Character building with the old iron...
 

Most of you guys are hard core car guys so this clearly doesn't apply but a sizable number of people of all ages in 2010 have no idea how to cope with a car problem-that's why driving tired old iron should be mandatory for a first car.
http://www.mystarcollectorcar.com/2-...-car-guys.html

I kind of agree with some parts of your article, and disagree with others. It also seems that you are writing more with the subject being a young man rather than a young woman. I agree that much of the younger generation doesn't know any more about a car than to turn the key and run the gas pedal, brakes and steering wheel. However, it is clear that there are a lot of young folks out there with the "can do" attitude plus ingenuity, common sense, and the ability to think on their feet just by reading the posts on this forum.

Regarding "bubble wrap", I guess I am one of those parents who want their children to outlive them. I am not one to follow every move my child makes, but I am all for a cell phone, air bags and/or GPS if it keeps them out of a dangerous situation. I would not want my daughter or son on the side of a busy freeway or lonely rural road needlessly. Some bad stuff happened back in the day. I know we want to romanticize the "good old days", but it was not all American Graffiti out there.

Times change and lessons learned change. I am sure this generation will scoff at the next generation because they never heard of a tire, or brag about how the cars in their day actually touched the ground. It's all relative.

Well said man.

i agree with that article, if it wasnt for my Polara being my first car i wouldnt know more then half of what i know now, not saying i know alot of it but, it taught me to pay more attention to what the car it's self is doing and what i need to keep in the car and how to jerry rig it to make it home or to a shop. and for that i am grateful =p

@67Gtx, you're right in some points, but how I grew up I had to defend myself, sometimes people need to learn to help themselves, and not rely on other people. This is only my view but I do agree with you on the GPS and Airbags, I certainly don't want my son to feel afraid but I want him to feel secure about his ability to rely on himself.

Nicely put, I'm a week away from 18 and I don't own a cell phone, I don't own a laptop, GPS, anything to communicate with anybody if I'm stranded. I only own an iPod, and an early '70's car. Maybe I should throw a toolbox and a shop manual in the back.

Learning by yourself is by far much easier than learning in a class. In a class you can't do certain things, say you are working on gears and your pumps go, well screwed now because you didn't get that far in class, oh well. It gives a great chance for anyone to learn, the cars nowadays are hell, I'll never own one.

I hope that when my son turns 15 I'll be able to pass all this onto him and let him learn from experience aswell.

i have to disagree with air bags, they freak me out, they messed mym mom up pretty bad one time, so personaly id rahter not have them.

Well Polara, there is a good side and bad to them, My uncle got hit by a semi in his Javelin and he had airbags installed, if he didn't we would have gone through the window, the airbags only gave us small cuts and bruises, but on another note my friend was involved in a wreck not too long ago, the airbag threw her head against the passenger window and gave her 72 stitches on her forehead, and a fractured spine.

If you think about it, if a kid has to fix a fix er up er, in order to drive it he, or she, will have a lot more respect for it. I can't stand to see kids still in high school, driving around in brand new mustangs and camaros, and Im not talking about the watered down v6 models, these are gt, cobras, and SS. I love to piss them off by pulling up beside them and asking if their daddy bought it for them. You should be issued a kit to assemble as your first car!

Lol @Buffalo, I hate that aswell, this kid's dad when I used to go to HS bought him a brand new Camaro, he ended up totaling it.

or take a few sensers out and when they go to start it. and when they come in crying it dont run. tell them heres a haynes manual figure it out!

Oh it never fails, give a new sports car to some one just turned 16, you can kiss it good buy, now i you let him build one, or make them buy it, it will be around for a good while. I know a girl that went through two mustangs, both less than a year old. Here I am driving around in a 15 year old truck at the time, and I still have it, don't plan on losing her. What really gets me is that I don't live in the town where people have money to burn. I just don't get it!

thats so true buffalo, my bud had an 2003 eclipse that his father baught him, had it for about 3 months and he wreacked it, was about 5,700.00 worth of damage, he was out goofing off racing some guy and rear ended a honda CRV...