I learned to first drive in a...

[airnos]

I learned to drive in a land boat ('77 Dodge Aspen "Special Edition" Station Wagon) but I'm pretty sure that qualifies as an automatic car so that's how I answered. I was twelve -- my parents started teaching me as soon as I could reach the pedals. We lived in a rural area and it was very possible that, if something happened to one parent while the other one wasn't at home, I'd need to drive them out.

Incidentally, I was not twelve in 1977.

Said car was supposed to have been my first car when I officially began driving at sixteen, but it was totaled when I was fifteen...it had been parked on a street, with the parking brake engaged, when a Mazda half-ton hit it. This happened on a clear morning in a 35 mph zone. The car ended up halfway down the next block, half its original length. The other driver claimed he was doing 35 and never saw the burgundy car.

Riiiiiiiight. The insurance company paid off the claim and dropped him. And I was deprived of what would have been a kick-tail car for teardropping....

[clkelley564]

I actually learned to drive in a humongous Montego station wagon, automatic, but before I could get my license I had to learn how to drive a 71 Ford Maverick with 3 on the tree. Also had to change the oil myself and change a tire myself.

Carol

[Nitetimes]

.... a 71 Ford Maverick with 3 on the tree.

Carol

That was about the 3rd car I ever owned. Poor thing was never the same again after I got done with it!!
A V-8 and a 4 speed will really set one of those to rockin'!!

[jplock]

I learned to drive in a 1965 Chevelle 230 Cubic Inch 6 cylinder with a power glide transmission, and rats I traded it in on a 1972 Chevy Vega Oil burner!
jplock

[deputydogrick]

international scout, three on the tree I was 14 working for a motel, owner thought I was 16 and had my license, only ran over 1 flower bed.

[cs_whypt2]

My first truck was a '93 Dodge Dakota. The guy I bought it from set it up for racing. (Truck for racing? I know...but it was quick...) The transmission was going, so I sold it. I then bought myself a '96 Dakota which I have now. (Big difference, right?) Anyways, I like this one better.
I opted for a bigger engine and a bigger cab, and I get better gas milage in the '96 then in the '93.


Dianne

[JunkMan]

It was either a 59 or 60 beetle. Old but not old enough for an oval window.

My first was a 64 Beetle, but I delivered pizzas in a 57 Oval while in High School. Odie has a 56 Oval in pieces in my shop, waiting (like the rest of my projects) for me to get around to finishing it.

[Laredo]

'64 Studebaker Commander 6-cyl 3-speed standard, on a farm in Missouri, when I was tall enough to reach the pedals from the seat.

Major upgrade: '68 Chevy pickup with a 6-cyl and automatic on the column -- I'd been driving about a year when Dad bought that, but we hadn't had it six months when he was injured and lost his job. Mom drove a '58 Chevy Apache pickup for several years after that shiny new truck was repossessed -- the Apache had Armstrong steering and not-power brakes, and the clutch was bad, so I didn't drive it.

I drove Dad's '65 Dodge pickup hauling hay to the barn and feed to the cows from '71 to '80, but officially I "learned" to drive in a '75 Monte Carlo automatic at school in 1976.

The car I wish I could have driven that my parents had?
Dad's "Showroom Stock" '68 Plymouth -- it was a 4-door version of a Road Runner, and it would move; it was totaled in '75 when some uninsured nimrod ran a red light and plowed into the front on the passenger side.

It was 1985 before I owned a vehicle with seat belts in it, and 1989 before I started using them regularly.

[airnos]

I still don't wear seatbelts when I'm in the back of a car. Even in those jurisdictions where it's required, I figure, I'm over sixteen, so it's my ticket.

But I've been hurt in wrecks for not wearing seatbelts in the front seat, so yeah, I'm an old fuddy duddy and do that.

[len19070]

I learned on a 1956 Ford F250, 3 on the Tree.

I never hit a fence...but I did drive it into the kitchen wall.

Happy Trails

Len

[James Ellington]

I guess it was different for me. I was late for a date and jumped into my brothers pinto and just took off. Didn't hit me until after I got home that it was my first time behind the wheel of a car. So fear does conquer all and stupidity makes you blind.

[tddriver]

I learned on a 1948 Chevy dump truck with 4 on the floor and a two speed electric shift axle. Started in a gravel pit and worked up to driving on the street. My first car was a 1961 Chevy Biscayne, auto 6 cylinder (only because it had enough room in the trunk for the guitar and amps, etc.) Then came a 1962 Corvair Monza convertible, 4 speed and many add on toys. Loved that car!!!

Dave

[ChickenFoot]

My first drive was in a Case 3500 tractor pulling hay wagons (to small at that time to buck hay, but big enough to drive the tractor), I guess I was 10 maybe 11 years old. Then it was the old man's 1 ton ford pick-up taking trash to local dump and then Mama to the store every Saturday morning. Dam that was a while back.

[TENNJIM]

Dad didn't waste any time getting us boys to working on the farm in Tennessee. I learned to drive a Farmall tractor when I was thirteen-also drove trucks on the farm. The first car I drove on the road was a huge Buick, 59 Electra I seem to remember, when I was sixteen. The first time I had it on the road, I was sure there wasn't any room for any other car. As someone said ; You didn't park it , you docked it. Those were the days!

Jim B / Utah

[coreyjhen]

1962 Rambler Cross Country station wagon with a 232 cid straight six and a three-on-the-tree with overdrive. I got it for free from my uncle who was tired of rebuilding the engine (three times in 56K miles). The only good thing about that car was that the seats folded flat, leaving an absolutely flat surface from the tailgate to the dashboard. Good idea to give a 16 year old boy a car with a built-in bed...