TheSamba.com :: View topic - my son's first driving experience........

Sun May 15, 2005 4:29 pm

this afternoon my son and i towed the old beast to the farm for a short ride. we bounced around the trails, did some donuts and counted the cattle. after a while i asked my son if he would like to drive, he was hesitant, but agreed to try.i gave him a quick lesson on driving a 4-speed. he let the clutch out pretty well and stepped on the roller pedal and off we went. shifting into second was kinda good/bad but he only stalled it three times. he was STOKED that he did it and i know he will be hooked on driving it. by the way he turns 10 years old on july 19th. probably going to have to build another baja!!!

Sun May 15, 2005 4:47 pm

i could drive my dads rail by age 8. started out by steering at age 3. been hooked on volkswagens ever since

Sun May 15, 2005 6:34 pm

That sounds great. i had the same type of experience. my dad worked for a Vw dealer as a tech and let me steer when i was about 4. the real fun began around 8 or 9 when i got to drive the 61 bug my grandparents had bought and promised to me. I still have the bug, now the stable includes the baja and i just bought a 63 notchback. I guess a bus will be next.

Sun May 15, 2005 9:12 pm

yer damn straight, thats the way to be man! let them cut their teeth off- road before they ever have to deal with all the retards out there on the pavement. teach them young and teach them right.

Mon May 16, 2005 7:43 am

And, nothing teaches good driving techniques better than learning on a car with no power and bad brakes.

Mon May 16, 2005 9:49 am

That's great that your starting your son off-road. Be sure to balance the confidence he gains with a big dose of respect for the road. This was the problem I had with my son- he was over-confident and cocky.

One week after he got his license I had every parent's nightmare. He calls me from his cell as he's driving because he is lost. All of a sudden I hear him yell "Oh crap!", screeching tires and the phone goes dead in my hand. I stood there in total shock, wondering if I had just heard my only son lose his life in an accident.

Thank God he was OK. The car was pretty smashed up, but no injuries. He'd rear-ended someone rubber-necking an accident on the freeway. But it did something that I wasn't able to do- it taught him a real respect for the road and what can happen out there. He's slowed down and drives much more carefully now. A tough lesson to learn.