1968 Corvette Stingray. You would think a powerful car like that to be a bad choice for a beginner, but the extra torque actually helped, resisting my every attempt to stall the engine.

1967 Chevy Belair, slant 6 and a 3 on the tree.

Deleted. Double post

At the ripe age of 12, (in 1952) I would drive my grandfather from dry Irían County, Texas to the Tom Green County line, a ¨Wet* county for his half pint of Four Roses. I drove because he had to drink the bourbon before we returned because my grandmother did not allow any alcoholic beverages in the house! He did not want to risk a
DUI!

The car was a Model T Ford!

On the way back, it took us both almost an hour to figure out where the light switch was in the borrowed car! (On the steering hub, by the way)

Learned on two old Ford tractors as a young boy. First non-tractor was a 62 GMC pickup.

First, a 1950 John Deere Model M tractor.

Then later a yellow 1950 Ford pickup, 3 on the tree, no a-c, no power steering, no power brakes, clunker-mobile.

Later a used 1969 Chevy pickup, 3 on the tree, no ac, no power steering or brakes, no radio, no armrests, had vent windows, took it fishing and hunging a lot.

I've been totally spoiled by cup holders and a-c
.

66' Plymouth Valiant. It was my Dad's work & fishing car and we also had several trips to S. Dakota road hunting Pheasants in it.

A 1961 Willy's Overland Jeep M38A1 with a small block Chevy 350. It had four stick shifts.
-1,2,3,R
-Normal, Overdrive (Saturn all-range overdrive)
-2WD, 4WD
-Hi, Low

32 different gear combinations.

Tony.

Crappy early 70's work van. three on the tree.
But I think riding dirt bikes at 14-15 years
old made the transition very easy.

 
TX in the late '50s early '60s, you could get your full DL at age 14, if you took Drivers' Ed, which I did. The DE car was a '57 Desoto, and I used the same car for my driving test. Never drove an automatic until years later, and never owned one.

VW Thing, luckily not mine.

quote:

Originally posted by jsyodes:
VW Thing, luckily not mine.

Ughh, ugliest thing ever made!

1965 Chevrolet Pickup 283 with three on the tree.

1953 Ford sedan my father bought off a friend for $25. My brother and I drove it around our ten acre pasture for a year until it threw a rod. My father then got us a 60 Chevy Impala which we used up until I turned 16 and got my license. Then I got a motorcycle and lost interest in cars for several years.

A '70-something Chevy pickup with 4 gears. First gear was so low my Dad and I always started in second, so it was basically a three-speed. And the steering was loose so it looked like one of those TV scenes where the actor keeps jerking the wheel back and forth driving in a straight line.

Bongo van with three on the tree in Busan, South Korea during rush hour traffic.

I think we trained on a three-on-the-tree in Highschool Driver Ed?
Vaguely remember it.
I know we had a Fiat similar to the one pictured previously that I definitely drove and later in 1972 I bought a new Fiat 850 Spyder in Highschool that was a 4-speed manual.
My next three cars were manual as well > 240Z, Civic, 320i (still have )

A '79 Honda Civic hatchback just like this one but blue. 4-speed. The town I lived in at the time had lots of pretty steep streets so I had to learn quick.

A POS 80's Ford Escort that belonged to my Dad's brother-in-law.

Chris