…there's a lot going on already. The sensation of controlling the thing, as I recall, was just completely foreign to me just from the perspective of hands and one foot.

Dad and I spent countless Sunday mornings tooling around the new streets of a new development (no houses) in a '63 Plymouth Valiant that was his project car du jour when I was 15. It was a vert, and he put the top down so I would have lots of visibility. The car was the old slant-six with the push button automatic.

Anyhow, there's just a lot to take in at first just in terms of putting the car where you want it. How hard to mash the brakes to stop gradually but within a certain distance. How to apply the throttle gradually, even in an automatic, is something that takes a little while to pick up. Add in the complexity of letting out a clutch gradually in a synchronous fashion, and you are gonna have a frustrated kid (and dad) pretty quick. Dad was patient to a fault and I learned a lot of great things from him, far more than I ever got in driver's ed, where I was a star pupil owing to the hours of 'unofficial instruction' I got.

Anyhow, about a year after I got my license, a family friend needed a driver for his jewelry business. His car was a Golf with a five speed. Wouldn't you know it, dad's project car of the time was a Honda Civic 5-speed.

We went out one night and dad tried to learn me the basics. We had a pretty testy relationship at the time, as the year between 16 and 17 for me saw my folks nearly get a divorce, and I blamed him fully. But he still took me out and tried to impart his wisdom. Just didn't happen. About fifteen minutes in, after countless stalls nearly putting us through the windshield, he told me to pull over and he drove home.

6am the following morning, he knocks on my bedroom door, opens up and I sit up in bed…

"Yessir?"

"Hey boy. Filled up that Honda's tank. Don't brang it home 'til you run it dry and refill it, you understand?"

"Yessir, but I dunno how to…"

(with a hand up) "Nope. I showed you everthang I know last night, you don't need me sittin' beside you to figure it out. Oh. And you need to learn how to start from a stop on a hill, and that'll take some practice. You got it?"

"Yessir."

He tossed me the keys and that was that. Spent one hot-ass summer day in a 'Fly Yellow' Honda grinding gears and pissing other people off, figuring out how to work the thing. But I can't imagine having to learn the whole process at once.

Papa's got the luxury of easing the young man into it, I say take that route. Teach basic driving first, then the art of the manual later.

Edited by Paul at 7/20/2012 10:06:38 PM

************************
If there's anything you want
Come on back, 'cause it's all still here
I'll be in the backroom drinkin' my half of the beer

• Advice needed: My son passed his written test and now has a Learner's permit. - P. Briscoe,  07-20-2012 15:29 (Views: 49; Replies: 31)
• I learned on stick, yeah, sometime around 9 or 10... - Mr. Spork,  07-23-2012 06:31 (Views: 28)
• same here, was driving a stick on dirt roads by 13 [nt] - Glenn,  07-23-2012 12:35 (Views: 23)
• The stick absolutely - MarkMan,  07-23-2012 05:35 (Views: 27)
• What`s the minimum requirement to progress to solo driving there? - enet,  07-23-2012 04:21 (Views: 31)
• You guys do it right in Oz. It's very stupidly easy here.[nt] - Paul,  07-23-2012 12:37 (Views: 23)
• Don't commit a vehicular felony while learning, be older than 15.5 years old. [nt] - Citizen Z,  07-23-2012 04:22 (Views: 23)
• I can't find a state that is 15.5 years of age for a full driver's license. - Bean,  07-23-2012 04:31 (Views: 29)
• Hmm, plus a 'public road driving test', assume same over there. [nt] - enet,  07-23-2012 04:25 (Views: 25)
• Yes, "test." - Bean,  07-23-2012 04:31 (Views: 27)
• mine in 1987 - Glenn,  07-23-2012 12:33 (Views: 25)
• Question: Why doesn't your kid already know how to operate both? - Mr. Spork,  07-22-2012 20:22 (Views: 30)
• thanks guys. lessons started today on the auto - P. Briscoe,  07-22-2012 03:57 (Views: 34)
• Good idea. My first drive was at age 12 in our '83 Skylark in a Sam's lot on T'Giving. :) [nt] - Paul,  07-22-2012 18:21 (Views: 23)
• I found an even better "course" for him to practice.... - P. Briscoe,  07-23-2012 04:05 (Views: 25)
• I drove posts in the ground, something like six feet longer than the 4Runner... - Mr. Spork,  07-23-2012 06:36 (Views: 22)
• The most important thing is dealing with things outside the car, not inside. - enet,  07-20-2012 23:59 (Views: 31)
• I learned in the same situation. I was taught, practices and tested with the auto. - pudds,  07-20-2012 23:42 (Views: 29)
• Edit - Wrong place. [nt] - Bean,  07-21-2012 00:09 (Views: 29)
• He should master basic driving skills first. - MacHead,  07-20-2012 22:54 (Views: 29)
• He should learn to drive a stick. [nt] - Catfish,  07-20-2012 21:40 (Views: 28)
• Well here`s my thing. Just the act of being in a car is a lot to think about. CSB herein. - Paul,  07-20-2012 22:05 (Views: 38)
• Pretty much exactly what I was thinking. - Bean,  07-21-2012 00:15 (Views: 25)
• Yeah, I remember the stalls and the da going ballistic ... - Catfish,  07-20-2012 22:13 (Views: 31)
• Yeah, I'm not 100% opposed or anything. I guess the thing is that the 'stick' is dying. - Paul,  07-20-2012 22:20 (Views: 34)
• Yeah, you seem to have hit on it ... - Catfish,  07-20-2012 23:34 (Views: 28)
• I dunno. I say first on auto, then move to stick. - Paul,  07-20-2012 20:58 (Views: 34)
• Stick. Stickety stickety stick. STIIIIIIICK. - Sydwyndir,  07-20-2012 17:03 (Views: 37)
• Are you asking which one should he learn to "drive" in or operate first?.... - Derfargin,  07-20-2012 17:01 (Views: 37)
• the stick for sure - Glenn,  07-20-2012 16:12 (Views: 34)
• well, that's how I learned and it was great except for one thing.... - P. Briscoe,  07-20-2012 16:17 (Views: 38)
• Not sure if he should start with the stick, but he should learn it, absolutely. [nt] - Phred,  07-20-2012 15:47 (Views: 26)

 

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