[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by D.V.R

indra_slk you say you drove your dad's skoda when you were 7,going by your DOB then it should be 1999.But AFAIK Octy was launched in 2002,so did you import it?

he probably meant 7th standard.

[niks_devil666]

We (Dad) had bought our first car in June 1993 (M800 , neptune blue).Dad learnt driving and after 4-5 days he started teaching mom how to drive.She scraped the bumper on a wall and got scared from driving.So we(me and my elder brother) were next in line.

Dad was posted in Jabalpur , so while going towards CMM I used to take out the car till the main road(cantt area , max speed 30) , dad used to drive on city road , then bro used to take over from cantt gate till home.We were taught to drive so that it can be used in case of an emergency.

The only thing I remember is that I had to put a small cushion on the seat so that I can see clearly over the bonnet (although I was already more than 5'2" by that time).

This practice was followed for a month till the time we understood the basics and could drive pretty ok.

Very close to my home was an army veh. training ground.I used to take out the car and do power slides (with handbrake) on the gravel.It was so much fun

Now it has been more than 15 years since I started driving but still remember the good old days.

[Evil]

I was 12 years old & it was a fiat premier padmini, an actual taxi. My parents were dead against letting me drive their car so I (in the company of an older friend) bribed a taxi driver to let me to learn to drive.

It was 230-3 in the afternoon, on the wadala road where Imax is situated. The thing I remember most till date is how hard the pedals on that car were. I could feel my calf muscles aching just pressing each pedal. Clutching was the most difficult aspect. I got the hang of it after about 10 attempts but would still engage the wrong gear at times (hand gear was confusing) causing the car to stall or lurch. Steering/road judgement wasn't a problem but later on I came to realize the huge amount of what could be considered as oversteer on other cars (even non PS ones) required to manuever the fiat. Being a kid without pretty much any inhibitions back then, I tried to speed as much as I could on the very first day I had got behind the wheel in my life

Since then I've driven more cars than I can remember & will definitely enjoy driving as long as I can

[mooza]

My first drive was in my Dad's Ambassador (1969 model). The first lesson was to engage the reverse gear, since, as my Dad rightly said, this is the singlemost difficult task to accomplish in an Amby! The technique was to lift the gear stick up, slam it down with your full body weight, and quickly try to engage it. If you were lucky, you would hear a squelchy sound confirming the engagement. Despite this, sometimes the car would slowly try to move forward, as the gear lever would have found the 4th gear slot in place of the reverse
After one of the lessons, Dad and I got off and went in for some lemon juice. When we came out, the car was missing! No, hang on, it was not stolen. Since I had forgotten to put on the parking brake, and the car was also in neutral (Murphy's law), we found the car a couple of houses down the street, nicely resting on a footpath it had climbed upon with absolutely no external assistance. No casualties, fortunately. From then on, things went quite smooth with the lessons!

[arun1100]

Originally Posted by mooza

My first drive was in my Dad's Ambassador (1969 model). The first lesson was to engage the reverse gear, since, as my Dad rightly said, this is the singlemost difficult task to accomplish in an Amby!

I had the same experience with my dad's Premier Padmini. The reverse gear in column shift gear box is very difficult to engage in the first go. I was 16yrs then and did not have enough energy to engage the reverse gear!

I delayed my driving from few months just because of the reverse gear.

Finally one day my sister taught me the technique to engage the reverse gear.
As mooza said, I had to push the gear lever real hard and then push it down. Even now when I engage the reverse gear in my Fiat, I remember the first time i drove the car!

[sree70]

Nice description. My 1st drive was with a Driving school tutor & it was not such a great expreince.

[abhinav.s]

My first drive was in my dad's Fiat Premier Padmini [1972 model] when I was in my 10th std. But the way he taught me driving was a totally different thing for me.

For the first 4 days, in a play ground [when deserted], he would sit in the driving seat and only allow me to handle the steering from the passenger seat.
Next 4 days i would be doing the gears and steering only. During this time, my concentration was on the gear and i would forget about the steering. After about a week, i was able to do both.
Then after 2 long weeks of passenger seat driving, he allowed me in the driver's seat.
I felt pretty confident and did not stall the vehicle in any of the forward gears. But i could not engage the reverse gear for the life of me for nearly 2-3 weeks. Dad used to jovially say that i have to eat more before coming to learn driving as i needed all the strength to put it in reverse. Finally with practice and the technique he taught, i was able to successfully engage the reverse gear

[SPARKled]

I guess most of us old timers learnt to drive in a padmini. We had a 89 padmini Deluxe BE with factory fitted AC delivered from Bombay Cycle and Auto. The side mounted gears were considered to be ancient and the the newer floor mounted gears were the future then. Any way Learnt to drive on this particular blue padmini and was the first car to be driven out alone by myself.

[rajushank84]

The first I can remember was when I was 11 years old, sitting in my dad's lap and driving the brand new navy-blue Zen MH410 on ECR. I had to stretch to reach the pedals. At that time, avoiding potholes in the Kalpakkam-Koovathur stretch required great skill, and dad tried to teach me that. I stalled the car so many times. The whole thing was just for 2 to 3 kilometers, exactly once.

After this, my first driving "on my own" was uncanny, at 18 y/o. Joined a driving school, and on the first day I couldn't control myself. When the instructor was "waiting" for someone, I was in the drivers seat (old maruti 800). I just slotted first gear, let the clutch go and started driving! It was so smooth, I couldn't believe it was my first drive! The instructor at first shouted, then he said, "If you know driving then why are you here showing off? Just come after 45 days to get license!". I had to convince him that I hadn't driven before.

After getting my license, bought a second-hand Maruti 800. Drove the car back from the dealer myself. On hindsight I realize that was a downright FOOLISH thing to do, as the only driving I had done till then was the driving school classes. But I didn't make any major mistakes, and drove home smoothly.

I don't remember spending any time "learning" to drive... I am continuously learning, so there was no separate "learning phase". I guess it is all those long days of tirelessly watching my dad drive on the highways, when everyone else in the car was fast asleep - it would just be dad driving with intensity, and me watching with even more intensity.

[rajushank84]

Forgot to add: On license day I foolishly tried to show-off to the RTO as well. He was going very easy on all the others, but he made me do a three-point turn in a tight space. I did it, but stalled the car at the end when just about to stop. He warned me not to show off, but issued the license.

[MX6]

Originally Posted by rajushank84

Forgot to add: On license day I foolishly tried to show-off to the RTO as well. He was going very easy on all the others, but he made me do a three-point turn in a tight space. I did it, but stalled the car at the end when just about to stop. He warned me not to show off, but issued the license.

I gave my test on an ambassador 15 years back. I did a turn on the turn around in 3rd gear in an Amby. RTO guy was shocked, speechless.
My driving school guy ensured I got the license.

[AbdulRahmanM]

Mine was in 1999, we had sold our 800 and had bought a gas fitted 118NE. it had a fancy number 2626. I felt very comfortable in the car, as the suspension used to be very good, i also liked the looks, as it resembled the DATSUN battery car which i had, or i thought so.

Myself and dad were going towards our cousins place, when my dad stopped in a lonely road, and asked me to drive. I was totally not prepared for this, though i loved cars and loved to drive them, the chance to drive was a bit far away as i was a bit short. And till the 15 years, i have been in cars which almost have hand gears, M800 was the first exception, and this was second. I knew only Accelerator and Brake. Only when i sat on the driver's seat i learnt that there is something called clutch . But dad had his way and he made me move the car and drive it till cousins house as it was in a deserted area and i was pretty successful. After that till 18, i was only allowed to reverse the car outside the gate from the shed and put the car inside the shed. I was impatient to turn 18, those 3 years were hard to passby, i was always dreaming of driving.

[rajushank84]

Originally Posted by AbdulRahmanM

it had a fancy number 2626.

what a coincidence. my dad had a premier 118ne with number 2525.

[samsag12]

I learned driving on my father's 95 model PP S1(premier padmini). Although my dad gave the first lesson of driving way back (somewhere around 2004), i wasn't taught to drive as my dad didn't had time to teach me. Also because S1 was the only car then, we were very particular about using it for driving lessons. many yrs passed and a year back finally our old mechanic, who used to repair our family cars, was contacted for this job as my dad was no longer able to teach me because he suffered paralytic stroke.
The same story continues, the car stalled on the very first gear. Again started it and finally managed to move it a bit. After driving along the golf course for about 30 sweaty minutes it was call for the day. Next day went on a long drive with my mech. he used to give the car for driving from the start and would tell about the engine, machine (car) and all the technical stuff. On the third day (it was actually around 8Pm as he was only free after closing his garage) that i first drove the car at night. I learned to engage first, second, third and fourth gear. But he actually reserved a full day for practicing the reverse. That day never came and after making numerous calls i finally decided to engage it myself.Voila first time ever i pushed the gear rod to its max and slotted down in reverse. Felt very happy at that moment that finally i learned the art of driving.

[arun1100]

Fiats has been the First Car to Drive for many.!!