Team-BHP - How and when did you learn to drive?

Erm... I have a small problem... my age group isn't included in the poll...

Age: 9
Tutor: 1st Cousin
Car: M800
Location: Colaba, Mumbai

Inside the building comound we had this HUGE parking lot (Sagar Sangeet, anyone?) and he't teach me there...

Quote:

Originally Posted by aveek

Really? No offence, you may be different, but I find it hard to believe that a 9 yr old can handle all three (steering, gears and pedals) together.

I'm feeling lonely, being the only person to have learnt "really" driving a car at the old (?) age of 22. :(

No, actually, was thoroughly in love with cars from about 4 or 5, and would watch my dad driving the 800 and imitate his actrions... by the time i was 9, i knew what to do, and needed only height(provided by pillows on the drivers seat) and very thick shoe soles(provided by my friends older sisters platform shoes...)
I stalled the car the 1st time, but after that I managed to shift up to third before we ran outta road, andd had to turn. but within a couple of days i had got the general hang of it...

Another one to join with aveek.

I started driving when i was 7. Had a huge factory so could drive cars and eicher vans inside without doing any harm to anyone. I actually started off with a toy pedalling car when i was 4 years old. No bicycles for me... Graduated to steering alone when i was 6 and by the time i was 7 i could drive a modified Fiat around the office.

when i was 11 drove fiat premier padmini
when i was 12 i drove zen
both these years i drove for these cars just two or three times that too my dad or my big brother changing the gear and me handling the clutch brake and steering and accelerator
when i was 13 i learnt some time from esteem and the rest from motor training skool for 10 days in a maruti 800 then i became a perfect driver

Age : 16
Tutor : Father
Car : Premier Padmini (Fiat)
Location : Pune University

After I had just learnt and was able to manage in the Traffic. One of days when i was driving and father was giving lesson on 4th gear. Suddenly I heard Police Siren and White ambassdor come near me and police sitting inside telling me to take the car on the Road side and stop. I was lucky one my father's friend from Police wanted to talk to me as he recognised the car.

Age: 13
Tutor: Mother
Car: Fiat 1100
Place: Mumbai - my building compound
I was in the 8th when my mom gave in to my pestering. She taught me on the family's old Fiat. I took a few rounds to my building compound with her in the passenger seat. I was however, warned not to venture out.
2 years later (I had just finished 10th), came my next victim - my chauffeur. I convinced him to let me take the wheel of my dad's M800. He almost kicked himself for letting me do so. I started with a wheelspin that seemed to last for ever. After a few days, when matters had cooled down, he took me to Worli Seaface and taught me well.
The Ambassador Mk3 is the best car in the world. Reason? That was the only car I could get my hands on - no one else wanted to drive it. It was just lying around and I accepted it open arms. I practiced a lot on that and retained for a very long time and completed thousands of miles in it. It was only after 18 that I really started to venture out on my own. Good ol' Amby.... those were the days!

Age:11
Car: Fiat
Tutor: Dad
Location: b'lore

actually i loved to drive since i was 9 so i used to sit next to my dad and note each and every movement of his....one day my parents were outta station and i managed to get my hands on the car keys... went for a small drive in the neighbourhood and thats it... another unlicensed maniac on the road ...now of course i do have a license....

Well, dad didn't have a car, still doesn't. So I didn't have the option of learning car at home. All my teenage adventure was limited to the good old 1970 model Lambretta.

Age: 23
Car: Premier Padmini
Tutor: Instructor from Deccan Driving School, Bangalore
Location: Ulsoor, Shivajinagar road.

However, I don't count the above as really learning to drive because after getting my license (10 hours of training), I didn't have a car to practice for nearly a year.

Therefore my real learning came at:

Age: 24
Car: Chevrolet Beretta
Tutor: Driving Instructor
Location: New Jersey, USA.

Age : 12 for two wheeler, 16 for car(3 to be exact ;)
Tutor : Dad
Car : M800
Location : Ludhiana

The first time i drove a car was actually when i was three years old. It was a pedal powered toy thingi :). I never liked the tricycle.
Jokes apart, i crashed when i was about to turn 18, into a divider. So actual driving started after 18 and extensive driving started 3 years ago in June 2002 when i got my indi. Done 43K since then :)

started driving at the age of 13 ,in a friend's premier padmini president.learnt it by ourselves by putting 4th gear after 1st as second was difficult to engage.

but the real driving used to be in mangalore during my school vacations in uncle's '93 zen.so can call him my tutor.