Which car did you first learn to drive in?

[daviemck2006]

First car I drove in a disused airfield was a dolomite sprint at about 14. I learned and passed my test in my dad's Leyland princess 2.2 hls. I guess that's why I prefer bigger cars and loved my first c5 so much. Big comfy car with funny suspension lol

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[CitroJim]

Took my test in an Imp....

Took mine in a 1964 Austin Mini. My first car....

EPL605B. Wonder what happened to it...

And now I run a 1963 Activa...

[CitroJim]

Big comfy car with funny suspension lol

Used to be called the poor man's hydropneumatic...

[c.morewood]

I learned to drive in a Fiat Mirafiori 1.6 special. When I was 16 on private roads and fields around our house. Then switched to bikes and finally passed my car test when I was 35 almost 400,000 miles later!

[NewcastleFalcon]

Not surprisingly it wasn't a French Car but a variety of British/Japanese, although the list does include 2 with Hydrolastic suspension though!

Here's the pic


We have, An Austin J4 Van, a A55 Pick Up, and a Hillman Super Minx all pre legal age farm track driving and acquired by a friend of mine who lived even further out in the sticks than me.

Then we have the Austin 1800 the family car at the time, and surprisingly as I found out from here it was the European Car of the Year in 1965 , and my first car was an Austin Mini 1000 with hydrolastic suspension (although the pic is of a Mini Cooper of similar vintage which was several notches more desirable than my 1000)

The driving school car I learned in was not a Nissan but a Datsun Cherry



regards Neil

PS If you put 1994 into the European car of the Year box you will discover the vehicle which scored 26 points more than the Citroen Xantia, with the Xantia having to settle for second place

[K-Pug]

Good thread except, omg, I have forgotten! I think it was a VW beetle. I do remember lots of hours as a learner in a Ford Falcon as well.

[Hell Razor5543]

I initially started learning to drive in a BSM Metro (with my Mum helping in her K reg Peugeot 504 estate) until finances ran out, and then, much later, in a Nissan Micra.

[Peter.N.]

Mine was a 1955 Austin A40 van, almost new. I took my test at a unique time in history, it was during the Suez crisis and because of petrol rationing driving tests were suspended but if you had a provisional license you were allowed to drive unaccompanied, a provision that I took full advantage of.

The first car I owned was a 1939 Ford Prefect, no heater, cable brakes, transverse springs and 6v electrics - death trap.

Peter

[CitroJim]

I took my test at a unique time in history, it was during the Suez crisis and because of petrol rationing driving tests were suspended but if you had a provisional license you were allowed to drive unaccompanied, a provision that I took full advantage of.

The Suez crisis did do some good then

[Peter.N.]

It did for me.

[Gibbo2286]

I took my test at a unique time in history, it was during the Suez crisis and because of petrol rationing driving tests were suspended but if you had a provisional license you were allowed to drive unaccompanied, a provision that I took full advantage of.

The Suez crisis did do some good then

It had me worried, I'd finished my national service (Egypt) in March 55 and was still on reserve, if it had continued I would have probably been back in Egypt pretty quickly.

Ps. That 39 Ford Prefect had Girling rod brakes Peter not cables.

You are quite right it did, don't know where the notion of cable brakes came from as I was visualising rods, anyway, you were never quite knew what direction it would go in when you applied them.

It also had vacuum wipers - used to stop when you went up hills.

Peter

[civvie]

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?"

!

Ahh. Isleworth and Ashford. I took both my motorbike test (lambretta li150) and my car test in Isleworth. Started to drive in dads Morris oxford estate Mk1, after he had enough went to BSM and passed the test in their Austin 1100 on the second attempt, the first one was only a practice, well that's what I tell people. I remember that long slow climb to the bridge I also did the hill start on that bit. I live in Ashford so also know the test centre there its still in use, its by the traffic lights in Fir tree place, don't know if it was there in the 60's though. Always cars parked down Fordbridge road with L plates showing and nervous drivers walking down the road to the test centre.

First car I owned was a ford Zephyr mk1 vintage about 1954 if I remember, brought it from someone my dad knew, hubby had died and she wanted rid of it paid 20 pounds as it was a non starter, towed it home and spent all Saturday trying to get this thing working, Sunday afternoon while my dad was again looking under the bonnet I had a route around under the dash and found this switch, told my dad, switched it on or off tried to start the car and it roared into life. The old classic of shorting out the coil as an early immobiliser system. After that boy could that car go 2200 cc engine 3speed column change and that super dupa vacuum wipers system.
They were the days.

EDIT. forgot about the milk float, used to help the milkman on his rounds while still at school, normal practise was to drive the float along the street if the milkman got too far in front. (one of those 3 wheel electric ones)

[Sloppysod]

1972 Morris 1300 Auto, My sisters 1970 Datsun 1200 estate and my driving instructors Ford Escort!!

Thank you civvie very much for starting this thread I have just spent bout 20 minutes on this website looking for photos, but ended up going down memory lane!!!
http://www.autoviva.com/home.php, you can also play something like "Toptrumps!! - its been fun though!!

[vborovic]

Thank you civvie very much for starting this thread

Um ... wasn't it falling-out-with-my-car who started the thread? ...

[bonnyman750]

I first learned to drive in my Dad's 'm' redg Vauxhall Victor 1.8 FE Transcontinental saloon with me officially on his insurance in 1979 (just after my dad sold this car it was involved in an attempted robbery in Leamington Spa...big local news at the time) . After successfully demonstrating that I could control a car properly, I was booked in for lessons with a local driving instructor. Lessons were conducted in his 1976 'N' plated chocolate brown Austin All Aggro 1.3....with a square'ish steering wheel..! Whoever at British Leyland who thought that one up should have been subjected to random drug testing......still hate All Aggros with a passion today...!
During this period my parents bought me my first car off my then future Brother in Law (it was his first car too - he moved on to an 'N' plated Capri Mk2 in banana yellow with a brown vinyl roof - Class!!). A 1966 Vauxhall Viva Ha Deluxe...a 1056cc powered swiss cheese! for the princely sum of £40! Swiss cheese the body may have resembled but it was my first car and I loved her...having the bodywork welded and resprayed in British Leyland Pageant blue...!
When it was officially put on the road with a fresh MOT, I started topping up my driving lessons with my dad and using her to get me to college and back (with dad as shotgun) during my apprenticeship. When driving instructor found out I was supplementing his tuition he threw a 7 and put me in for my test straight away (and told me to wear a headband, as my then shoulder length hair 'would prevent the examiner from seeing my eyes moving and looking in the mirror'...........you can imagine my answer!)

Test duly passed first time on 9th May 1980, I carried on driving the Ha until I sold her to a mate and carried on with a succession of Vivas, Cavaliers, an Astra estate, Land Rover 109" pick up, 300TDi Discovery, 2.0l Renault 21 (what a potential licence loser that was!), 3 Xantias, the C5 Tourer and now a couple of Fords.

Also, from 1978 on (at college) I fell in with a load of Rockers/Bikers and decided in '81 that I wanted a Bike...sold my CB radio and bought my first bike for £80...a 1976 'N' plate Suzuki GT125 Ram Air twin 2 stroke ( which the PO's dad had painted bright yellow with paint 'borrowed' from the Massey Ferguson factory where he worked - soon to be repainted metallic blue close to original....
Passed test 19th May 1982 and never looked back (except for over my shoulder before overtaking of course...). This bike followed by a succession of Triumphs (including a self built 5TA chopper) and mixed Japs, I now have a 1991 ZZR1100 C2A for touring, a 1975 T160 Trident and, of course, a 1980 Bonneville...

Cheers,

Glyn