Ask Lemmy

Early 80s Chevy Chevette.

It was so basic of a car it was unreal. Manual transmission, no radio, I mean, the damn thing was with a giant riding lawnmower with a hatchback.

a 1968 International dump truck.

zero AC, zero power steering, zero fucks.

once you got going with a load, nothing would stop it, not even the brakes. but, it always started and never quit.

Austin A30 van... Tell you I'm old without... etc etc https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_A30?wprov=sfla1

Currently learning on a Peugeot e-208 which is electric. Apart from that, it is more or less the same as the manual version.

Any other security questions you’d like people to expose? What about the street I grew up on driving that car? /s

1976 Chevy Chevette, 4 speed

(And no even if I gave the color, I’m not helping anyone go phishing since it wasn’t my first car)

The color of your first car is a fairly common backup question. Answering this in detail is not recommended.

Some yellow modern Peugeot, can't remember the make

Nice way to get the answer to an often used security question!

Driver's Ed: 1986 Chevy Cavalier and it was a horrible brown color.

Parent's Cars:

1986 Buick Skyhawk: Very crappy car. The gas pedal didn't so much produce acceleration, but rather an eventual increase of the angular momentum of the tires.

1970 Chevy Impala: Loved this car. Huge and had a 400cid small block with a 400 Turbo Hydromatic with a 12 bolt posi rear end. It's the car that really taught me how to drive. It eventually ran 13's in the quarter mile.

Learned how to drive manual: 1983 (I think) Ford Escort

REALLY learned how to drive a manual: 1949 Willys Overland. A friend's Dad's car. Why did it REALLY teach me how to drive a manual? Easy, it had a non-syncrho'd transmission, much like the big rigs have. This car taught me rev-matching, double clutching, and an appreciation about how cars really work. It also had a column shifter. Once I learned how to handle the transmission, it was a lot of fun to drive. It made me a much better driver.

The car that taught me how to race (there were two):

1985 Toyota MR-2: Was a friend's car that I Autocrossed (Pro Solo) along with him. He actually made it to Nationals with this car several times. Later he won Nationals with a Supra Turbo. This was in the mid-90's.

1985 Corolla GT-S: This was my car. It was the AE86 platform with the same engine as the MR-2. Absolutely ferocious car. It didn't handle as well as the MR-2, but it was soooo much fun. This car taught me "trail braking" and a lot of other performance driving skills. This remains my favorite car I've ever owned, even to this day. I'd love to find one and restore it.

1982 AMC eagle wagon with woody side panels.

The car actually caught on fire while I was driving, and I was known as the person that smelled like burnt car in high school, because that burning rubber/plastic smell stayed in my books and materials for the entire school year.

1991 Ford S10 pickup, on the farm, when I was 8 years old. I only crashed it on the farm once -- in first gear, stopped. Took foot off clutch and lurched forward into the wall in front of me. In my defense, I hadn't been instructed on how to turn it off yet ;)

A riding lawnmower. Good enough to get the basic hand eye coordination down, so when I drove a real car it wasn't a big deal.

The first actual car I drove was a Toyota sienna.

Some early 2000s ford Mondeo diesel.

'84 Grand Marquis

If you can parallel park THAT, you can parallel park ANYTHING!

Mercedes-Benz G500

Strange choice for a driving school. Not necessarily bad you'll learn to drive a big boxy car, switching to other models will be easier later.

For me it was a Fiat Punto

Ford Econoline van.

I don't remember, I wasn't very into cars at that moment... I just know it was a pretty common car brand among taxis in an economically backwards part of China, so most likely a budget Chinese or Korean brand. Also it was a stick shift

A Dodge Colt with a horrible manual transmission. Years later I bought a Veloster with manual transmission because shifting was so incredibly smooth compared to what I trained on, and I learned that manual can be pretty fun. I have an automatic now but often use the manual shifter to downshift when going down steep hills or sometimes just to use my brakes less when approaching a red light.

I learned to drive in a Honda Civic. I named it Princess after my first pet, and I listened to "The Smiths" during my driving lessons, in honor of my mother's maiden name.

I have no idea besides that was a stick shift with 4 wheels. Is this something people normally care about?

Ford Focus Mk2, back in 2007. Manual transmission, of course, because automatic lessons were (and still are) rare in the UK.

1998 Pontiac Grand Am.

Fantastic car, thing never broke down. Hell you could drive without an oil change and the thing would keep going. Was pretty much the 90s version of the K-Car.

I learned on a variety of cars, including one old Post Office truck. Standard and automatic transmissions.

imho, try as many different vehicles as you can. Personally, I like a smaller car OR a van where I sit high. Not a fan of large sedans/SUVs.

It was an ‘86 Renault Alliance. My dad would take me to random empty parking lots to practice. I remember all us kids in the neighborhood were about the same age and it was a major competition to see who could get their license first. I don’t remember who did. It wasn’t me.

Years later, when I was out of the military and starting college, my dad got me a ‘91 Nissan pickup. It was a manual transmission, and I didn’t know how to drive one. He said, “by the time you get it home, you’ll know how to drive a stick.” So I drove it home, and by the time I got it home, I still didn’t know how to drive a stick.

I honestly don't remember the exact car model or even the manufacturer but it was nothing fancy. Some smallish car with manual transmission and no parking sensors or cameras. There weren't any others to choose from. This was in 2012.

A 1971 Massey Ferguson 135. And yes, that's a tractor. Guess who's got two thumbs and grew up on the countryside?

When learning to drive at speeds greater than 30km/h it was in my dad's 1995 Volvo 940, a car that was later passed down to me, and drove it until March 2025.

A Mercury Grand Marquis, I think.

What's more interesting was how I learned to drive stick, which was buying a brand new Hyundai Accent with almost zero prior practice (basically just test-driving it and a couple of other cars I'd considered), then driving it home in stop-and-go rush hour traffic. I barely stalled it at all, LOL.

Opel Vivaro

An '84 manual diesel 4-cylinder Isuzu pickup

I dont know but its grey and has four wheels

Learned how to drive on an 05 Ford F350 crew cab with an extra long bed. Everything after has been easy

Currently also taking driving lessons and I’m getting lessons in a Mercedes-Benz C-Class Estate.