How old were you when you 1st drove a car?

And by drive I mean move under it's own power.

I got caught trying to drive in 64 or so (I guess I was 5 or so) early one Sunday morning. We had what I always thought was a 64 Chevy wagon (Impala? Biscayne?) It was white. It had to the best of my recollection the old GM ignition that would let you start it without the key as long as it was in OFF not LOCK



I got it started but just revved it till the neighbors woke up my parents.

But I did not know about shift levers, so I don't count it.

The 1st car I drove was a 67 Cutlass, not S not Supreme but a very nice car, white with aqua interior similar to this:



My grandmother's. Every Friday she would pick me up from school and we would drive the 10 or so miles to her apartment building on Miami Beach.



When we got there she would go lie down before dinner and I would, at the age of 8, get to go explore the building. Can you imagine that now?

Her house keys had an extra set of car keys on them, and down to the garage I would go. My family did not get FM in cars until 69, so the only way you could listen to the radio was to move the car out from under the building. Which I did. Listened to the radio for a while and then re-parked it in her spot. EZ. Then along comes the valet guy and starts questioning me. Busted. WTFE

So I was 8

 

A car? - 15 1/2 legal age to get a learners permit in California, but I had been driving other 'vehicles' for quite a few years - mostly go-carts at the local pay-by-the-lap track.

My wife was driving at about 13 or 14. Their family had a cabin down in Mexico, so on trips down there her dad would toss her the keys to drive around on the dirt roads - figured she couldn't get into any trouble down there.....

 

My first drive was when i was 15 in the very same wagon I'm still driving now.

 

my mom let me sit on her lap and steer her 84 Dodge Daytona turbo z

my dad used to take me up to the middle school when i was 13 and let me drive his brand new explorer.

 

My first was my dads 1972 4 door Chevrolet Nova. He insisted I drive his commute car he always drove to work. The car had a 3-on-the-tree shifter so he told me if I could learn it, I could drive anything. I was around 16 when I got my permit. I didnt get my license until I was around 27. I just didnt want to spend the cash on maintence, gas, insurance. I drove around with no car insurance for literally years. Then it became state law and I had to get it. Seriously, I look at all the money ive had to doll out on something ive never needed and think of the waste.

 

I was 6 and we had a small dairy farm. We had this old '63 C30 292 I6 powered 1 ton 4x4 pickup farm truck. Im talking a real hoopty. no doors, fenders, a ratty old flat bed on the back, no cloth on the seats, just a feedbag laid down to keep you from getting ripped up from the springs. We had 89 acres and Pops would have me take her out back and round up the cows.

On the street, I would drive the family car from one driveway to the other, but my first real trip was in my '68 GTO that I paid $700 for at the age of 13, with no motor, just a M22 tranny and 3.73 geared 12 bolt posi rear. Pops and I dropped in a 425 caddy and we took her down the road and around the block. What a rush, 13 years old, big block 4 speed muscle car. Pops let me open her right up and tear the tires off the rear clear into 4th gear. Then he pulled the keys and hid them so I would not be stupid and go out joy riding when they were not home.

 

It was about 1972. I was 11. My Mom had been driving home from work and got within about 10 blocks from home when she got a flat tire on her 69 LTD. She walked home and asked my older brother to go change the tire and bring the car home. She assumed he would walk to the car. Instead he took me along in his 67 Mustang. After changing the tire there were two cars to be driven home and there were two of us there ( but only one drivers license). He moved the Mustang seat all the way forward and tossed me the keys. I was in heaven. I sat way forward to reach the pedals and pulled myself up with the steering wheel a little to see over the rather high dash. I drove home by myself with my brother following in the LTD. I thought I did rather well. But with more experience riding in the passenger side front seat of the LTD, I had a visual concept of where the center point of the hood should appear in relaation to the side of the road. That may have worked had I driven the LTD, but my estimate of the car's position on the road was way off on the Mustang since the dash was high and the seats were low. Apparently I drove down the center of the road the whole way. Cars coming the other way had room to go around but honked rather rudely. When I got home I was careful not to get too close to the curb and scuff the whitewalls. I was very surprized that when I got out to look, I was about 7' from the curb. My brother yelled and me for parking in the middle of the road, and Mom never found out.

 

I was driving a tractor when I was 8 and a '61 Chevy stepside pickup when I was 12. Of course, that was on the farm and not on the road.

I got my driver's license in a '65 Chevy Belair 2-door and we still own it.

 

so?....your 18 now????

lets see...it was dark and stormy night...

Dad put me on his lap to steer when i was 7...drove myself...at 8..
...a 1958 Dodge:banana:

 

I remember riding in my dad's lap and steering when I was about 5 but my first "real" drive was when I was around 12. We lived in northwest Pa and our driveway was at least a 1/4 mile long path through the woods. My dad would sometimes let me drive out or back but always with him in the vehicle. I had gone Christmas shopping with my parents and they sent me to the car with some packages. (Probably so they could buy MY presents!) On the way through Sears, I stopped and had keys made to the car and truck. One night soon after that, they went out with some friends. Now, picture this: both vehicles at home, 12 years old and invincible, and my own keys. Also, this was the snow belt in Pa in december. The snow banks on either side of the driveway were probably 4' high. I took my mothers 73 Custom Cruiser and stared riding up and down the driveway being careful not to make new ruts. It was ok till I got a little cocky. I will nver forget my last trip down the drive when I was going WAAAYY too fast and lost it. That Olds was bouncing back and forth between the snowbanks and I was hanging on for dear life. I managed to get the car parked back (finally) and went inside. When my parents got home my dad asked me about all the marks in the snow and of course I denied any knowledge of them. "Somebody must have drove in and turned around?" To this day I don't think they ever found out but I was cured of that!

 

At 14 I "drove" mom's Buick up the driveway. Smoked the tires, she was pissed.

 

Does ah 1 1/2ton 39 Dodge 5 spd. stake truck count? Used to drive that beast full of grain from the fields to the grainery at 12. Sure glad synchromesh gears finally came on the sceen! First car waz a '37 phord 2 door sedan perchased when I turned 14 for $12. The canvas roof was rotted out but it ran! THE MEMORY'S:2_thumbs_up_-_anima

 

Sounds like we've all had our fathers help us start driving early. The Lap drive!

Me too, but I had my first almost solo drive at 8 years old. My kid sister was 5 and she grabbed the keys in the ignition and started the car (dad's brand new 1955 Ford. Then she put into reverse, and I freaked and moved the auto shifter to neutral. We both too short to reach the pedals.

My first real drive was at 18 years old, in a 1966 Malibu, during Driver's Ed at highschool. Haven't stopped since.

 

I was four years old and it was a station wagon. My dad made the mistake of leaving the car running while he was getting ready to attach the ol' Palimino tent trailer. I came out of the house and got into the car. I put the car in drive and was off! Over the mailbox and up into the neighbors yard across the street.

My dad's wagon looked just like this one except it was dark green and didn't have a roof rack:

 

I was 9, I got home from school, fired up the wagon, backed it out of the garage and cleaned it up.
My dad gets home from work. See's me cleaning the wagon, no one home, looks at the car and then the garage and walks inside without a word
He was just thankfully amazed I didn't take th4e garage wall with me as it's rather tight.
From then on I was always driving in the driveway and anytime I had the chance.

When I was 3 or 4? My dad put me on his lap and I got to drive his 76 t/a. To this day I still haven't driven it though... and now it's legal... maybe this year...