What car did you learn to drive in? Shocked to see what learners are now driving...

wozzizname · Tuesday at 18:31

I started lessons in '81 in a Fiesta 1100 - yes, I'm old !

Funky-Melon · Tuesday at 19:04

I had a £900 1.4i Vauxhall Corsa B which was all different kinda shades of red, it had 90bhp and weighed next to nothing so went surprisingly well.
My wife had an £800 2000 plate Suzuki Swift. It was a proper tin can and shared the same 3 cylinder engine that ride on lawn mowers used at the time

dave28 · Tuesday at 19:25

MK 1 Clio diesel back in the mid 90`s.

People back then told me diesels were easier to pass your test in so my sister and I both passed in diesels.

pastymuncher · Tuesday at 20:23

chaparral said:
But the wages back then was something like £80 per week

I remember paying £800 for my 600cc motorbike insurance in 1989 (19 years old) and think my wages were around £100 per week then

I think insurance these days is cheaper vs wages then it used to be or at least not much difference

I left school on Friday and started work on the Monday. My first pay packet as a 16 year old was £36.75 and I bought my mum a electric lawnmower so she wouldn't have to go on her knees and cut it with shears. The next week it was just over £75 because of overtime. Most of my mates were on the slave labour YTS scheme "earning" £25 a week!! By the time I was 18 and bought this car I was earning £120+ most weeks (sometimes £180 but so many hours!!) due to overtime.

slinxy · Tuesday at 21:02

pastymuncher said:
I left school on Friday and started work on the Monday. My first pay packet as a 16 year old was £36.75 and I bought my mum an electric lawnmower so she wouldn't have to go on her knees and cut it with shears. The next week it was just over £75 because of overtime. Most of my mates were on the slave labour YTS scheme "earning" £25 a week!! By the time I was 18 and bought this car I was earning £120+ most weeks (sometimes £180 but so many hours!!) due to overtime.

What car?! Lol..

Gepetto · Tuesday at 21:03

My first lesson was in a Renault 4. :eek:

Scania · Tuesday at 21:17

jpaul said:
e: does/did pass certificate say reg plate of what was used ?

Pretty sure it doesn't.

Malevolence · Tuesday at 21:25

Renault 5 Campus, which broke down on the morning of my test so had to take my test in a Fiesta instead.

Diagro · Wednesday at 17:42

I witnessed a Learner car with the L plates and branded signage on a Model Y tesla...

Driving an EV such as that is vastly different than any ICE car... as you don't even use the brakes if you know how to drive one... :/

Ninco! · Wednesday at 19:29

HoneyBadger said:
1993 3 door Ford fiesta 1.8 diesel.

Same car I learned in.

First instructor I was having lessons mysteriously disappeared, presumably quit. This older chap turned up on a I think my third lesson, very grumpy, looked like Enzo Ferrari, retired ex military who slated my first instructor - the guy terrified me.

But stuck with him as I just knew he was good despite his highly principled and angry temperament. Worked out well and passed first time.

HoneyBadger · Wednesday at 19:34

Ninco! said:
Same car I learned in.

First instructor I was having lessons mysteriously disappeared, presumably quit. This older chap turned up on a I think my third lesson, very grumpy, looked like Enzo Ferrari, retired ex military who slated my first instructor - the guy terrified me.

But stuck with him as I just knew he was good despite his highly principled and angry temperament. Worked out well and passed first time.

My instructor was a lady, who we had used to teach my older sister. We both passed first time. I learnt at 17 and passed Friday 13th December 1996! It was a blizzard, and it was also the first time the government introduced the theory test, which I also passed first time!

Manbatius · Wednesday at 20:06

It was early 2000s and the I started with lessons with the instructor next door to my gran.

He had a Mini Cooper,

This was fun until I got my car, it was free which is a good start.
A ford escort, I want to say 1.4cvh.... mk5 but the early naff one,
The good was that it had a electric windows
The bad was that mastering the clutch to park the mini nice and slow was useless with 130k on the clock the escort would bunny hop and try and cut out without a decent chunk of accelerator pedal pressed. Made reverse parking and parallel parking interesting !

Tee Hee Johnson · Wednesday at 21:53

Good old old school focus

Lopéz · Thursday at 07:48

Maundie said:
I learnt to drive in a Metro in 1992 and once passed my test got a Mk4 Escort 1.3 as my 1st car, it was terrible with rampant rust, a leaky after market sunroof and constant breaking lights\indicator stalks, kept it 1 year and then swapped to a Mk2 Golf Syncro 1.8

Sierras and Mk3 Escorts go through indicator/light stalks at a fair rate too. A weird Ford weakness through the 80s and early 90s!

majestyk · Thursday at 08:12

1973 Simca 1100 van.

Drangueos · Thursday at 08:42

Back in the 80s/90s in Brazil, Ford and VW had a partnership, so they would build some cars together or build same car with different names, just changing a few cosmetics.
For example they made the Ford Escort XR3 with a 1.8 VW engine.

I've learned to drive in this:
1991 Ford Versailles with a 2.0 VW engine

Sinbad2000 · Thursday at 08:46

1983 Ford Escort 1.6 ...

My stepdaughter, after a few lessons, in the months leading up to her test, got to drive my SLK AMG to school :cry:

I aged many many years in those months...

OldKitMan · Thursday at 09:03

Renault Clio and then the instructor bought a little metro which was nice to learn in as it was a bit quicker.

IAmATeaf · Thursday at 20:57

No idea if I’ve posted in this thread but mine was a mkII Ford Escort, think it was either gold or brown and an L moniker.

Diddums · Thursday at 21:09

I learned in a BMW 320D, E46. Pre-facelift, when they were still new. I'd obviously driven quite a bit beforehand in various mates' cars and whatnot but I remember being absolutely amazed at the torque this thing had.