# Question of the week: What kind of car did you learn to drive in?



## CarParts.com (7 mo ago)

What kind of car did you learn to drive in? Was it the family station wagon? Or maybe grandpa’s old pickup truck? Let us know—and feel free to share any associated memories!


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## SteveinArizona (Sep 12, 2016)

I can't remember the car I learned to drive in but I do remember the car in which I learned to drive a stick. I was working at a beach club as a summer job and we had a jeep that pulled a railroad tie to level out the sand every night. That jeep had a stick.

My first car with a stick was a used Mercedes Benz 190D with 240K miles on it (3 on a tree). I used to joke that it was a week and a half to 60; then I looked it up and it was actually 26 seconds 0-60!!


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## Bahnburner (Mar 8, 2020)

1971 Ford F-150
Mom taught me to drive. Dad's patience wasn't conducive to teaching kids how to drive.


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## Autoputzer (Mar 16, 2014)

Dad's '66 and '69 Jeep Wagoneers. My parents had a house trailer on the beach in the middle of a 5,000 wilderness which is now False Cape State Park in the southeast corner of Virginia. False Cape is the northern-most point of the Outer Banks.


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## Laura (Dec 30, 2001)

My sister's '65 VW


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## Mac Hadley (Jan 14, 2011)

It was a Ford 1950s model, with a "suicide knob." I drove it around a bumpy field.


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## lgr122 (Aug 8, 2012)

Hmm.. depends on how to count.. I learned to drive farm tractor in age of 12yrs old, but driving in traffic I learned in driving school.. it was basic Ford Mondeo. After having licence first couple years went with Mum's Toyota Land Cruiser hj60.


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## Klausthecat (Jul 22, 2018)

A 1934 Ford pickup. When I was 14 years old I purchased this old pickup. I drove it the 12 miles to the house on back roads. When I got home, my father told me that I was too young to own a car. Not true..... just too young for a license to drive it.


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## ctcarbonari (Sep 20, 2021)

I'm enjoying the replies to this thread!

Mom's early 70s Black Monte Carlo.
I high centered it over a parking lot curb the day before I passed the driving test on my 16th Birthday (Mom freaked, btw. lol)

A couple months later I bought a 73 Toyota Celica (stick). Didn't know how to drive it.
My Step-Dad drove it back with me, stopped a few blocks away from home, we switched seats then he gave me advice that I still heed to this day:
He said "Son, it's like the first time you're with your girlfriend. Even though you may not know what you're doing, you have to be confident, and go for it"


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## Llarry (May 17, 2002)

Dad's 1959 Fiat 600D. And then my first car was a '64 Fiat 600D. Hmmm... a pattern there, I guess. I took my driving test in the family truckster: 1963 Plymouth wagon.


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## Beamer Schemer (Jun 1, 2016)

I learned to ride motorcycles before I learned to drive when I was about 15 years old. My first time behind the wheel was a farm tractor with the exact opposite of sensitive steering lol. I can’t remember what vehicle I learned to drive in? There was more than one? I didn’t get a license until my 30’s. Full uk license. Moved to USA and had to do it again. I learned stick first shifting left handed. Now I don’t shift. The car does.


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## m6805 (Jan 8, 2015)

CarParts.com said:


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> What kind of car did you learn to drive in? Was it the family station wagon? Or maybe grandpa’s old pickup truck? Let us know—and feel free to share any associated memories!


1953 Chevy Custom 150, in-line 6 with 2 speed power glide! (1964)
Project car in back yard


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## TopangaBMW (8 mo ago)

The family car, a ‘63 Chevy Impala rag top. Eventually talked my dad into giving it to me when I went off to college. Then when I took a job in NYC and couldn’t afford to keep it with parking costs. Soooo…years later when I left NYC for LA I bought another one—this time a red one. Loved the car and drive it out West. Unfortunately it was stolen…..thus I became a bmw convert seduced by a James Bind film I’m embarrassed to report. 🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️🥰


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## Dudley346 (Dec 13, 2014)

I was 14 when I learned to drive and I don't recall the car I used in drivers education, but it was a manual. After I got my license I first drove my Mom's Dodge station wagon with pushbutton drive transmission. Next came a 1949 Ford that was my uncles. My first car that was mine was a 1955 Chevy. My dad and I completely rebuilt it. We removed the old 6-cylinder and put a Pontiac 289 V-8 in it with a 4-speed on the floor. We also redid the interior. I drove that car until my senior year in college when it broke and I got a 1966 Mustang.


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## Dinan-M-Z (Jul 18, 2021)

1959 Austin Healy 100-6 shared with my older brother, that was the start of a great automotive career (with Subaru, BMW North America, Porsche Cars NA, etc.) that enabled me to have the opportunity to drive many memorable vehicles.


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## j_digi (Jun 21, 2016)

CarParts.com said:


> View attachment 1069190
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> What kind of car did you learn to drive in? Was it the family station wagon? Or maybe grandpa’s old pickup truck? Let us know—and feel free to share any associated memories!


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## j_digi (Jun 21, 2016)

1954 Ford Station Wagon.


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## mountie (Jul 10, 2009)

My 1st car to drive is what I was taught on..... ( Even though we also had a Buick Vista Cruiser station wagon, w/ a 400 V8)..
1st car was a low powered Austin America (fwd - size of a mini cooper)..... Leaving the California DMV, passing the test..... I was entering a very short distance freeway on ramp (( single lane)).....I needed to slow up to wait for enough room to enter freeway..... I saw a gap, and accelerated.... ( In my right eye I sensed a car, coming up to my right, in the GRASS..... As I hit the peddle, the passing car came into my lane... My right bumper carved a nice line into his left rear fender.....
It was my current high school DRIVING INSTRUCTOR.... Go figure.....
I have a nice story to tell at school the next Monday!!


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## teach6 (Jun 19, 2021)

CarParts.com said:


> View attachment 1069190
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> What kind of car did you learn to drive in? Was it the family station wagon? Or maybe grandpa’s old pickup truck? Let us know—and feel free to share any associated memories!


My mom’s ‘65 Plymouth Fury!


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## G20 PHEV (Dec 31, 2020)

I received my learner's permit on a Saturday in late November 1976. Drove all weekend with Dad in his 1965 F250 Pick-up (Manual Trans) and the family "old-car", a 1966 Buick Wildcat. Dad loved driving and wanted his kids to "get it done with". Each night of the following week, we also went for a drive. That following Saturday, with an inch or so of snow on the road, I took and passed my driver's test at the spiffy new state testing center in dad's "new car", a 1971 Buick LeSabre Coupe. All my older siblings, had taken their drivers exams on public streets.


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## ckegman (Oct 9, 2020)

61 Chevy Bel air station wagon 3 spd on the colum. Mom taught everyone father no patience.


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## sananvet (8 mo ago)

75 chevelle malibu. 454 engine, but a bucket of rust. Drove it from florida to maine and back when i turned 18 then buried her at the local junkyard. Looking back i wish id taken better care of her……


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## brooks1005 (Jan 31, 2017)

1976 Ford Capri Ghia V6


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## ValG622 (5 mo ago)

For some reason my parents never taught me to drive. I got married, I took the train to work so it didnt matter. Then I got pregnant with twins, had to leave work, so my sister taught me on a '80 VW Scirocco, stick shift. I lived near Boston and we practiced starting, stopping on hills or traffic. Finally I was ready for my test, I was only 6 months along, but my belly was pretty big, being twins, and the poor examiner got in the car, took a good look at me, started sweating, and had me move the car from one parking spot to another one 30ft away.


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## ValG622 (5 mo ago)

ValG622 said:


> For some reason my parents never taught me to drive. I got married, I took the train to work so it didnt matter. Then I got pregnant with twins, had to leave work, so my sister taught me on a '80 VW Scirocco, stick shift. I lived near Boston and we practiced starting, stopping on hills or traffic. Finally I was ready for my test, I was only 6 months along, but my belly was pretty big, being twins, and the poor examiner got in the car, took a good look at me, started sweating, and had me move the car from one parking spot to another one 30ft away.


I need to add that I taught all 4 of my kids to drive as soon as they were old enough on a 1985 VW Quantum Station Wagon, also stick shift.


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## Sandyfive (Sep 21, 2021)

I learned on a 1956 Chrysler. My Dad would put a shot of whisky on the dashboard and drive on a dirt road to show that the "torsion air suspension" as advertised would not spilla drop.


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## TW153 (Sep 13, 2020)

CarParts.com said:


> View attachment 1069190
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> What kind of car did you learn to drive in? Was it the family station wagon? Or maybe grandpa’s old pickup truck? Let us know—and feel free to share any associated memories!


1949 Willis overland, a.k.a. jeep station wagon. $150 I had to park it two blocks away for six months until I turned 16. flathead four-cylinder with a one barrel carb.


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## ValG622 (5 mo ago)

Sandyfive said:


> I learned on a 1956 Chrysler. My Dad would put a shot of whisky on the dashboard and drive on a dirt road to show that the "torsion air suspension" as advertised would not spilla drop.


And he would not let it go to waste when it was time to go home!


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## xrayjuan (Feb 9, 2019)

VW Beetle 1967


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## Sweve (7 mo ago)

CarParts.com said:


> View attachment 1069190
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> What kind of car did you learn to drive in? Was it the family station wagon? Or maybe grandpa’s old pickup truck? Let us know—and feel free to share any associated memories!


‘65 red Beetle - but not until I learned to drive stick; tune it and change points & plugs with a timing light, replace a flat and learn maintenance. “Ok now its all yours”.


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## grc810 (Mar 24, 2021)

1964 Dodge Dart, slant six, 3 on the tree. My mom was nice enough to take me to the drivers ed range at my high school on Sunday afternoons to practice.


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## chickenpipe (Jan 4, 2008)

1960 Rover 3 Liter

A heavy luxury English motor with leather, automatic, 3 liter straight 6 engine and no power steering. Took 3 tries to pass NJ In Vehicle Driving Test...hard for a skinny 17 year old to execute clean 3 point turns and to parallel park. As soon as I passed - in the Rover - my parents traded it on a 1964 Humber Super Snipe Estate with power steering.


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## lbkwhitney (Sep 19, 2014)

A 1957 Chrysler Windsor black and red 2 door hardtop.


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## LPBinTN (Jan 25, 2020)

Learned to drive and took the test driving a 1962 Buick Invicta station wagon. First car owned was a 1969 Z-28 Camero. My heart was broke giving up driving the Buick...Right.


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## alandf (Dec 1, 2009)

1960 Plymouth Valiant 3 speed manual with a slant six


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## ColoradoBreeze (Jul 11, 2020)

I "learned" to drive in a 1940-something Jeep on a farm in WV, but I got experience on the street a couple years later in my dad's 1967 Dodge Coronet - which became mine once I passed the test!


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## alandf (Dec 1, 2009)

My dad at a 1966 dodge coronet with three on the column and a 318 V8. It became mine. Very hard to drive in traffic because it had no synchromesh in first gear. You had to come to a complete stop to put the car into first gear.


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## rick47591 (Mar 17, 2017)

I started driving at the young age of 12. I lived in a small town in Indiana that had a population of about 800. It was more of a farming community. My brother taught me how to drive his 1954 Studebaker Champion. It was a manual transmission, 3 on the tree with a lever to pull once the car exceeded 28mph to which pulling the lever would put the car into overdrive. It had vacuum windshield wipers.


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## yellowbird172 (Jul 11, 2009)

Living in Melbourne Australia, I learned to drive in my mother’s 1959 Austin Lancer.

This was the Australian version of the British Wosley1500/Morris Major. Despite being an impoverished medical student, I changed the engine for one from an MGA 1600 Mk2 - doubling the HP but doing nothing for the handling. It broke axles easily if I was heavy handed with the accelerator & the clutch. 

With a loan, soon as I graduated I bought a new Fiat 124 coupe in bright yellow - this was the start of my Italian love affair.


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## Alleycat2017 (Jun 7, 2017)

1953 Studebaker with column stick shift. My Dad taught me on the empty streets at the NE Philadelphia water works near the Police academy.


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## rrobinson001 (Aug 27, 2014)

CarParts.com said:


> View attachment 1069190
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> 
> 
> What kind of car did you learn to drive in? Was it the family station wagon? Or maybe grandpa’s old pickup truck? Let us know—and feel free to share any associated memories!


VW Bug, 1964 I believe. Was my mom's. One days she took me and my brother out on a dirt road and showed us how to dry. Funny part was when I was learning she let my brother ride of the running boards. Boy have times changed.


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## Me530 (Feb 17, 2005)

This thread is a great way to build a profile of a common password reset security question. Just saying.


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## AkisF226 (Nov 11, 2020)

1967 Volvo station wagon stick. Dad’s.


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## sf2000x5 (Nov 18, 2011)

1987 528e

One of the best to learn with imo…

Decent low end torque
Barely and great all around driving view
Slow steering rack


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## NGU (Jun 13, 2013)

50's Crosley! Plus a 39 Packard roadster which I drove around a junk yard for practice. Got license at 14 (SC) in a Desoto and pretty much became the family chauffeur. They didn't like to drive. First car was an AH Sprite.


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## mchristie123 (Sep 5, 2019)

Moms 65 Impala wagon, then learned a stick on a 64 Falcon with 6 cylinder and 3 on the tree. My 1st car was a 59 Hillman Minx vert with no reverse!


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## 202 (5 mo ago)

CarParts.com said:


> View attachment 1069190
> 
> 
> 
> What kind of car did you learn to drive in? Was it the family station wagon? Or maybe grandpa’s old pickup truck? Let us know—and feel free to share any associated memories!


I am no youngster now, but my first car and the vehicle I learned to drive in: 1970 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, 455 HO with a Muncie M22 Rock Crusher 4-speed & 4:56 rear end. My dad bought it when I was 8 and kept it because we had a blast in her. Gave her to me (kinda thrashed) on my 16th. He had let me practice driving her at 15. What a BLAST that car was. I saw recently on Mecum auctions a similar white with blue strip TA sold for $195k! DOH! Should have kept that!


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## bmwfanatik323 (7 mo ago)

I learned to drive in a hand me down 94 Toyota pickup with a cracked head that my grandfather gave me and a 92 accord sedan 5 speed


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## surfwooder (Nov 6, 2006)

I learned to drive with my father teaching me in a 1953 Ford, standard on the column. It had V8, and early power steering. I can still drive a standard, but rather drive a automatic.


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## XChallengeRdr (Jul 15, 2020)

'63 Chevy Biscayne with a three on the tree when I was about 12. I was _issued_ my first motorcycle about the same time. My brother and I used to sneak the Biscayne out in the middle of the night by coasting it down the hill and coasting back to the house, so we didn't wake the folks with engine. Mom sorted that out quickly. I guess I was 16 the first time I drove a truck. That was an International Transtar cabover.


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## Graycat (May 21, 2017)

Best memory of my life - my oldest brother had a red 54 Ford convertible with a white interior. It had a V8 with 3 on the tree and I'm guessing it had power steering. 
I was 10 years old at the time, the spring of 1957. We washed the car on the lawn of our house and then he drove it about a mile to "blow some of the water" off the car. He turned the car around and told me to take over the drive back to the house. The clutch must have been very forgiving as I had no problem taking off and shifting into second gear - even had to stop and go at at stop sign! Just had to make a simple left turn onto the lawn (while avoiding a large tree) and we finished drying the car. I got to do that a few times and as I said, it is my best life memory.


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## zod (Jan 8, 2019)

57 Chevy with a V8 slushbox transmission. Learned stick driving a fork lift one summer.


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## giant head (Mar 2, 2014)

SteveinArizona said:


> I can't remember the car I learned to drive in but I do remember the car in which I learned to drive a stick. I was working at a beach club as a summer job and we had a jeep that pulled a railroad tie to level out the sand every night. That jeep had a stick.
> 
> My first car with a stick was a used Mercedes Benz 190D with 240K miles on it (3 on a tree). I used to joke that it was a week and a half to 60; then I looked it up and it was actually 26 seconds 0-60!!


My first car was a 1952 Buick , stick on the right side of the steering wheel 3 speed, like driving down the road on cloud.
a hand me down from my sisters college days. early 60's.


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## spitpilot (Jun 3, 2010)

"Driving Lessons" were mostly conducted by Mom in our '57 Chevy 210 station wagon, but about a couple of months B4 my 16th birthday a family friend found a '52 Studebaker Commander V8 stick shift w/ OD that had super low miles which for the princely sum of $200 became my "daily driver" after I learned the mysteries of the clutch pedal. Never bought any thing but manual cars going forward...went from A to almost Z...Alfa ('67 GTV) to VW (Rabbit '81 & 2008, Golf, Passat, Sirocco) including a couple of BMW's ('89 535 5 speed, '09 328I 6 speed)...We broke down and bought an X1 in 2017...Bay Area traffic just too much on the ol clutch legs!


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## BMW535xia (Mar 15, 2011)

1966 Buick Wildcat with the 445 or 455 motor...1963 VW Bug for learning standard shift, back and forth in an alley.


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## Ed540i (7 mo ago)

My first car, a 1964 Chevy Biscayne.


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## russell1771 (Oct 20, 2021)

CarParts.com said:


> View attachment 1069190
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> What kind of car did you learn to drive in? Was it the family station wagon? Or maybe grandpa’s old pickup truck? Let us know—and feel free to share any associated memories!


1948 Kaiser 4-door sedan


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## BMRe3 (Jul 5, 2012)

CarParts.com said:


> View attachment 1069190
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## russell1771 (Oct 20, 2021)

1948 Kaiser


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## F87Sy (Jun 4, 2021)

In 1999 I learned stick on my dads 1991 mitsubishi mirage de 

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