Which car did you first learn to drive in?

[GiveMeABreak]

If you're an old fart, I don't know how you would describe me. I got my call up papers to go in the army 3 years after the end of WW2. My first driving was done in a Bedford OY truck. That's me sitting on the bonnet.
But I haven't taken to a mobility scooter yet. In fact since I brought my caravan back from Malaga in March, I've got 3 cars thro' the MOT, dug out 2cu.mtrs of soil and laid 6sq.mtrs of block paving. And I've just finished putting a new roof on the garage.

Worked out my age yet?...

What ever you do - don't do a 'Fatty'! (expletives warning)

[Paul-R]

I make it to be 87 to 89 but surely not.

[JohnD]

So have I got my dates right? you were called up in 1948 so had to be at least 17 then.I reckon you were born in 1931 making you 85.

Yes! I was called up in '48 - got my papers two weeks after 18th birthday (early January 1948) with a travel warrant to go to Aldershot on the 6th May. Should have been for two years but because of various emergencies demob date kept being postponed.

[white exec]

Sorry, wrong page

Peter, sometimes I can't even find the book.
Now, what were we talking about . . . ?

[CitroJim]

I'd say around 80 John...

...

Sorry Jim... I can only give you a B+ for your maths....

Better than a C-

I'll take a bet that your secret is good food, exercise, fitness and a lack of stress....

[JohnD]

I'll take a bet that your secret is good food, exercise, fitness and a lack of stress....

Let's just say that I did three miles on my bike around the park this morning before sitting down at 7pm for my breakfast porridge. But got to admit - it's an electric bike but with pedals.

[CitroJim]

Excellent the fact you're on a bike is all that matters. Porridge is good!

Not tried an electric bike yet although our local bike shop has some quite tempting ones.

I hope to be still riding my bikes when I'm your age...

[Oldpug]

So have I got my dates right? you were called up in 1948 so had to be at least 17 then.I reckon you were born in 1931 making you 85.

Yes! I was called up in '48 - got my papers two weeks after 18th birthday (early January 1948) with a travel warrant to go to Aldershot on the 6th May. Should have been for two years but because of various emergencies demob date kept being postponed.

John,you make me feel like a teenager !! I was five months old when you was called up.

[elma]

87 or 8 assuming you were 17 in1948

[JohnD]

87 or 8 assuming you were 17 in1948

87 Next birthday!

[Mandrake]

Reading some of the posts here, just how old are you people? ... ... (no intention of offending anybody)

At 40 I must be the youngest person in this thread to admit their age so far... I feel like a right spring chicken in this thread, although I have always felt young at heart, and never really grew up...

First motorised thing I drove was a Kubota mini tractor. First car was, I think, a shot of my mate's shed of a Mini. Driving lessons (by my Dad, and a few sit ins with a friend who was an ADI) mostly in a light blue Visa II Super E (SDL 20X), but also some time in the Visa Special we also had (turd brown, RJH 822Y). I passed my test at the first go in the blue Visa - as did both my Sisters. My younger Sister in particular did well, as by then (3 years after me) the clutch was pretty well shot, and synchro on the lower gears was intermittent at best!!

I was about to list the cars that I first started to learn to drive in but Richards comment reminded me that I was driving a tractor before I ever drove a car! How could I forget that... When I was young my Dad and I lodged with a farmer for a year after moving across the country so of course I ended up helping on the farm and one of the perks was occasionally getting to drive a small tractor. I'm trying to remember what age I was but I must have been around 8 or 9 at the time...

The first time behind the wheel of a car (off road of course... ) I would have been 12, in my Dad's 1974 GS Estate. The same GS in the picture below taken about 10 years earlier. (Hint: I'm the short one )



In New Zealand at the time you could start learning to drive at 15 so I studied for the theory test when I was 14 and passed on my 15th birthday. I actually did most of my learning and sat the practical test in my Mum's 1980 Subaru Leone 1600 sedan - I can't remember the exact model, but it looked similar to this, and I remember it had a flat 4 water cooled engine:



Not a particularly awe inspiring car but it did the job and got me my license on my first test sitting. Not only that but a few months later we went on a 2 week tour around the entire south island in that car with me doing about half the driving - which would have amounted to about a thousand miles in about 2 weeks... Talk about learning to drive in the real world by the school of hard knocks... no accidents I'm glad to report.

My first car that I actually owned was a slightly beaten up 1977 G Special in left hand drive (grr) which was a bit of a "problem child" shall we say... with rust being its biggest enemy. I actually only got about 3 years out of if before it went off the road due to rot and other problems, but it was a nice car to drive while it lasted! I actually owned it before I sat my driving test in mums car but decided that learning and sitting the test in an LHD car was not a good idea!!

Later cars included a 1984 Daihatsu Charade turbo, (also a bit a problem car with turbo problems and rust, grr, but great fun to drive!) a 1977 Series 1 CX 2400, (great car to drive, but it had not been cared for prior to buying it so was a bit of a rust bucket!) a 1988 Honda Accord (most reliable car I've owned, but seriously rusty in places!) a 1997 2 litre petrol Xantia VSX, then after moving to the UK a 1998 Series 2 Xantia V6, followed by the current 1997 Series 1 Xantia V6!

Edit: Forgot to mention that the "farmer" we lodged with when I was 9 was the infamous and eccentric Max McKay who also happened to own and run the local independent Citroen service agent where my Dad worked for a couple of years, and that I remember a row of about 6-7 ID/DS's parked out the back of the farm house in varying states of repair... I was much too young to drive any of them, sadly....

You can read about him here including his sad and untimely passing: http://pukeariki.com/Learning-Research/ ... -max-mckay
And here: http://www.ds23.co.nz/resources/Reading ... %20Pt1.pdf

Quite a character.

[KennyW]

I learnt to drive in an Austin Metro and paid for the lessons myself. I think they were £5 a lesson.

JohnD keep up the good work, my father has just turned 89 but his health is failing just in the last year or so.

Kenny

[elma]

I'm the baby, 32. My Xantia is nearly my age.

[HDI]

First driving lessons were in a 1973 Ford Capri 1.6 GL. First solo driving, before passing my test (cough!!), 1973 Saab 95, then 1973 Ford Consul estate. Passed test in a Ford Escort, instructor car. First car, works Ford Fiesta van, then Ford Escort Estate, 1.3Gl. I LOVED that car! First car of my own, 1982 Alfa Romeo 2.0 Guilietta.

[JohnD]

my father has just turned 89 but his health is failing just in the last year or so.

Yes- Health changes can happen so suddenly. My sister-in-law had her 90th birthday last year. She played table tennis every Tuesday; she was dancing at a party in February and when she got home she suffered a stroke. Life as she knew it is finished.