What sparked your interest in "driving"?

[D1JL]

I guess I got hooked early when my father gave me a race car for my sixth birthday and I started driving.

 

[cxwrench]

My parents went to races in Golden Gate Park and 17 Mile Drive before Sears Point and Laguna Seca were built. They continued going when the tracks were built, and of course brought me a long. I think my first June Sprints at Laguna I was 14 months old. When I was a few years older my cousin's best friend started racing a B Production Vette so we'd go and hang out w/ them. Mom and Dad always had sporty cars so that played a part. We went to Trans Am, Can Am, SCCA regionals/nationals...I think I had a pretty cool childhood!

 

[GreenenvyFiST]

My dad "upgraded" to a 1st generation dodge neon and threw me the keys to his '85 dodge colt four on the floor. He didn't have time to really show me how to drive a manual, so most was trial and error. A lot of stalls in 1st gear at first. I was hooked once I got the hang of it.

 

[SteveS]

For me it started in my early years growing up in Hong Kong. I loved everything cars. I had a huge collection of Matchbox cars and books about cars from the Ladybird book company. By age three I could name every car on the road while standing in the back seat of the taxi. Then in 1968 we moved to the US, right in the middle of the muscle car era. My new neighbors' dad owned the Goodyear store and were gearheads too. I built models, read magazines, raced HO cars. When I was 10 I coached my mom through driving a manual transmission truck full of paper from her girl scout recycling drive. I first drove a car at 13 when a neighbor let me try his Fiat 128. Then at 14 my sister's date let me try his Porsche 914 while he waited for her to get ready. After a couple of years driving the family Oldsmobile 98 and Custom Cruiser, I got my first car, a 1978 Fiesta S. A couple of Road & Track articles about modded Fiestas and another in an English magazine I found on the newsstand led me to lowering mine, installing Konis, a plus one wider tire, putting on a bigger Weber carb, K&N filter, tube headers and Pacesetter exhaust. I then took it autocrossing and generally had a great time every time I got behind the wheel. And now with the new ST I am feeling that fun again.

 

[JoeyMo]

Became an enthusiast when I would shift gears for my mom when she was driving her old 80s bmw 325 from the passenger seat. I had a good ear, I would shift without her having to clutch in with no grinds. I also have fond memories waking up at 3 -4 am to watch F1 races with my dad-Spa, Suzuka, Hockenheim, Monaco etc <3. Also was lucky enough to go to all the F1 weekends that were held at Indianapolis. The sounds of those V10s is something I’ll never forget. Literally like a squadron of f-18s a couple hundred yards away

 

[M-Sport fan]

My grandparents worked at Toyota's Eastern distribution headquarters back in the mid-sixties, and my grandmother would always bring home the Road & Track/Car & Driver rags for me to read when they were going to throw them out.

I got really into the F1 articles/coverage, and the car show coverage (especially the EURO shows, with all of the 'Batmobile' Alfa 'Prototipos', etc.), and the various Ferrari vs. Vette, or AC type Shelby Cobra comparison road tests.

 

[STeeze]

when I was a kid I started playing with matchbox cars and having car shows with my sister. We would pick out our favorites then line them up lol. What really sold me was when my mom bought a Miata for a summer. I would offer to go run errands for her just so I could drive it. Her bf also let me drive his s2000 around the neighborhood and I have been hooked ever since.

 

[Clint Beastwood]

Always loved driving anything with wheels. In high school my friends dad owned a used car lot. I’d buy a car, spend a few months driving it and cleaning/restoring then trade it back for what I paid towards another different car. Minivan? Sure! Nissan Maxima? Turned out I loved the VQ engines. Always leapt at the opportunity to drive different stuff. Got to drive a half-track, a deuce and a half, a couple tractors, a steam engine, if it has an engine and wheels sign me up.

most fun? Rented a bobcat mini tractor to do some French drains in the yard... spent more time playing in it than using it to dig the ditches lol. The giant ditch digging chainsaw thing was awesome. I did lose my security deposit turning some firewood into toothpicks

 

[polyphonic]

My very first car was a 1986 VW GTI. It was also how I learned to drive a manual. It was an unreliable POS yet I still loved driving it. It was definitely the gateway drug that lead to my addiction to cars.

 

[scooter123]

It all started with my great grandfather. He owned several timbering operations in western Pennsylvania and enjoyed fast cars. He drove a Marmon during the 1920's that was capable of cruising at 80 mph or more and his wife drove a Pierce Arrow and then Packards. My grandfather wasn't that much of a car nut but his children were the favorites of my great grandfather and that turned my father into a real hard core car nut. My dads first car was a 1929 Packard from his grandmother that got traded off pretty quickly for a 1934 Ford because the Packard used too much gas. The 34 Ford ended up with a bored out Lincoln flat head. According to my Dad that 34 Ford could hit 60 in under 12 seconds and back in 1938 that was a really quick car. Every car my Dad owned was a bit of a hot rod, one of his company cars was a 1965 Belair with two options, an AM radio and a solid lifter 365 hp 327. BTW, Mom hated driving the Belair because it lacked power steering but loved the 69 Catalina with the 428 HO because it would smoke the tires forever.

Basically I was doomed to be a car nut and don't mind it a bit.

 

[Intuit]

(picturing Scooter123's mom smoking the tires at a traffic light...)

 

[Clint Beastwood]

It all started with my great grandfather. He owned several timbering operations in western Pennsylvania and enjoyed fast cars. He drove a Marmon during the 1920's that was capable of cruising at 80 mph or more and his wife drove a Pierce Arrow and then Packards. My grandfather wasn't that much of a car nut but his children were the favorites of my great grandfather and that turned my father into a real hard core car nut. My dads first car was a 1929 Packard from his grandmother that got traded off pretty quickly for a 1934 Ford because the Packard used too much gas. The 34 Ford ended up with a bored out Lincoln flat head. According to my Dad that 34 Ford could hit 60 in under 12 seconds and back in 1938 that was a really quick car. Every car my Dad owned was a bit of a hot rod, one of his company cars was a 1965 Belair with two options, an AM radio and a solid lifter 365 hp 327. BTW, Mom hated driving the Belair because it lacked power steering but loved the 69 Catalina with the 428 HO because it would smoke the tires forever.

Basically I was doomed to be a car nut and don't mind it a bit.

hah before I was born my mom had an el camino ss396 then a mustang mach 1. After I was born she had a ford country squire with a 429 i remember as a kid she would sometimes drag race guys in mustangs and stuff while I was giggling away in the back seat.