What was the first car you ever drove?

[Guff]

You didn't have to own it, or even have to have driven it very long, but it must be the first time you got behind the wheel of any car and moved it.

Also, for bonus points, how did it feel? Idk how many people will remember it that vividly, but you can try to relay your emotions!


For me, it was when I was 9 or 10. My mother needed to move our 2001 Toyota Sienna into the garage and I volunteered. She kinda looked at me, then reluctantly said ok. I got in, started it up, pressed the brake and put it in Drive, but then, the unexpected! The car moved forward!

At the time, I didn't really understand what idling was and I thought the car only moved when you pressed the gas.

This movement scared me and I hit the brakes, put it in park, and told my mom that she could go ahead and do it. I'm fairly sure she laughed at me...

I was oddly terrified, but once it was explained to me, I started moving cars around and eventually became fairly competent at driving!


As a bonus, the first time I drove a manual was when I was 14 or so. My cousin and I grabbed the keys to my brothers 6-spd Single turbo MKIV Supra and decided to go for a bit of a joyride. I had observed my brothers driving manual for years, so I knew what to do, but had never driven MT in real life. After about five minutes I got the hang of it and I wasn't stalling at all! My brother wasn't very mad, thankfully.


All right, I'm done! How about you guys?

[Dark]

When I was 13, I went to a driving school in Cambodia. The first car I drove was 1989 Toyota Camry stick shift.

[Dimman]

Turbo Dodge Spirit, learning to drive on. Clutch engagement was driving me nuts on starts.

[serialk11r]

The first time I ever drove was in China where I took a manual transmission cheapo car (it looked like a beat up old box, how else do I describe it?) and took it for a 1 minute quarter mile spin around a school. I still have no idea how I didn't stall it, in retrospect I'm pretty proud of that. I even got to shift into 2nd gear and lope around at like 6mph instead of 4! Before that I had only used a really shitty "simulator" where they play a video and you're supposed to copy them, so I didn't actually know how steering inputs and stuff would affect the way the car ran.

My actual first time behind the wheel on open road was pretty scary IMO. I finished driver's ed, took the test, got my permit, and the driving instructor shows up with a car and just tells me to drive! I was like, WHAT? shouldn't we be like, messing in a closed place first so I know how many mm to step on the gas pedal, how far I need to turn the steering wheel, etc.? I remember pulling out, and then on my first turn ever on a real road, I turned wayyy too wide and got the shit scared out of me when I realized I was kinda crossing the center line. By the way, that car sucked. It was a Ford Focus and had a lot of wheel bearing noise, tons of NVH, and the steering felt like they used cotton for bushings because there was so much play.

First time since I got my license driving a manual transmission was my uncle's car in China in an underground parking garage. Getting used to automatic made me unable to remember that the clutch was there, so I'd start it okay, and then as I slowed down I would stall since I didn't press the clutch, but not before the car bucked around for a few seconds and I made a huge fool of myself.

Oh I guess I should say ages, heh. I think it was, 11 or 12? then 17, 18.

[S2kphile]

The cars at Disneyland. I was 5 at the time and I thought I was the **** driving a car; even though, it was on a railtrack.



When I was about 7-8 I drove my dad's red/white 1970's Chevy truck manual. It was awesome. Thats why I own a truck myself & it's also red.

[zygrene]

Unless you count go-karts, then it was a Corolla E120 auto that they used at my local driver's ed school. I was 16 at the time.

[MRZ415]

1989 Toyota Van - V6 ( it was shaped like a loaf of bread)

[Allch Chcar]

I'm pretty sure it was a newer(late 80's early 90's) station wagon, seems like it was a Buick Roadmaster from the rear window shape. I drove it around the block. I was too scared to press the accelerator so I rode the brake the entire time. I couldn't have been older than 8 or 9 but I was assisted. My mom used to let me steer the Ford Aerostar(minivan) through a trailer park, so I was pro at steering by age 10.

First car I drove unassisted was a first year Ford Windstar, I used it for my driving test.

[old greg]

Holden Commodore (VC?).

I was ~5 years old, sitting on my Dad's lap and steering while he worked the pedals. But I honestly can't remember anything else about it.

[carbonBLUE]

120mph shifter kart when i was 11 nothing has been faster since, car wise, a 6-speed manual murcielago my uncle let me sit in the car and rev it, he played a prank on me and let go of the parking brake when i wasnt looking and it rolled forward and i freaked out, bastard... but still a cool experience

[Big T]

78 MGB roadster with a Buick v6 crammed under the hood. Was a fun car but had weird electrical problems that resulted in the battery terminals frequently melting.

[Sparkplug]

2000 BMW 323i sedan, before they bumped up to the 325i here in the US, and the first year of the E46 chassis. It was the first car I actually drove for more than a minute at one time.

I do remember moving my parents cars in their driveway since I was about 14, though.

[suprachica79]

1994 Dodge Intrepid. My mom took me to the school parking lot when I was 15 and let me drive around as a reward for something for which I can't remember lol.

[powertrip]

First car was a mix between a Pontiac Sunbird manual and an old Datsun (the boxy ones from the 70's?) manual. Learned on those then saved up to buy a 4 cyl camry (92/93 model? where they went to the rounded style not boxy anymore). That was a bada$$ first car, way nicer than my friends had at the time and was able to pay it off in cash. Was used maybe 110k or so on the ODO when i got it. Blew the motor a few years later, replaced it and then it got totalled in a wreck and made way for my sports car obsession which is still ongoing.