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What was the first vehicle you ever drove and how old were you?

3K views 32 replies 28 participants last post by  bill plise 
#1 ·
I count my Grandpa's 1949 Dodge Coronet as my first although it might have been his Fordson Major Diesel but I don't remember the chronological order but I drove both of them by the time I was 3 1/2 years old or at least I stood on his lap and guided them. Both are vivid memories I have of spending time with my Grandpa that I have to this day. I know I did it before I was 3 1/2 because that is when Grandpa died.

The Dodge was driving down the long lane of the farm that I live on now. I put it in the shallow ditch at the end where there is a sharp turn to the south because I just wasn't strong enough to turn it. I remember my Grandpa laughing as we gently rolled into the ditch. He backed it right out with no trouble. :)

The Dodge is still sitting behind the barn at Mom's.


The Fordson I remember driving through the grove on the farm where my Mom lives now but Grandpa and Grandma lived there at the time. We moved to that farm when I was 4 1/2 and Mom still lives there.
 
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#2 ·
Always nice to have a little room to learn when your 3 :sweat: thanks for sharing.

Mine was an old Datsun 510 or B210 cant be sure I was 6 or 7. At dads place of work they had a yard and that 510 was the run around beater used by all to move around the yard from shop to shop etc. It was a 4 speed I was coached by him and made it around pretty good after some real clutch mishaps, I could barely see what was in front of me, I wont forget it, thanks Dad!

PS he said no when I asked to drive the GTO.
 
#3 ·
Drove my older brothers 64 catalina wagon (into a parking spot) Did not do well.I was 9.
Later when I was 13 , I drove a 66 international harvester pickup with a granny gear 4 speed.I did much better.I could start,stop, speed shift....:)
Drove it around a couple acre property quite often. Lotsa fun.
 
#5 ·
I was always very mature as a kid, at 12 I was hanging with guys 15 and 16. My next door neighbours dad had a couple of cars, 1 was just for his kids to use at their leisure, there were 5 boys all about a year apart.the youngest who was 15 used to take me to the speedway on a Saturday night. On 1 occasion he taught me to drive in his austin7. Tiny wee car but very easy to drive. I loved it, a couple years later I was driving my mates red mini. Then at 15 I bought my own first car, a vanguard. Nicknamed the Fergy fastback.

Later gator
Russ
 
#10 ·
Sounds a lot like my experience. Dad and I would drive to the dump, along the way was a road called the 'Military Road' (Duluth, MN.), about 50 yards wide, dirt. I was about 10 years old, the car was a 52 Plymouth, flathead 6, 3 speed on the column. The throttle stuck, there was a screwdriver stuck in the carb to hold the choke open, Dad said it slipped down the carb. I calmly turned off the ignition, he bragged on that for a long time. Good memories.
 
#8 ·
I also had a father than let me steer and drive on his lap as a small child :cool:

I guess thats how I got bitten by the car bug because I already bought and sold 13 cars before I hit the driving age of 16. "My" official first car I remember driving was my 55 Chevy :thumbup: The first car I legally registered was the 70 Super Bee and I use to take that out all the time before I had a license when I got home from school and my Father was still at work. The first car I was legally allowed to drive when I got my License at age 16 was the 70 Cop Car, (Ply Fury 383 Mag) because I was having trouble with my 1970 Super Bee's clutch at the time, gee I wonder why LOL...

These were the 13 cars I had before hitting age 16


55 Chevy, 283/Std Transmission

57 Chevy, 283/Std Transmission

59 Ford Ranchero, Big Block/Auto

61 Chrysler 300G, 413 Wedge/PB Auto

69 GTO, Big Block/Auto

65 Mustang, 289/Std Transmission

66 Mustang, 289/Std Transmission

68 Mustang Fast Back, 302/Std Transmission

69 Mustang GT, 351C/Std Transmission

67 GTX 440 Mag/Auto

65 Box Nova Project, 454 GMC Motor Drop In Failure, LOL ...

70 RT Super Bee, 440 Mag/Std Transmission

70 Fury Police car 383 Mag/Auto (Malverne Police Car)
 
#12 ·
First car I ever drove was a 53 Plymouth Mayflower ,we moved to the country from Atlanta I had ben promoted from 4th grade to the 5th So I must have been around 18 or so ,:D when we got up here there were Many dirt roadsso dad let us drive his Flathead 6 3 on the tree Plymouth ,later he traded for a 56 Belvedere with a push button drive , myself and my brother hated it all you did was just sit there ,no gears to change or any thing ,,BUT my mother loved it ,that is what counted she kept it about 20 years or more ,Dad bought her other cars but she kept the Belvedere,
 

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#13 ·
My dad was in construction, servicing the heavy equipment......I used to go with him in the summer. I remember we were moving a bulldozer. Dad jumped off the seat and hopped on the hood and told me which levers and pedals to push left and right. I guess I was about 6 or 7......After that, I got to drive the National mower he had for cutting the bosses lawn......

 
#14 ·
11 or 12
53 Chev 3100 pickup
old 6 banger and granny 4 spd

First vehicle I actually took control of
Drove the 57 Desoto Firedome after the chev----not even a teen and driving a HEMI
When I was 12, step dad allowed me to make runs to the store for him.
67 Ford F250 4x4 (really tall truck)

stepdad houdinied in 72 and mom would only allow me to drive the Chevy pickup when we went out
to the country too visit some friends.

got my license at 14 (and had to buy my own insurance) and bought a 70 Plymouth Sport Fury GT with a 440-6 (way fun car til a drunk driver killed it while parked).

Had a full time job all thru high school that sent me out into the late nights, so I was able to get a driver license with no restrictions (daytime only till 16 was the norm)
 
#17 ·
I don't remember for sure, but I think it was a tractor at my sisters farm. I was about 12 -14 and worked there one summer. I drove the tractor while they picked the corn.

The first car, it was probably a used car off the lot where my dad worked. I'll have to think about this a bit and maybe a memory will spark.

Brian
 
#18 ·
My first motorized vehicle I drove was at age 7. It was a 1947 Gibson Tractor. It steered with a push pull Armstrong tiller rod. The Gibson tractor was built with a tiller rod No steering wheel but they had a bolt on steering box you could add on. From there it was a old ford tractor 8N or something like that. Of course you can't forget Then an oldie but goodie John I'm a chugging and popping deer. Nothing ran like that deer! We later upgraded to a Fordson Major Diesel. It was an awesome tractor for the farm. My first automobile was a 1953 Chebby Bel-Aire 4 door. I was a whole 13yrs old.
 
#19 ·
My absolute first motorized "vehicle" would have been a home made mini bike my brother bought at a flee market. It was made with 1/2' solid rod! It had no brakes and no engine. I bought a 1 hp cast iron Briggs & Stratton motor and that was it, my first ride.

Brian
 
#21 ·
Not sure this counts, but "drove" a 1940 Chevy business coupe at age three all by myself. Someone left the driver's door ajar with the car in low gear. I sat on the floor, braced my back against the seat and pushed down on the starter pedal. Voila, the car moved forward. What fun! My mother looked out the kitchen window to see the car grinding its way toward the apple tree and promptly intervened. Started driving an Oliver 60 tractor solo on our family farm at age 6. Drove a 1949 Dodge Coronet down a deadend dirt road with my grandpa at age 10. I was so short that I had to sit on a pillow to see over the dash. That car had a fluid drive transmission. Unlike Crash Farmer, I stayed out of the ditch!
 
#22 ·
My first was a 68 ford wagon with a flat tire and I was 14 ....There was nobody home and for some reason I decided I could get away with driving it around the block ,which I did but the neighbors told my Dad and I caught holly heck when he got home....good thing that 68 datsan 2000 roadster with the 302 in the garage wasnt done,I would have really been in trouble.:sweat:
The 210 57 chevy was my first car I drove legally. paid 500.00 for it when I was 16 and drove it home. had it for 20 yrs
 
#24 ·
LOL, I was at a church function and got the keys from my mom to get something out of the car...a '68 Impala Convertible. I went out there and drove off down the street, turned around and came back. I think I was 14.

I had forgotten all about that!

Brian
 
#23 ·
I used to ride on my Dads lap and steer the cars from the age of about 4 on up ! I was 10 and my Dad took me to work ( A cement company) in his 2 day old '56 Mercury to pick up his check on his day off , and left me in the car with the engine running! I put it in gear and it careened through the back lot and went into the waste cement pit , and sank to the top of the tires and the exhaust was blowing cement burbles out the back till it stalled! A cement waste pit is where the trucks dump the leftover cement and wash out the trucks mixing drums!! Its the consistency of "pea soup"!

I Expected the beating of the CENTURY , But his co workers and boss were laughing so hard that he quit yelling and started laughing TOO, And they pulled the car out and all helped wash it down and it took my Dad a couple days to get it running and all the cement out of it, plus a new exhaust!! Cement hardened in the old exhaust ! No cement got in the interior?? And my Father never told my Mother what I did !!

Jester (Chris)
 
#25 ·
No way would my Dad have let me touch the car.

My brother had a ’49 'Merc with a 56 Firedome in it. He would let me push in the clutch so it would roll backwards in the driveway while he washed the white walls without taking off the skirts. I thought I was driving!

The first car I drove was my buddy's mom's '55 Pontiac hdtp. He would let me drive even though I was too young to get a license. Previous to that all I could drive was the home made put-puts with lawn mower engines.......made a bunch of them! :D

John
 
#30 ·
First car I ever drove was dads '72 Charger, 15..... ot my license in that car. 1st vehicle I "steered" was grandpa's '70 Chev pickup, 3 on the tree. He would push in the clutch and let me shift. I sat next to him to steer for miles. Good times. I was 5th/6th grade Ended up buying the truck after he passed...... Thought bout getting one just like it. White and orange...... White cab and pretty much orange over the rest......

Just like this one. I always thought the '69/'70 had more interesting frontends than the more popular 71/72s.........

 
#31 ·
I was 15 and it was a 1951 Desoto with a semi.automatic...it had a clutch....my Dad purchased it for 35 dollars from an old fellow down the Street......but actually it was a wooden go cart. ..I was 8....my Dad was away and I put an electric washing machine motor on it......it went across the basement floor into a wall at the speed of light.
 
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