Talking to my grandson, the question I got asked was what ‘I’ learned to drive on…
A 1953 Dodge Power Wagon, down on the farm. And it was ‘armstrong’ everything. Steering, brakes, no AC, no radio, no nothing, other than power…
I did manage to find this brochure from 1950 to show him!
Voila…
But it does show the PTO, 4WD, and LOW/HI range levers you got in addition to the floor shift (unsynchronized with a granny low).
I was in a couple of units that had the old M37 3/4 ton Dodge. Pretty rugged vehicle though you couldn’t race them.
“Learned” to drive a Drivers Ed Rambler Ambassador with power everything and a slush box. Really learned on the family’s ’66 Tempest 326 V8, three on the tree, four doors, no power anything. Dad was a little weird in his preferences and had to custom order it. Still have a soft spot for that body style.
My dad had given me a few parking lot driving lessons when I was 15.
I don’t remember the details, but the car was some American made automatic transmission four door model.
I learned to drive a manual when I worked the farm labor summer job.
It was a farm pickup truck with a manual shift on the steering column. I don’t remember the make or model.
It’s been a very long time since I drove a stick shift vehicle.
Our last stick shifts were a 1985 Toyota Xtra Cab pickup, and a 1990 Corolla. We had both of those for decade or so, and handed the Corolla to a family member.
Learned to drive on a 1929 Model A Ford pickup. Mechanical brakes, but technically on all four wheels — but you never knew which one, or which combination of the four, would work at any given stop… hand throttle (in addition to the foot throttle0, hand spark advance. Graduated to the family 1950 Buick Super when old enough to drive on public roads!
Had a variety of cars since then. Still have the ’70 Chevy C10 long bed stepside (manual) I bought new; it’s the most reliable car on the place now. And no, you can’t have it. It’s willed to my daughter.
I remember riding on the Power Wagon front fender straddling the headlight as we were going down the dirt road. Oh, horror! Can’t do that today, but it was FUN.
I think one of the best trucks ever built. Imagine one with modern power train and power steering. Just don’t put all the other computer stuff in it. What a wonderful monster of a truck.
Learned to drive our surplus WWII jeep on our ranch by age 8. When I was a bit older, rode on the hood with my feet on the front bumper. Fortunately, no sudden stops. During the summer, a crew of us would ram the jeep into a large black berry patch down by the creek, and pick black berries for jam and home made ice cream.
A couple of friends of the family teenage city girls spent a few summers working on the ranch. It was my job to teach them how to drive the jeep. Once they got the hang of it, while riding shotgun, when they went to shift gears I would sneak my left foot over and toe the transfer case high/low range lever into neutral. Everybody here knows the drill — look over at your student with a wide-eyed what-the-hell-did-you-do expression.
I learned and took my driver’s test on a 67 Mercury Colony Park station wagon. It was so long you could have landed aircraft on it.
I never could drive my Dad’s Nova with a 3 speed on the column.
Did drive a Power Wagon at work many moons ago. It could tow a house.
Learned to drive on a 1974 SAAB 99. 4 speed manual, no power anything, manual choke. The clutch had hydraulic boost. The Steering was a decent rack and pinion so not bad once you were moving at 10mph or better. Parking it (especially parallel) was a workout. At least the clutch was synced. I’ve only driven an unsynced clutch vehicle once. It was a 1940 Ford pickup. It was owned by an elderly wealthy gentleman and was in pristine condition in the late 70’s/early ’80’s. Folks at church had taken to dropping off kids that could drive at his house to help he and his wife run errands, as he was a menace to the public (and himself) driving at 80+.
Even by 1980 there weren’t a lot of kids that could drive a manual and let alone non syncro 3 on the stalk (and with a starter button on the floor). I found it was a stretch; its clutch was far more cantankerous than the SAAB.
All our cars growing up were manual.
Taught my niece on my F-150 and two weeks later I needed a clutch.
She’s been driving manual since.
My brother still drives (and lets me drive) his stick BMW.
He taught his son how to drive his previous stick coupe and they were in the garage. My nephew panicked at some point with his foot still on the gas and off the clutch. My brother ended up pushing the rear wall of his garage back in. You can hardly tell. Not a scratch on the car.
I helped a friend restore his military Power Wagon in the 70’s.
Monster.
Dodge has always built niche vehicles. Wonder if they would be tempted to build a number of these if they could be convinced to do so
My mom had a 1948 Chevrolet sedan when I was growing up, and I usually rode standing up next to her on the bench seat. She sold that and got a 1963 Chevrolet Bel Air with inline six and three on the tree. That’s what I learned how to drive with, including how to launch by dropping the clutch on a revved engine and how to drift around dirt roads. I inherited that car when mom got a 1968 Buick Skylark.
I just got rid of my remaining manual transmission car, a 2001 Audi A6 twin turbo with a six speed. The maintenance issues were getting to be a pain so I donated it to the Gary Sinese Foundation. I would have traded it in years ago on a new Audi but they stopped making them with manuals for the US market. Sigh… And none of the current crop of cars offering a manual meets my requirements (most are too damn small for me!) double sigh …
“2001 Audi A6 twin turbo with a six speed. ”
My son just gave up his for the same reason.
German overengineering….
I learned to drive on our farm tractors, a 49 Farmall H model, and a 50s Ford 8N. The first road vehicle was my Dad’s 67 Chevy truck with “3 on the tree.”
One of the useful attributes of most 3spd sticks was the ability to quickly shift between 1st and reverse to get the vehicle rocking on a slippery surface.
Dad hated the ’65 Mustang he eventually gave me for graduation, due to the 4spd. I watched him get very red in the face attempting to get it off a sheet of ice, as he couldn’t get it switched quick enough to build any momentum.
I mostly learned to work a stickshift the summer I worked as an attendant at his small used car lot. Had to call him if someone was interested in buying something. Maybe 30 vehicles. I had to move them to the back lot to wash them, and had to figure out clutch engagement and shift patterns on my own. Corvairs to a Corvette, and an absolutely mint ’57 Chevy HT v8. I think that influenced my later acquisition of a handful of 57’s.
All- Thanks, and maybe I brought back some good memories for you! I hope!!!
I grew up driving. Tractors, buckrakes (old cars, stripped, differentials flipped to run in reverse with a hay rake on wht was the rear), pickups, and even a bulldozer.
Took my driving test in a 1958 Ford car with a three on the tree.
I was probabably in my late twenties before I owned a self shifter.
I had the job of teaching the female soldiers in my guard admin. company how to drive the jeeps we had in the unit. That was almost as much fun as teaching the female officers how to shoot the 1911A1 .45 Colts they were issued( This was long before Hummers and Berettas.)
WSF- I know I was in my late 20s and married before I ever owned an automatic.
0007- Oh geez… and you survived BOTH of those? More power to you!