By the time I was 16 my dad had a pair of ‘65 Malibu’s. The ragtop had a 4 speed Muncie mated to a 327. He took my sister and I to a very quiet street that lead down to the Fox River. He said if you can drive it on this hill you can drive it anywhere. What a fun car.

'72 VW Super Beetle.

Volkswagen Beetle

68 VW Beetle and it was the first car I drove as well.

Datsun something.

An old beater 1963 Chevy fleetside pickup with a straight six, four on the floor, factory four wheel drive, and manual locking hubs. Learned to drive it and work the manual long before getting my permit or driving on the public road.

I tried to learn in my wife's (girlfriend at the time) 72 Super Beettle, but I'm 6'5" and my leg wouldn't fit between the clutch pedal and the steering wheel in that tiny POS. I got to where I could make it go if I had to, but was never particularly good at it. Then the thing did what Beetles do and the engine blew up, so that was the end of that.

I didn't get truly proficent until we bought our 2013 Mazda 3.

A combination of a Ford Pinto and various "tractors" and tow vehicles working in a boat yard as a kid.

We had a XJ Cherokee with a Buick 3800 in it at the ranch, learned some on that & some on a 1997 Saturn SL2

Later, had a 97 Civic EX Coupe with a 5spd & now have the 4spd 75 Midget

1961 VW bug, the family car. Even passed my first driver license test in it in 1969.

'83 RX-7

I don’t remember. My first car was a Chevelle with a 4-speed, but somehow I learned to drive a manual before that. My folk’s car was an automatic at the time…beats me.

My wife who was my fiancé at the time, taught me to drive a manual in her Chevy Chevette. (I learned to drive in my parents' 1972 Chevy Kingswood Estate station wagon, then bought a 1971 Chev Camaro when I graduated from H.S.)

Orange '76 Datsun Pickup.

The most unusual I ever drove was an Lime green Trabant Wagon with wood paneling on the floor with a column shift in Potsdam, Germany in the old DDR.
I asked the guy if I could drive it.

Oh, do motorcycles count? 1975 Honda XR-75. Learned to clutch and shift in late 1974 on this one.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 83v45magna,

98 F-150xl when I turned 16.

An old 1971 Plymouth Duster- 3 on the column. Followed by my first car, a Datsun B210 with 3 on the floor and a whopping 83 HP engine.

For the younger people here, "Datsun" was the brand name Nissan chose to use in the USA until about 1986.

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My first car was a 75 MGB (after driving my mom's old Cadillac for a few weeks). Must have practiced on one before that but don't remember.

A little 2 door 1962 DKW Junior back in 1968 on the frozen Vandercook lake in Michigan. That car had a 2 cycle 3 cylinder engine and it sounded like a chainsaw going down the road. It also screwed up TV reception in the house 2 blocks away.

Sister's 1972 Toyota Corolla or Corona (forget which), circa 1977. I was pretty bad at first but got used to it. The first stick shift I owned was a 1977 Toyota Pickup in 1982. For almost 15 years after that I owned & droved nothing but stick.

79 VW rabbit. Also learned how to push start a car on that one.