OT - I learned to drive in a ...........

[amk2912]

Continuing this weeks nostalgia theme I thought I would start off a new thread...

My first taste of driving was in 1976 in my brother's 1972 Renault 4. Unlike the one in the pic it was white and had flower stickers... Bro was a relic from the flower power hippy days of the Sixties. I remember the bloody gear stick that come out of the dashboard and the air con which was a flap at the front below the windscreen!

[sparoz]

Instructor had a Ford Capri

[37&TenCents]

My folks' 1993 E36 318i in Calypso Red. I had a couple of lessons in a Pulsar and a Corolla and that was enough to convince me to stay away... haha

[Taymaishu]

Renault 4!!!!!!!! I tip my (imaginary) hat to you, good sir.

I learnt on a VT Commonwhore wagon and when closer to my P's test my manual lessons were in my father's STi

[Harlequin]

Ford Capri.... but not the cool one...

[BrokenVert]

I learned how to drive in my dads 2000 Mercury Mountaineer (different car from my sisters but the same spec - 302 H/O etc...)


But I think whats important when flashing my epeen is what I learned how to drive a manual on this past march

And no, thats not me in the other car and I didnt learn in either Clio



Formula Silverstone Single Seater

1.6 L Ford engine from a mondeo
0 -100 in 4 secondsish
tops out at just shy of 140 - but dammit it feels a lot faster than that.
And it has a four speed with a damned heavy clutch.

[Taymaishu]

Originally Posted by Harlequin

Ford Capri.... but not the cool one...

How long did it take the rear passengers to complain and/or exit the vehicle after a trip longer than 30 minutes?

A family member had one and even as an 8 year old, extracting oneself from the rear was a task.

[Harlequin]

Originally Posted by Taymaishu

How long did it take the rear passengers to complain and/or exit the vehicle after a trip longer than 30 minutes?

A family member had one and even as an 8 year old, extracting oneself from the rear was a task.

Dunno... It belonged to the driving instructor. Parents wouldn't met me drive their cars...


So now I don't let them drive mine... Even though my dad asks every time I visit

[Taymaishu]

Originally Posted by Harlequin

Dunno... It belonged to the driving instructor. Parents wouldn't met me drive their cars...


So now I don't let them drive mine... Even though my dad asks every time I visit

Hahaha nothing like a bit of a level playing field

My father and mother drive the BMW once each. My father alone as I asked him to move it from a storm coming. He calls me ten minutes later.

Dad: "It won't start."
Me: "Foot on the brake, put key all the way in and press start."
Dad: "got it. Do I do anything with the paddles?"
Me: "No. Don't touch them."

I get home and he said something like:

"yeah lovely car. I just selected a gear I was happy with."

He didnt know I had filled up that morning, and subsequently reset the fuel economy. It was sitting at around 20 from memory.

[amk2912]

And when I got my licence in 1979 it was in my parents Datsun 120Y wagon! When we moved to Australia in 1984 the 120Y came over in the sea container. The folks got rid of it a few years later but I swear to God I still see it every now and again around the suburbs - last time was about 2 years ago in 2010. If I see it again I may even approach the owner and offer to buy it. Soo.... it's a 1975 120Y and it was still going 35 years later!!

[bmw1racer]

I learned to drive a car in my dad's 14-year old 1963 Ford Country Squire station wagon: real wood panels on the sides, no seat belts, and a manual choke.

[GClark91]

Manual Kia Rio with a sticky clutch!

[Zuzu]

First car I drove when I was 14, (1974 ) was my Uncles, Valiant VC 273 V8..lol..Beast..( Down a suburban street ...yikes..)

Then I learnt to drive (1976) and drove to the RTA for my licence test, was a 1974 Holden HQ 202 Ute, with 3 on the tree.. ( talk about, learn how to do donuts... )

[ansch]

only the best



a yellow volvo 240 GL

[BBK]

My older brothers ET Pulsar turbo, then his 86' corrolla which I ended up 'inheriting' when he bought another car.

[pavo335]

Originally Posted by ansch

only the best



a yellow volvo 240 GL

poor bastard, i can just see you now pulling up to school in the ovlov and getting a bashing out the back lmfao

[RaihaX]

I was learning in my first car Celica ZR (T200)

[gazz]

Austin Healy Sprite Mk 11A

My first car and the one I started learning in. ( I'm still learning ).

First gear is non synchro and so low you could climb a tree with it. As this car was a parts bin special in collaboration with MG ( their version was the "Midget" ) it was cobbled together using a gear box from a small truck, hence the low first. It had drive shafts made of overcooked spaghetti and I snapped two at the spline. I used to carry a spare in my boot with the tools to replace it on the road. It was a simple job - pull the old out, dig out the spline, push in the new one and off you go. The non assisted steering was incredibly direct at 2 1/4 turns lock to lock and because the car weighed nothing the steering was also quite light, so you drove it with two fingers.

When the engine blew I had it bored out, fitted a Weber 45 and extractors, a roll bar, wide wheels, pumped rear guards, no bumpers, stripped out the already spartan interior, including removing the side windows and fitted a one piece fiberglass "Le Mans" front which hinged as one section from the front. I blew the engine again in that poor little car but by that time I could strip it down blind folded.

I almost never had the top up, even in the rain, and since I usually had a surf board spanning the roll bar and the top of the windscreen, with a torn down towel taped to the frame of the screen, this usually served as a defacto roof. If the rain was heavy enough it would be wetter on the inside of the screen than the outside so I carried a shamois to wipe it as I drove along.

In cold weather I fitted my torneau cover and relied on the meager warmth form the dash flap heater. Girls adored it...for a while. It was very very basic but a ton of fun and I loved it.

[Dr Stig 2]

Originally Posted by Taymaishu

How long did it take the rear passengers to complain and/or exit the vehicle after a trip longer than 30 minutes?

A family member had one and even as an 8 year old, extracting oneself from the rear was a task.

Yeah - Know that feeling. And my uncle had the turbo. What a (useless) car...

I first learned in an EH ute. ALmost identical to this one.
Then continued in my first car - a Plus4 Torana. (Mine was frog green though)
Luckily I stole the 5 spoke wheels off the EH and put them on the Torana.
It reduced the embarrassment slightly.

[gazz]

Originally Posted by Dr Stig 2

Yeah - Know that feeling. And my uncle had the turbo. What a (useless) car...

I first learned in an EH ute. ALmost identical to this one.
Then continued in my first car - a Plus4 Torana. (Mine was frog green though)
Luckily I stole the 5 spoke wheels off the EH and put them on the Torana.
It reduced the embarrassment slightly.

Hmm. I never really appreciated them before but in that picture the EH looks very nice. The Puss 4? .....not so much.

[Zuzu]

Originally Posted by Dr Stig 2

Yeah - Know that feeling. And my uncle had the turbo. What a (useless) car...

I first learned in an EH ute. ALmost identical to this one.
Then continued in my first car - a Plus4 Torana. (Mine was frog green though)
Luckily I stole the 5 spoke wheels off the EH and put them on the Torana.
It reduced the embarrassment slightly.

Ha... I had the slime green version of your Plus4, but in its big brother.. The Torana G Pack...

[Knightelf]

Toyota Corolla.