What car did you learn to drive in?

[Mark1966]

Inspired by a post from @Gargravarr and the response from @neongas, I started to wonder - What car did you learn to drive in?

Before my mother's nerves gave up (a long story) I started to learn to drive in our 1972 (?) Volkwsagen Type 3 Station wagon. Something like this (although without those fancy wheels) -


Red 1972 Volkswagen Squareback by Steven Maginnis, on Flickr

I think it was advanced and had a semi-automatic choke, you pulled it out when first driving but no need to manually push it back in. Manual, of course, I think 4 speed.

Now over to you!

 

[SpeedyPC]

My very first vehicle as a spoiled brat was the Billy cart

 

[Errol]

I had the advantage of growing up in the country so started driving when I was 7 or 8. Dad had a 1954 Ford Mainline Ute so that is where I started driving. Dad wouldn’t let you sit on his knee and steer, if you wanted to drive you had to do everything. Get my back against the the front of the seat, push the clutch in, three on the tree so select first, either too much accelerator or none, drop the clutch, pop up onto the seat, and kangaroo hop down the road. Getting to second gear was an entertaining experience, similar process only there was speed involved. Poor old Dad must have had nerves of steel. My brother and sisters also learnt in the same way. There was a 8km drive to meet the school bus so that is where we honed our skills, well before we could get a licence.

I had bought a little Honda motor bike to get around on when I turnrd 17. Mum drove me down to pick the motor bike up the day after I turned 17, couldn’t go on my birthdate, it a public holiday every year. That day I registered my bike and got my licence, the police officer said he knew we drove everywhere so I done a lap around the block with him in the Ute. He wrote me out a licence that day for, car, motorcycle, truck, and tractor (not propelled by steam). Other than the times I thought I was Jack Brabham and the law took my licence for a month or two, I’ve been driving ever since.

 

[Holiday]

Actually learnt to drive manual 4 on the floor in a VW dune buggy on the clay pans at Clayton in South Australia, that made learning easy, but on the road it was a HR wagon 3 on the tree.

 

[rbscebu]

Kingswood.

 

[Mark1966]

Kingswood.

Sorry, but someone had to

 

[Gargravarr]

I learnt to drive in a long wheelbase armoured Landrover, but the first car I owned was a Citroën Ami 8

...AKA the Flying Foreskin Push-pull gearstick sticking out of the dash. Great car, I miss it.

 

[Bucephalus]

A Ford Cortina Shooting Brake - Station Wagon as they're known here. Mum let me drive her around locally. Our sole police officer knew only too well but chose to turn a blind eye - he was a typical country cop!

 

[Chad]

Never driven a car.

 

[nav1]

The learners classes were in a Mitsubishi Lancer.

After a few lessons, I switched over to driving with my dad in his Toyota Camry.

 

[Mark1966]

Never driven a car.

 

[Ozwhisker]

1965 xp station wagon.

Reverse parking was a real treat.

 

[glenos]

Turbo diesel v8 LandCruiser. Man that thing could scoot once it spooled up.

 

[JaggardJ]

A manual Lada sedan. It had all the features; if features mean the absolute minimum required to be a car.

 

[Zeke]

An old Holden ute on the farm, and EH I think. First one I could driver properly was an XP Falcon sedan. Three on the tree, and I learned to drive it without using the clutch at all.

 

[Nanook]

I taught myself to drive in a 1975 Toyota FJ40. At least that one was registered, most of what I learnt to drive were actually bush bashers that wouldn't have been allowed on the road, even before rego inspections.

​

 

[neongas]

First drive I ever had was in my late mother’s Mazda 323 Cabriolet (auto). Official lessons were in a manual Proton with no power steering, (some rebadged Mitsubishi model).

In Malaysia all driving tests were conducted in department approved manual Perodua Kancil, a rebadged Daihatsu Mira, also with no power steering and detuned making it impossible to stall. I don’t think anybody failed unless they crashed.

 

[Nanook]

First drive I ever had was in my late mother’s Mazda 323 Cabriolet (auto). Official lessons were in a manual Proton with no power steering, (some rebadged Mitsubishi model).

In Malaysia all driving tests were conducted in department approved manual Perodua Kancil, a rebadged Daihatsu Mira, also with no power steering and detuned making it impossible to stall. I don’t think anybody failed unless they crashed.

I had a Ford Telstar, FWD with no power steering. it was pretty nice at speed but when going slow in a carpark it was like wrestling a rhino.

I sold it to this petite young girl and I actually tried to talk her out of it due to how hard it was to steer at low speed. She bought it and I saw her a few weeks later and she absolutely loved it. She must of had better upper body strength than me

 

[Phil Harmonica]

Started driving in a 1962 Chevy II when I was 14. Driver Education in high school was a 1964 Ford Galaxy.

 

[Gargravarr]

I'm not sure how much anyone really learns when they start driving a car, especially anything post-1980. You really start to pick up more when you learn to drive a truck. My first truck was a 20-tonne '70s Kenworth with an 11-speed Road Ranger crash gearbox...