Driver's Ed Cars

[yogitunes]

had driver training first in the simulators....typical projector on screen....once you completed 50 hours....then onto actual road driving

on road driving was a 1980 Mercury Zephyr(Ford Fairmont)….which was actually a nicely equipped vehicle....I wanted one after graduation but ended up with a 1982 Mercury Capri RS Turbo....this dealer supplied Drivers ED with our cars, and a nice discount if you bought a vehicle from them...

if you took the written test in school, it was 100 questions, at the DMV was only the same 20 as in the back of the book, just scrambled in different order...

in NJ, you had to be 17 to get your license......I got mine at 16, somehow they screwed up after taking my written test, you got a permit, and a date/time of when to show up for your driver test, going out on an actual road....not a test track as they do today...within 2 months I had my license....I didn't question it....

 

[gusherb]

For me it was a Dodge Caliber....in safety yellow. Somehow the Drivers Ed school I went to still has that car in their fleet 10 years later, even despite the fact that the Nissan/Jatco CVT those things had were notoriously unreliable.  

 

[countryguy]

I got my driver's license in June 1975 and in the fall I took the driver's ed course at school just so that I could get lower insurance rates. The car was a '75 Pontiac Lemans 2-door.

Gary

 

[justjunque]

Since I was a certified car nut in my youth, I can't believe I don't remember the car in intimate detail.
The year was probably 1983, maybe 1984.
I'm 99% sure the car was a white Pontiac Phoenix; the GM sibling of the Chevy Citation.
I seem to recall it being a two door notchback.
I was always a fan of really big cars, but I thought the little Phoenix was pretty fun to drive.
I was pretty skeptical about the newfangled front wheel drive thing, but it didn't end up causing me any grief.
To this day though, I've never bought a front wheel drive car.
The only reason I have one, a 2001 VW Passat, is because it was given to us.

Barry

 

[twintubdexter]

fun question...

<span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #008000;">A 1966 Dodge Coronet 500, yellow, bucket seats, console shift...so sporty. When I went home the only car I had to practice driving in was my parent's totally disgusting 1959 Ford Country Sedan station wagon. It was a toss-up...which was worse, that car or my bicycle. I remember listening to the radio in that Coronet and the teacher singing along with "Hang On Sloopy", a big hit at the time, and him singing "Hang On Snoopy".</span>

 

<span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #008000;">This could be just a way to separate the kids from us oldsters. I'm watching for someone to say they took driver training in a Hudson.</span>

[this post was last edited: 7/30/2019-22:43]

 

[jamiel]

1980 Oldsmobile Delta 88. Dark blue. This was the refresh (aerodynamicized) of the GM 1977 Full Size....flat wheel covers and raised decklid with aero lip. Remember getting into a big argument with the drivers' ed instructor about what a curb was for parking--I cramped the wheels the "wrong" way but he relented when I showed him what I thought a curb was...

 

[fan-of-fans]

"The Impala of the 2006 model year generation was last produced for the 2013 model year."

Nope, that was the last year it was sold as a direct to consumer vehicle. But it was produced for 3 more model years as a fleet only vehicle and also to car lease companies such as Enterprise.

Similar to my first car, a Chevy Malibu was superseded by the 2004-gen, but continued to be sold as the Malibu Classic through the 2005 model year.

https://www.motortrend.com/news/che...uction-extended-to-2016-for-fleet-use-420685/

 

[jmm63]

Driver training was on a 79 Olds Cutlass Supreme Brougham. Just like the one below. I remember being impressed by the plush interior, nice ride, and how smoothly it shifted.

Drivers test was on our 76 Ford Gran Torino, my Mom's car. It was the same color as the pic but had a tan 1/4 roof. I bought that same rims and wheels and put them on in 80. I drove that car everywhere!! I don't think she drove it from 79 - 82, I had it all the time.

Then got my first car, an 81 Mercury Capri GS. Mine was a beautiful midnight blue with a Pewter interior, loved that car too.

Unfortunately, my brother T-boned a pick up truck in the Torino and totaled it. The Capri started to rust through the floor pan, which I was shocked because it was in such great shape.

 

[gansky1]

Early 80's white Dodge van (probably 11 seats) with instructor and 3 students.  The instructor had an add-on brake on the passenger side, used only once for another student.  

 

We had a semi-trailer in the parking lot of a local high-school with driving simulators on either side of a narrow main aisle.  

 

[westtexman]

I took Driver’s Ed in the summer of 1991 when I was 14. We had just moved from Texas to a rural town in Eastern New Mexico. At that time, you could get your license at 15 in New Mexico, which was the only redeeming thing about moving there.

We had the choice of 4 cars, which were loaned to the school by the local Ford dealer. We could drive a Ford Taurus, a Ford Tempo, a Ford Escort and a Ford Mustang. I have always been fascinated with vehicles with manual transmissions, so I chose the Escort as it was the only manual in the bunch.

I took my driving test in my mom’s 1986 Chevrolet Celebrity Eurosport. The color was “Dusty Rose Metallic” (aka “Mauve”) with burgundy interior. As was common with many GM vehicles of that era, the paint on the hood, top and trunk was faded and splotchy, but that car was handed down to me and I was happy to have it. I detailed it almost every weekend, which was a challenging task given we lived in the country for about 18 months and it was dusty on those desert plains. I took the front seats out at least once a month to shampoo the carpets, and I cleaned the A/C vents with Q-Tips. Anything and everything that could be Armor-All’ed was, and it was always pristine! Sadly it wasn’t the most reliable, and was totaled (not my fault) a few weeks before my 16th birthday.

It was replaced with a 1993 Chevrolet Cavalier (a manual of course), which got me through high school, college, and the first year out of college. After changing the alternator for the 5th time (on my lunch break in an Auto Zone parking lot), I finally traded the thing for a used Accord.

They don’t make them like they used to (fortunately)!

 

[fan-of-fans]

Our driver's ed cars were loaned by local dealership too. (I think recently I've seen they even put that in big letters on the magnetic "Student Driver" signs you're supposed to stick on the trunk).

Last summer I remember seeing they were using Ford Fusions now for driver's ed cars.

Mine too had the extra brake pedal on the passenger side. Most of the time I was driving alone with the instructor but a few times there was another student in the car. I remember him saying "I hope you're not going to be paying for the gas with how you accelerate!"

Our driving instructor was one of the junior high football/PE coaches. No-nonsense but really funny guy with good sense of humor.

The classroom instructor was a little old lady who must have been in her 80s. Funny lady, but extremely strict. Although there were some annoying kids in that class!

 

[askolover]

We didn't have driver ed!  I learned in my mother's 1984 Mercury Lynx wagon.

 

[arbilab]

What's that old guy smell?  ME!

 

1961 BelAir, automatic but power nothing.  Ridiculous steering ratio, 3 wheel rotations just to turn a corner.  Imagine going from that to a VW which didn't even HAVE 3 rotations.  Think it was the basketball coach teaching.  Uneventful.

 

[polkanut]

I took my driver's ed training behind the wheel of a 1986 Nissan Maxima.    

 

[chachp]

Great thread!!

 

<span style="font-family: 'courier new', courier;">Reminds me how old I am.........Reminds me of a time when Power Windows, Steering, Brakes and Air Conditioning were options.  Can you even buy a car these days without these features?</span>

 

<span style="font-family: 'courier new', courier;">I don't remember what kind of drivers ed was available through my high school.  My Dad had a very bad experience teaching my older sister to drive as a supplement to what she got through school.  He swore that myself and my little sister would go through a Driving School so he wouldn't have to go through that again.  I remember she had a mustang but not much more about the car.  I do, however, remember a number of hints she gave me about making left hand turns and tips and tricks to parallel park any vehicle.  It's funny how we remember different things.  I've enjoyed reading about the options you all had or didn't have in the cars you learned in.  I probably would have remembered more if there was a vintage dishwasher somewhere in the vehicle.  LOL.</span>

 

[dermacie]

I didn't have driver's ed (and it shows!) but I did learn to drive in a 1994 Pontiac Grand Prix.

 

[henene4]

I got my driver's license on the 28th of September 2016.

I drove a 5 door Audi A1 diesel.

Had quite some power despite being a lower spec engine (something like 120 or 150 horsepower).
On my highway drive I actually drove the car to 190km/h because my I instructor told me to go as fast as I wanted to.
(That's something like 120mph.)

But that highway I was on is known as one of the fast highway stretches in the country...

Most drivers end cars here in Germany are diesel as we usually all learn to drive stick and diesels are far harder to stall due to their higher torque.

After that I drove my mum's Golf 4 which was a low power car with the worst clutch ever.
Being a naturally aspirated 4 cylinder 75 horsepower gasoline engine that thing has no torque what so ever.
Took me months to drive that thing properly as the clutch had about 80% dead space at the bottom, then maybe 10% slippage and another 10% fully engaged.

Main reason I drive an automatic now...

Fun side note:
Earlier this year we sold that car to our mechanic of trust.
He sold that on to the daughter of my physician from when I was a child, and apparently even she complained about the clutch.
Go figure..

 

[abcomatic]

1965

I took driver's edu.in 1965. We had a 1965 Chevrolet 4 door Biscayne 3 speed on the column, no radio or air conditioning. It did have power brakes and steering and was sea foam green.
I took my driver's test in a 1958 Plymouth Plaza, another bottom of the line car. It did have push button drive, but had one speed wipers, no power steering or power brakes and no power, an inline 6 cylinder motor that was so small you could stand on the ground in the engine compartment.

 

[deltablu]

At the time, here in South Dakota

a person could get a "restricted license" starting at age 14. So I did most of my practice before I got the restricted with my dad's 1970 C20 with a 307 and granny low 4spd. No power anything. Steering wheel wider than my shoulders.

Took the driving test with my folks' 65 Ford Custom 4dr with 289/auto. We never wore seat belts when I was a kid (we actually had to dig the belts out from between the cushions before I got to the test location) and when I finished the test it took so long for me to figure out how to get the belts unlatched that I thought I was going to get failed just because the instructor wasn't going to be able to get out of the car.

Didn't take driver's ed until two years later. It was only offered for 16 year-olds. By that time I was driving a 1968 Ford Bronco with 302 and three-on-the-tree. How I never died in that truck I'll never know. No seat belts at all and I swear that thing would have more stable on its roof. I don't remember for certain what vehicle we drove for the test.

It was some non-descript, four door forgettable car. I think a GM.

 

[dustin92]

All these nice cars and I had none other than a dark green 2001 Saturn Sl..this would have been about 2010, Seemed like a decent car but didn't have enough power to get out of it's own way. Once while doing the obligatory highway segment, as I was accelerating to enter the highway, the instructor told me to step on it, I replied that it was already on the floor! We had the second brake pedal, and the only time the instuctor needed to use it, I was already leaving black streaks (a vw bug pulled out in front of us) and after I stopped he smiled and said good job. So far so good, going on 10 years driving and not so much as a parking ticket! Never even been pulled over. Now they have some NICE cars around here for driver's ed, I've seen Chargers, Chrysler 300's, an orange H2 Hummer, saw a brand new Buick the other day, and I've even seen a Mercedes. A friend's son just got his license and said one of the vehicles he drove in driver's ed was a Cadillac escalade! I'd be afraid to give some of these kids anything nice! I say let them drive a big car with a small engine! I'd say a minivan with a small 4 cylinder and crank up windows should suffice.