonus: as a diesel, not one of their friends will bug them to drive it. Last thought: make the first car a stick. couple reasons for this: 1) everybody SHOULD learn a stick. 2) no one will borrow it, 'cause their dad's weren't near as prescient. 3) the car will be cheaper because its a stick. True, it will hurt the resale as well, but a 16 year old owner pretty much hurts resale anyway . Cosmo
Bomb Pilot I also have a Son who is a good kid but was getting crappy grades so I bribed him no grade lower than a c gets him a car maintain that standard till graduation gets him the pink. I was thinking falcon, chevy II nova dare I say it....Mustang....thank fully he is not into Honda's. I even tried jeep's in the end he was coought between a 1980 malibu becouse I helped a buddy prep one for some mild track, and an MG-B, My boy chose the MG becouse it is not somthing that everyone else has, is pretty simple to work on gets good mialage. has enough power to have some fun but not so much to get into to much trouble. together we have already installed the engine and trans the next step is the body. I am military currentley deployed and told him to do the hood, front fenders and doors. I would do the est when I get home. I guess what I am trying to say is help him decide. if it is truley his car let him decide help guide his decisions but make sure it is somthing he will be happy with. my son is by no mean's mechanically inclined but he has such a pasion for this car it is not stopping him. Good luck.
I expect that Bomb Pilot's son is getting on the end of his high school career by now, if he hasn't finished already! Sometimes the kids that struggle in school, find passion in something a little more hands on. Good on you...encouraging him to work hard at school to open as many future doors as possible, while also teaching him to be more mechanically inclined.
Funny how these old posts come back to life occasionally. But, I'll add to it: #1 son wanted a father/son project. Damn near had him talked into my '63 Chev wagon, but his idiot friends convinced him he needed a foreign car. Dad does the "right" thing & buys '85 Porsche 944. Dad does 95% of the work on a car he knows nothing about, & hates. The kid picks the color scheme & Dad paints it. His friends say the graphics look like lightning bolts, so he doesn't drive it much. And, when he does, he backs into things, & even ran into it with his S10 beater. Now, he wants to sell it & expects Dad to give him the wagon, or find another "project." Dad isn't falling for it this time. Why? because of this: Son #2 wants a father/son project. At least he has always wanted the same car, a '60 GTO. Dad doesn't have 40K, so he buys a Wisconsin '69 Tempest. The kid loves it. After Dad changes both 1/4s, patches the floor & trunk, builds 2 good fenders from 5 junk ones & paints it black, the kid may have spent a grand total of 10 hours on the project. My advice? Buy a nice little Honda, S10, or whatever runs cheap & wait until he wants to buy his own project.
Now I'm just contributing to a dead thread... Sad story. However, my old man made me work for everything he gave me. Growing up, if I couldn't afford it outright, I had to come up with at least half. That was half the cost, half the labour. That was a fair deal in my books. Sorry to say, you spoiled your kids, and they seem happy to let you.
The Jalopy Journal
