In which car did you learn to drive?

As a farm boy..

I learned to drive tractors first since Dad and his brother needed drivers to pull the hay bailer. Drove farm pick-up trucks as soon as I could reach pedals. When I got close to driver license age(16) Dad let me drive the family '53 Olds 4 door sedan and then bought me a used '52 Ford 2 door hard top Victoria( flathead V8 and 3 on the tree). Got my license the day I turned 16.

I had somewhere between 4 and 6 wrecks during my teen age years(none serious) and none since.
 
1960 Rambler American. My dad got it for my mom new when she learned to drive. Caught fire in the church parking lot about '65 or '66. Smelled like burnt hair afterward. About 1970 she got my dad to buy her a '65 Mustang, a car I wrecked a couple years after I put the Rambler in the junkyard. After that I wrecked a '64 Impala, a 67 "ragtop" Buick honking V8 LeSabre and another "lead sled" 69 Le Sabre. Back in NJ they didn't call me "Crazy Joe" for nothing. I was 40 when I really learned to drive. Joe
 
oink said:
I don't remember the actual model year but (Had to be a 66) it was a 3rd gen Rambler American (66-69) with a little flat 6 and 3 on the column or tree if you prefer. I think it was probably a 66 or 67. It was a good little car. I don't think it had power anything. It may have had a heater. It did have an AM radio.
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Flat six? Was there a Corvair conversion kit or something?:confused:
 
oink said:
My parents got one of those Tempos after I'd left home. I did drive it some and drove it on a trip. It had some little Japanese diesel engine in it. It was the most gutless thing I've ever driven. However, it got just stupid good gas mileage. I don't remember what the mileage was but at the time I considered it unbelievably good.
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I looked up that Mazda diesel for giggles. 2.0 liters, 60 hp and 89 lb-ft of torque. Stand back!:D

Here's progress for you. My BMW diesel: 2.0, 180 hp and 280 lb-ft of torque. My wife and I went to Long Beach and back last year and it averaged 45.7 mpg, including have the cruise set at an indicated 80 mph, uphill and into the wind back from Cali.
 
oink said:
I don't know. Maybe I misspoke but it was a little engine. I did have a Corvair back in 72 or thereabouts.
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The Rambler American had a base 199ci straight six with a single barrel carb. It won the Mobil economy run for it's class. There was an optional 232ci straight six. My 1967 Rambler American 220 2 door has the 199 six. Not a bad little engine for what it is.
 
The "flat six" discussion reminded me of the old "slant six" that came in the Plymouth Valiant. I had one of these that I paid a whopping $100 for, and I probably overpaid.

The main problem was that the fiber gear on the bottom of the distributor didn't last long. After I had these fail twice I purchased a handful of them ($1 each) and kept them in the glove box.

When one gave out, I would pull the distributor, pull #1 spark plug, crank around to TDC on that cylinder, replace the gear and re-seat the distributor, start the car, and time by ear. After a couple of iterations I was able to do all this in less than 15 minutes on the side of the road. This car also received a "new" set of Big-O retreads ($8 each) about once a year.

I was a poor college student in those days, but I wouldn't trade those experiences for anything.
 
Oh wow. I started out on Granpa's old Farmall tractor. Dad had to start it tho, it had to be hand cranked and they didn't want a back fire to break my arm. A few years later when I was about 14, Dad started teaching me in the '46 Ford. But I guess I actually learned how to drive in a 1963 Ford Galaxy that the school furnished for driver's ed. It was the newest car I'd ever driven or would ever drive for many years. Once I got my license, I mostly drove Dad's '57 Ford until I got my first motorcycle.
 
John Deere 420 and graduated to a 1953 3/4 ton ford. Both on the farm when I was 7yo in early 60s
 
Granddads '69 Galaxy 500 4dr hardtop. It was rather large and whistled at 30 and above. 4dr hardtops were a bad idea. After My grandparents were gone we put the 390 in my dads truck. It was still running when I sold it after my folks were gone in 2014.
 
If you are talking about the car I did my driving lessons in, it was a 1966 Chevy II automatic. :) Man, that was an easy car to drive. :D

But then I bought a Volkswagen Bug once I had my driver's license. It was my college commuter car. :)
 

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1979 Ford Fairmont. Later when I bought my first car, a 1981 Chevy Camaro, it was weird hearing my father asking to borrow the keys to my car.
 
1976 Buick Skylark 2-door. Got my learners permit with that one. The one I really enjoyed was Dad's 1972 Toyota Celica 5-speed manual. That was my first manual transmission experience. Also the first car I bought with my own money. Signed over my $700 tax return to Dad for that car.
 
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