How it starts... your first drive!

[Krockit1]

So I'm out on my bike workout this morning and on a particularly remote stretch of road a mini van approached, at maybe 15-20 mph, with a little weave going on. I decided I best pay attention. Turns out a boy, maybe 10 at the most, is steering the van with dad in the passenger's seat, probably with his foot on the pedals and (hopefully) a hand on the wheel. The little guy looked to be small enough to have to stand up to see But his hands were firmly at 10 and 2 and his smile showing a missing front tooth was miles wide. Pure Joy, man, his little face was so good!

So do you remember the first time you drove a car? No go karts, no pedal cars, no soap box derby car, no mini bikes.... a real car. And who took you out. Or maybe you stole it!

I was 10. My Dad's Willys Jeep - with a 3 speed manual. Down the fire lanes in the national forest in Northern Wisconsin. He'd push in the clutch and I would move the shifter.... heaven!

[pkimM3r]

I did this at 7. Steering my dads car. Hes into driving. This guy power slides in backroads in an suv back in the day. Im glad my dad loves the driving bit.

[dt34]

Originally Posted by Krockit1

I was 10. My Dad's Willys Jeep - with a 3 speed manual. Down the fire lanes in the national forest in Northern Wisconsin. He'd push in the clutch and I would move the shifter.... heaven!

Same here, learned on an old Willys jeep around 10 or 11 years old.

[1MOREMOD]

i remember my first real time it wasnt pretty! ended up on the curb.

[p-streets]

My older brother I was about 10 also. It was a Montecarlo In the Dominican republic at some family farm land. I remember mashing the gas and my brother yelling slow down it was awsome.

[p-streets]

I also let my 2 year old son sit on my lap and steer the M down the block he loved it and that's all hetalks about good times

[NAV8TT]

I was 12 and it was a Mazda 323 hatchback. It was 1991. I remember stealing the car after that few times and I ended up slamming into a building while trying to get into a driveway to the parking spot. I went to my dads room to tell him and I expected rage and punishment and I was surprised when his reply was: are you ok, I knew you were stealing the car, I don't care about the car, are you ok?

[SilentAttack]

I was maybe 10 and almost hit a parked boat

[Arben72]

I could drive with out parental assistance since I was 10. I learned how to "drift" when I was 13 during the winter. Learned stick at 11 or 12. I believe this is the best teaching method as it gives a kid confidence when he's out driving on his own without any parental help. I let my cousin pull out my m3 from the garage time to time and he's only 13 and drives a stick better than me.

[HeartMD]

You guys had some really cool dads. I was about 17 the first time I drove a car. My father was one of those you know "not so cool dads". He spent more time watching the NY Mets and Giants then with his kids.
Im making sure not to repeat the same with mine.

[Krockit1]

Originally Posted by HeartMD

You guys had some really cool dads. I was about 17 the first time I drove a car. My father was one of those you know "not so cool dads". He spent more time watching the NY Mets and Giants then with his kids.
Im making sure not to repeat the same with mine.

and hats off to you Doc. You learned the lessons well, even if the hard way. The time you give to your kids will repay you 100 times over. My fondest memories are of the days I had with my Pop when I was a young boy. He was a busy businessman, but when we were together, I had his full attention. And he always made the effort.

[Shoney41]

What a great thread! I was on my dad's lap steering the car around age 6. Would also row the gears from passenger seat around that age or maybe a little older. Will never forget first time as driver -- age 8 or 9 in my dad's VW golf in a big parking lot. I was hooked and pestered him and my mom from that point forward. Learning on a MT car is definitely the way to go.

[superflywheel]

I had a similar experience with my dad in a truck on country roads and fondly recall it.

This is inspiring me to get my kids on my lap in the M3, however it's a little harder now with all the safety nazis. I don't really care about them per say but I do care about crazy air bags deploying with my kids being too close to them. What's a modern dad to do?

[davesaddiction]

I love taking my 6- and 4-year-old out for drives around the neighborhood on my lap. I make sure to talk about and show them what I'm doing (okay, clutch in...), and let them do as much as they can by themselves, so they're learning while we're playing.

As far as safety, we always go really slowly, and even though they have control of the wheel some of the time, I've always got a hand on it if a correction is needed (there's very little traffic).

For any of you who do the same, once you get it back in the garage, make sure to rev the engine a couple times and let them honk the horn! Best way to make memories and future gearheads.

If you're really worried about airbags, traffic, curbs, etc., find a huge & empty parking lot for them.

[p-streets]

Originally Posted by davesaddiction

I love taking my 6- and 4-year-old out for drives around the neighborhood on my lap. I make sure to talk about and show them what I'm doing (okay, clutch in...), and let them do as much as they can by themselves, so they're learning while we're playing.

As far as safety, we always go really slowly, and even though they have control of the wheel some of the time, I've always got a hand on it if a correction is needed (there's very little traffic).

For any of you who do the same, once you get it back in the garage, make sure to rev the engine a couple times and let them honk the horn! Best way to make memories and future gearheads.

If you're really worried about airbags, traffic, curbs, etc., find a huge & empty parking lot for them.

O so true my 2 year old likes to turn it of and on and loves when I rev it and the horn is his lol

[chich]

I also started out steering the car sitting in my dads lap in his old f150. He would take me to a large school parking lot on saturday's that was down the road from our house. I looked forward to it all week. I was probably 7 or so years old. Knowing that I could make the car go wherever I wanted in the lot was amazing and sparked my love for driving

[roastbeef]

my dad used to let me sit on his lap and steer before i could reach the pedals. i absolutely loved knowing that i was steering the car.