Your first driving experience

[garyfrogeye]

Following on from Dr Sconefingers wonderfull first motorsport thread, I thought I'd tell you about my first driving experience.
Quite a late starter at eleven years of age compared to many but very memorable.
How many other people can claim their first time time driving behind the wheel of a car was in the crater of a volcano. At the base of Mount Teide in Tenerife.
The only problem was avoiding the bolders, Needless to say it was a hire car.
 

[termietermite]

Sitting on my Dad's lap, steering the old Anglebox round a disused airfield somewhere near Leeds, with him changing gear!

[Werner]

First driving experience - ... don't remember, may be I was drunk

[Piglet]

Driving my buddy's 3 litre Ford Capri around Stonebarrow (near to Charmouth) in Dorset, late at night     

Not sure how old I was - perhaps 14 or 15 so positively ancient by most folks standards I imagine! 

[rcutler]

Aged 4 or 5 letting the handbrake off my Dad's Camper while on the circular ramp at Harwich Port. Rolled backwards and I steered it round the corner until Dad grabbed the handbrake!

[pretzel]

Probably around 3-4 years of age in the much revered Austin J-40.

I'd just like to point out that it was not new when I had it as a boy, but not far off....

Wish I still had it.

[Neal]

Could have been at Rufforth Debs, near Wetherby, sadly now all gone. They also used to have club meetings there IRCC

[Lazy B'stard]

Sitting on my Dad's lap, steering the old Anglebox round a disused airfield somewhere near Leeds, with him changing gear!

Eyup Termie- ar tha a good old Yorkshire lass? My first was in an old van we had on the farm. I was supposed to be at a friends house but I waited in the bushes for dad to take our kid to the match and took it for a spin up the lane. Terrified me- it looked so easy! I was only 10. Very naughty

[termietermite]

Could have been at Rufforth Debs, near Wetherby, sadly now all gone. They also used to have club meetings there IRCC

It wasn't Rufforth - I know this for sure as I spent many a happy weekend there.  I see it's actually still there although not open to the public.  Would love to sneek back in one day!  I honestly cannot remember where it was and can no longer ask my dear old Dad who would have remembered.  But I do remember an old concrete runway with grass growing through it.  It can't have been very far from us (Alwoodley) as we used to nip over there on a regular basis for a spin!

Dr S - in fact no, I'm from the other side of the Pennines originally (as a good Yorkshireman, you probably won't speak to me again now!)

[nickliv]

in a Citroen visa van, (van blanc) in a hauliers yard behind my dads workshops. He told me all about the clutch and the accelerator.

So I drove the van directly into the nearest wall.

As you do when you're nine years old, and no one's ever mentioned the steering wheel or the brake pedal.

Apparently the tears were coming straight out of my face, rather like the spitting image puppet of Gazza. Dad admits it was foolish to tell me how to go, but not steer or stop. IIRC the van was less than 1000 miles old. New wing, bumper, bonnet, and drivers door.

Oh I forgot. And a headlight. And indicator.

[mike(liverpool boys)]

C reg Renault 5 campus in a field at the farm when i was about 10 and then crushing it with the massey tractor when i was 12  superb fun for a kid. us farm children were brought up driving and then giving the instructor a headache with all our bad habbits.

[keithk]

I had a peddle car when I was 5 ! Then a BSA bantam at about 9 my first car a Ford 100E in about 67 or 68 First race car Formula Ford at Thruxton in 75, first rally car Mini 970s in about 71 or 72

[Paddy_NL]

Always did little manouvres at car parks when young, but I must have been about 13 when my dad let me drive his brand new Ford Sierra - somewhere '82/'83. I remember him not being happy bunny as I did about 70 mph on a (fairly straight) B-road, trying to catch up with a moped
He probably thought I didn't do all that bad after all, as he let me drive a bit of motorway a year later

[Pieter]

I was 8 years old when my father used to take me to a big parking lot, early Sunday mornings, to take some driving lessons in an MG 1100. Saved him loads of money for my driving lessons 10 years later, so I can recommend it to anybody with kids.

[knetter]

Must have been my electric powered motor cycle with side wheels at the age of 2