Which car did you first learn to drive in?

[falling-out-with-my-car]

Having some interest in older classic cars I thought it might be nice to
start a thread on which cars people first drove for their first driving lessons
if they can remember.
Mine was a triumph Dolomite 1300 in British racing green.
I thought it was one of the most comfortable cars I had ever been in at the time.
I went on to fail at my first attempt and bought a block of lessons driving a Peugeot
206 diesel. I've had the Pug engine bug ever since with my Citroens.
Edit, come to think of it I owned a vw beetle 1500 6 volt
at 16 and I drove it up and down the alleyway at the back of our house until it was sold.
at about age 20 to 23 I owned four robin reliants and drove them on a bike license which gave me good road sense
even when I rolled two of them going to fast around corners, grinding off the door handles.
I totalled one of them and the other leaked badly always filling up with water in the rear footwells.
also I had five puch maxi mopeds and a Suzuki ZR50 step thru 50 cc at 16 and a Honda 50cc step thru as well.
I can see this wandering off topic but that's all part of the fun of it.
Dad tried to teach me to drive in his GSA but you know how pedantic Dads can be so that failed miserably
until I became a Dad to couldn't teach my son much either he knew it all at 17..

regards.
Nigel.

[myglaren]

Renault 8/Austin A35/Austin Cambridge and an Austin J - somethingorother van.
Last two were works vehicles - Cambridge was new and the boss's car.
Renner was driving schools and a right heap, although new.

Just to be clear, I was taking driving lessons (in the renner) but drove (legally) my mates Austin A35 to work and back, sometimes to jobs we were working on together, otherwise drove to jobs and back in the firm's vehicles with a licensed driver accompanying.

11 lessons including the test. Passed first time, something of a miracle.

[vborovic]

their first driving lessons

Just to be sure, the official driving lessons (driving school), or driving lessons as in the first taste of driving a car in your life?

[Homer]

First car I ever drove was a Reliant Regal Supervan III (i.e. a Del Boy 3 wheeler).

I learned in my dad's Volvo 144 and the driving instructor's Datsun/Nissan, I think it was a Sunny. The Volvo was an automatic so I'd keep forgetting about the gears and clutch in the instructor's car.

When I passed my test my dad let me have the Reliant if I got it through the MOT.

First Citroen I drove was a GSA.

[BenC5HDi]

First thing I drove on the road was when I was 9, and it was a 7.3 litre 1971 Chevy Nova , with lots of chrome and noise. A proper street-rod. I drove it every day for 2 weeks! It belonged to my cousin in Louisiana and he taught me to drive on roads like those dirt-track the back roads you used to see on the Dukes of Hazzard.

Here I first drove my Grandad's Maxi when I was 14 or so, used to bring it round from his council garage to the house, a few hundred yards.

Then I started nicking my mum's 2CV when I was 16 or so and using it when she went on holiday. She only caught me because she wrote the mileage down once and I did 400 miles in a week in it. She was not impressed. Unlike other young illegal drivers I was bright enough to be extremely careful so I wouldn't get nicked or crash.

I didn't crash but I got nicked because I got a producer for having a tail-light out one night !

I learnt my lesson.

First car I owned and drove legally was a Skoda 120L , followed by a 2CV.... then 127 other varieties of autoshite plus 9 motorcycles.

[falling-out-with-my-car]

their first driving lessons

Just to be sure, the official driving lessons (driving school), or driving lessons as in the first taste of driving a car in your life?

The latter would be good lets keep it legal though. don't want any confessions
getting anyone into trouble with anyone if you catch my drift.

I.e we stole a rolls one night and drove 500 miles with a body in the boot.

regards.
Nigel.

[spider]

A white H or J plate VX Nova 1.4 , to be fair it was brand new.

Point above noted

[vborovic]

Well, seeing as some members already "confessed", I'll continue on ...

- first car experience: Renault 25 '89 2.2 auto, when I was 9
- first offroad experience, first 130 kmh+ experience (on an airstrip): Citroen Xantia '95 2.0 auto, when I was 13
- first manual car driving experience (offroad, on an military airfield): Mazda 626 '85 2.0, when I was 15
- first "serious" driving (closed roads and parkings, preparation for the driving school): Citroen C5 '01 2.2 HDi, manual, when I was 17
- driving school car: Opel Corsa 1.0 '94, no servo, manual, no ABS, no nothing ... , when I was 18

Yep, that's about it for me ... the driving school car was still the worst I ever drove, I'm used to more serious cars ...

[elma]

First drive was a fiat uno 900, second was a 998 mini.

I learnt in a bsm corsa and my first car was a fiat punto 1.2 75 Sx.

First Citroen I drove was a 94 Xantia vsx 1.9td. I bought a 95(anti sink) Xantia 1.9td the same week, my third car. Hence my preference for 1.9td vsx antisink Xantias.

First van I drove was a ldv Sherpa and I bought a pilot a few years later. I was a bit wary looking at it but when I popped the bonnet and saw an xud9 I was sold.

I've had 10 cars so far, on the road anyway, and four have been Xantias.

[GiveMeABreak]

First car I drove (lessons) was was a Ford Fiesta - hated it.
Father's Volvo 345 & Ford Cortina ('Taunus' in Germany)
The first car I owned was my 1976 Citroen GS in washed out Canary Yellow (lovely car, hideous colour), with the metal bar in between the front seats that you grappled your non-inertia reel seat belt onto (if you wore them at the time that is)!
All my own cars from then on are as per my car list on the left - driven many others for work, colleagues, friends, family, but only ever owned Citroens from when I was 16 on, so that's my thoroughbred!

[white exec]

My Dad taught me, in a 1935 Rover 10. Crash box: had to learn to double-declutch, when changing down.
Actually took the test (Ashford, Middlesex) in my girlfriend's father's Morris 1000. Much more forgiving!

In 1966 Ashford-Isleworth was a new test centre, and being very close to Heathrow didn't really have a hill - just a long, lazy approach on a bridge over a railway, probably 1-in-200 at the most. The examiner made a special request at this point, "I know you don't normally bother with 1st on this car for gentle urban progress, but do you think you could, just this once, so I know you can use it?"

Anyway, passed first time . . . which is more than can be said for my GF's father, who only passed on the seventh attempt, and a couple of replaced clutches later. Had taken my Dad four stabs at it, by which time he had become rather a good teacher. My good fortune !

[CitroJim]

A Morris f'ing Marina 1.3

I still hate them with a passion even today....

A shame as I think they look good and their looks have stood the test of time rather well.

[Gibbo2286]

I started (legal) on the road driving in a 1935 Ford 8hp but had been driving anything and everything before that in and around the workshop.
When I was 12 I did a Saturday job on a bread round and often drove the Morris 10 van from door to door, at the same time I did a part time milk round and drove a ........... bloody great cart horse.

[waynedance]

Learned in my own mk2 Escort with my old man, took test in the car as well and passed 1st time.

It was a 1.3 pop plus, bought in 1992 and it was a 1980 model. Was gutless remember going south bound down the M1 towards junction 22 in third at 35mph up the hill.

Scrapped it in the end due to rust issues.

Sent from my Lenovo TAB 2 A10-70F using Tapatalk

[Stickyfinger]

Austin A60 Cambridge and Morris 1000 traveller

Took my test in an Imp....