First Driving Experience

[jim sanders]

Rapid mentioned on BillyMacs thread of Mike turning fourteen years old which made my brain flashback to the first time Dad let me drive the family car.. not talking about sitting on a lap and steering but the first time being in TOTAL control of a running car/truck.... just for something to talk about

[Buffjhsn]

i just got my first stab at Drag Racing in our car a couple weeks ago. Man talk about a eye opener! It's tuff to just get in, and go out there and do it, if you have never done it before! Something that i will never forget for the rest of my days i'm sure . how many of you guys got to set behind the wheel of a 8.90 car your first time out ?

can't wait till i get to race my car next year! oh crap, that means i had better go out and get to work on it huh?

[jim sanders]

my very first timeslip read 14.71.... i still have it

[jim sanders]

On the way to my grandfathers birthday party/ 4th of July Festival in Jonesburg Mo. in 1969 (Iwas 12 1/2 ) after we got into town and across the RR tracks Dad stopped the car and said; Jimbo take us on in to the farm

[Rapid Randy Baker]

My first legal drive was of course on the day I turned 14! I bugged my dad into taking me for the test. I was up at the crack of dawn just waiting to leave for the license joint. I got it first try, as I had waited for this day my whole life!!!!

On the way out the door carrying the permit in my hand, he said the words that crushed me when I asked for the keys. "You aren't driving home. We have to drive on the Interstate." It was the longest bummed out walk, the whole 1/2-block to the Green 1968 GMC 3/4-ton pickup.

I started for the passenger side, he said, "Hey, here you go get us home safe." Then tossed me the keys!! Back to the top of the world. Now you have to remember I grew up on our ranch. I have driven this old truck a thousand times around there and back and forth to the hay fields.

This was different, I was going to be on the roads!!! Wahoo!! Now things that don't matter at the ranch, make a big difference on the road with lane markings. This thing had the loosest steering box in 17-counties. I was like driving a ship with just about as much response to my turning the wheel.

Well I was on the Interstate about 2-miles before I am about to be passed by a semi. Man I will never forget that feeling of "Oh My God", I will never stay in my lane while he passes, and dad will have been right. I killed us both by having to drive!!

Anyway, since I am still around and typing this, it all worked out!

Rapid

[jim sanders]

that's what i'm talkin' about ! Great story Randy !

[BlownGoat]

My first time was when my dad needed to move the cars around and he tossed me the keys to move the 1973 Grand Am I was about 13 years old and that car was HUUUUUUGE to me back then. I didnt expect him to let me get behind the wheel so when he handed me the keys and said "here ya go" I felt like a real man. After we moved them he got in the Grand Am on the passenger side and said "wanna take it around a few blocks?"

I was scared to death I was gonna hit something or mistake the gas for the brake. With the exception of a couple of VERY wide turns almost hitting a curb or two I did fine. Funny how things like that stick out in your mind years later. Just one of those "rights of manhood" things that we all remember I guess. I havent thought about that for 20 years now. Thanks for bringing back a fond memory of dad

Steve

[pro70z28]

Yup, Like Randy I drove tractors & stuff on the farm. We had the ol' "Jeep" , a model "A" Dad chopped up for farm use. Then later we bought a car from the junk yard for the engine. When we got it home (52 Plymouth) we decided it waqs a fairly decent car so we kept it for beatin' around the farm. My brother Dave got his license about that time, so he didn't have much time for the ol' Plymouth. So, it sorta' became mine. Til' one day I was runnin' up & down the paths out in the field. I drove it through a mud puddle on the dirt road and nailed it. (Had a 6 with home made headers Dave & I made). When it hit the dry ground @ the end of the puddle the engine rearranged some internal parts & that was the end of the Plymouth.
I worked for a farmer doing field work when I was in Driver's Ed. (Held during summer school vacation). I needed to get back to work so the Driver Ed dude said, O.K. I'll made you a deal. If your can parallel park this car within 18" of the curb in one try, between those 2 cars, I'll let you go early. I pulled up along side the front car, Backed it in, put it in park. He opened the door and I was about 6" away, front & back. Piece of cake without a trailer behind me. HEHEHE O.K. show off, you can go.

[Rapid Randy Baker]

Another great story Pro! We could start a whole other thread about city kids trying to learn to drive in drivers ed!! White Knuckles for everyone!!

[WildcatOne]

I was 11 1/2 years old when I got in my Mom's '58 Rambler American (straight-6, 2bbl, 3 on the column) and drove it alone around the neighborhood. By the time I was 12 1/2, I could speed-shift that thing as quick as anybody I'd seen at the drags and burn rubber in the first 2 gears, almost 3rd...I went 90mph in it on West Seawall Boulevard...I was all about driving, and only interested in drag racing as a career. I breezed through Driver's Ed and was given my full-fledged driver's license on my 16th birthday, along with a brand-new Corvair Monza sport coupe. I had jobs that I did, catering to tourism in Galveston, like working on the beach renting floats and umbrellas, jeez what a tough gig that was...I had more babes than I knew what to do with...by then I had a '62 VW that I decided to paint red, white and blue (in '68, before Easy Rider) and the party rolled on. But my early driving days were thrilling and a major leap forward for me in the self-confidence department. In Galveston, I'm to this day known only as "Sylvia's Brother"...Sylvia's doing fine, in case y'all were going to ask, which everybody does once they realize who I am...but WildcatOne was born behind the wheel of a '58 Rambler American in 1961...here's us at Milby park in '69...Cheers, WC1