I recently turned 18, so my parents signed me up for driving school. When I showed up at the academy, I was surprised by the cars they had available for students to learn on. They told me to pick whichever I liked best, and I chose the Mercedes-Benz G500.

  • ReverendIrreverence@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    Early 80’s Subaru sedan with a manual. On a cross country trip with my dad when we moved from the West Coast to Massachusetts. Good times…except hitting a turtle somewhere in Penn.

  • Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    7 days ago

    Some manual car provided by the driving school. Not a gear/petrol/car head

    The format was a bit bigger than a compact or full-size.

  • ramble81@lemmy.zip
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    8 days ago

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

      • densefever@lemmy.zip
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        8 days ago

        It’s often a security question for institutions like banks to reset your security parameters.

        • AA5B@lemmy.world
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          8 days ago

          I’ve only seen it as “what color was your first car?” But I learned to drive with my parents cars. They are not the same, nor even the same color

          I suppose for some it’s the same and some may interpret the question differently

  • flamingo_pinyata@sopuli.xyz
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    8 days ago

    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

    • agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works
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      7 days ago

      I learned on tiny back roads in hill country in a GMC Yukon Denali. That thing was the size of a small bedroom. Can confirm, driving anything else is a piece of cake.

    • violet08@lemmy.todayOP
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      8 days ago

      They also had Range Rover Sport, Mini Cooper, BMW, Tesla, Lexus, Nissan… It was surprising to see a driving academy with such a nice selection of cars.

      • Dyf_Tfh@piefed.zip
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        8 days ago

        Are the lessons expensive ? Can’t see how they can afford leasing 100 000€ cars to students, who could potentially wreck them.

        Or it is a money laundering front.

        • violet08@lemmy.todayOP
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          8 days ago

          I didn’t really know much about it at first since my parents handled everything. Later on, I found out it’s actually a large academy, and they offer a special course for people who want to train in high-end cars. I checked their website, and it says 20 hours of training for that course costs around $7000.

          • Dyf_Tfh@piefed.zip
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            8 days ago

            Ooof it is a lot, for me it is around 1500€ for 20h. i couldn’t see myself paying this much

            Hope you enjoy it !

  • Canopyflyer@lemmy.world
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    8 days ago

    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.

    • densefever@lemmy.zip
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      8 days ago

      My sister’s first car was an 86 cavalier. It was blue and had a manual transmission. She stalled the engine going over train tracks once and the train crossing lit up as she was trying to restart it. Panic ensued…

  • GreenKnight23@lemmy.world
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    8 days ago

    a 1968 International dump truck.

    1000003120

    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.

  • Troy@lemmy.ca
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    8 days ago

    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 ;)

  • neidu3@sh.itjust.worksM
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    8 days ago

    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 I drove it until March 2025.