What did you learn in?

[RICHARD]

I was watching a car program on the tube where three guys took non-four wheel drive cars and crossed Botswana-mostly desert and dirt roads.

One of the cars was a 1963 Opel Kadet.

I learned to drive in a manual transmissioned 72 Opel. A friggin great car! Simple, small and easy to manuver.

I learned to ride motorcycles on a Honda 360 Twin. That was a great bike!

What did you learn in?

[Karen]

My mother's Ford Pinto station wagon, and various other family cars. Learning to drive standard transmission one day, I stalled out Dad's Ford pick-up at the lights in the center of town (okay, the only set in town), and after my second attempt, the guy in the corvette behind us started beeping his horn angrily and incessantly. Dad - a not-small-guy - jumped out to tell him to go around, and I think nearly gave the kid a heart attack, as Dad could look pretty intimidating if you didn't know him!

[Taz_Zoee]

The very first time I got behind the wheel was in our 82 Cadillac. I was 14, I think. And it was on country roads. I pulled out to get on the road but instead ended up across both lanes. Then a car was coming the other direction and I began to panic. Crying and yelling at my dad. Now I think it was funny, but at the time I was MAD !!

I've also tried in MANY different cars to drive a manual trani. But never picked it up. I did drive my friends VW Cabriolet from point A to point B without stalling and pissed her off a bit. She stalled constantly when she first got it. LOL

[Cinder & Smoke]

I learned to drive a BOAT!

Drivers Ed was a high school course - taught by real Teachers using cars loaned to the HS
by local car dealerships ... the Fleet had a Chevy, a Dodge, something else,
and The Car - a HU-Mungus 1960 Caddy --- bigger than a school bus!

Since I drew the "senior instructor" - guess which Ride I was assigned to?
First Day of class, Teach wanted to go uptown on an errand ... we all headed out to the Caddy.

"Who's got a littl behind-the-wheel time already?"
I looked at The BOAT and thunk this is NOT the time to admit I had a couple hours of
experience thanks to Mom & Dad and a Stage Crew senior who'd let me pilot his souped-up
stick-shift Chevy a few times after shows in the auditorium. I played DUMM!

"HEY, Phred - you've got some wheel time - I've seen you in that hot chevy!
Let's do our walk-around!"
*NUTZ!*

I shudda packed a lunch ... out of breath before we got half way around the thing!
I checked the oil - the stick was longer than I was tall!
"Hop in"

It took two hands to get the barn door closed again. The other two kids looked *lost*
in the back seat - all four of us could have fit back there without any crowding!
We did a shake-down lap around the parking lot - I didn't bounce off any curbs so I
I got a feild promotion to Road Qualified and we headed off to the Big City of uptown.

1960's Pittsburgh, and all it's suburbs, did "mass transit" with either buses or "Street Cars" -
huge railroad car-sized steel monsters that ran on RAILS that were flush to the
concrete or brick pavement - and ran down the center lanes of all major roadways!
"Trolley Tracks" would catch a tire and toss your car a foot to the left or right before you knew
what had happened! Usually right beside one of the raised platform "safety islands" built
between the center & curb lanes for Trolley passengers to board a Trolley from.

Despite my strong protests - I navigated a mile & a half of Trolley Tracks, and dodged
several safety islands, before we reached Teach's destination. THEN he told me to "wait"
in the curb lane, RIGHT Beside a safety island - a serious No-No in Pittsburgh -
while he ran into the store! ... I pictured the Cops towing us away.

"Our Caddy" managed to survive Drivers Ed with all it's fenders intact.
I learned to almost enjoy piloting it around town - figured I could handle a City Bus
if I ever needed to! And the "little" family Chevy handled like a sporty car!

[pitc9]

My first car was a 1979 Olds Omega, I was the 4th person in my family to get the car and I was the last, she went to the junk yard in 1992.

I learned to drive stick in a 1986 Chevy Cavalier, I was the 3rd one in the family to drive that one. I also taught my husband (before we were married) how to drive stick in that car!

Being the youngest of 4 kids, everything I got was a hand me down, down, down.

[Jessika]

I learned to drive in my parents' '00 Dodge Durango and a '92 Chevy Lumina. The Lumina was passed down to me as a "graduation" present and was my first car I LOVED that Lumina!

[DJFyrewolf36]

I learned how to drive in my dads Jeep...offroad lol. The first time I ever drove was out on the indian reservation on this dirt road with a lot of small hills. Dad kept telling me to go faster lol. I caught a little bit of air that day! When I fianally got my licence, before dad got me a jeep of my own, I was taking my mom out to dinner and backed OVER a cart return. Luckily my dads Jeep is tough and the store had been closed and scheduled to be demolished so no one really cared. I was rather embarassed though.

My first stick shift was my little Pill (still happy I have her too ) My dad bought it for me because of its insanely good gas milage (I couldn't afford the jeep anymore and the pill was selling for a whopping $800 lol). He told me though if I wanted it I would have to drive it home from work myself! I had never driven a stick shift other than in a parking lot, so I had somewhat of a clue what to do but not really lol. I did manage to get the thing home though, and I DID teach myself how to drive it running around my neighborhood. Ive been driving it so long though now automatic transmission cars drive me nuts. I keep looking for a clutch and hitting the brakes .

[davidpizzica]

RICHARD, I learned to drive and took my driver's test in my dad's 1965 Ford country squire station wagon land yacht. You talk about a big car! It was like driving a small bus!

[RICHARD]

RICHARD, I learned to drive and took my driver's test in my dad's 1965 Ford country squire station wagon land yacht. You talk about a big car! It was like driving a small bus!

Was that the model with the wood decals on the side?

Before the Great Pumpkin the folks owned a yellow station wagon, the Screaming Yellow Zonker....I always wanted one with the rear facing seat in the back-but no luck there!

[Grace]

OMG, it was so long ago, I don't remember. This was long before Driver's Ed in schools, so my mother sent me to AAA for lessons. All I remember - it was manual. Back then, in Rhode Island at least, if you took your test in an automatic, it was stamped For Automatic Only. To drive a stick, you had to retake the test in a manual.

If you took the test in a manual, you were good to go for either.

[Sevaede]

I learned to drive a few years ago. I'd started in a '0- something Suburban (MIL)! Plus, it was in her driveway which just so happens to feel like a flippin' race track. :P

[davidpizzica]

My dad learned to drive on a 1925 model "T" flatbed truck!

[Twisterdog]

I learned to drive my dad's and brother's trucks out in the desert when I was much too young to have a license.

I learned legally in my first car, a 1980 Camaro.

I learned to drive a standard in a Nissan Stanza. Great little car, until my then-SO totalled it hitting a telephone pole.