What did you have your lessons / take your test in?

[scrappylad]

Back in 1994 in my instructors K-reg Peugeot 106 Petrol... I think it was an XT.Wasn't really fussed for the car but it had a few faults that made it shite-worthy, particularly that it felt more like a 10 yer old car than a 2 year old one! It had clutch judder that apparently only I could get it to do & it broke down a couple of times, but whatever it was got fixed in seconds each time. The clutch was replaced the day before I took my test.Then I hit the road in my dads '82 Honda Accord - see avatar - that I've still got. I wasn't used to the heavy non-pas steering & narrowly missed a car coming up to the junction whilst turning into my street after an otherwise flawless first drive.

[j-j]

1997, Peugeot 106 in dark green.I recall clearly that on parallel parking the rule I was given was to wait till the B pillar got to the rear of the car then turn the wheel until the 'lion' (on the pug steering wheel) was one full turn the wait till the A pillar reacher the rear of the parked car and turn till the Lion was back 1 turn to straight and hold till the front of the Pug was nearing the rear of the parked one and turn the other way till the Lion was one full turn and this would see the nose of the car neatly swing in wherupon you'd then turn till the Lion was back to straight. Instructor was an ex traffic cop!

[Guest]

Very dull unfortunately.Some kind of diesel Vauxhall Corsa. It had the 1.7 Isuzu lump in it and I remember it pulling well in third. I had lessons and took my test in it. My instructor had strategically placed Manchester Storm stickers in the window to help you line the wheels up with the kerb edge when doing a left reverse.Eric had a strange tendency to end all of his sentences with 'right yeah OK'. Which is fine. Unfortunately the first few times I went out, concentrating like fuck, I tended to forget my left and right. Not a learning disability, just short term displacement. You can imagine what happened next.'OK Jon, I want to you turn left, right yeah OK?'Left, or right?''Left mate, right yeah right yeah OK?''What? What the fuck?'Etc. This culminated in nearly crashing into a bus when I couldn't fathom where the hell he wanted me to go.He'd also invent similies for other cars and people whilst on the road. A particular favourite of his was referring to Ford Kas as 'teapots'. This scatterbrained lexicon sometimes made things difficult.'I'd like to go right round the roundabout, right round, third exit, right yeah OK?''Third exit. No problem.''Round the roundabout, right round right yeah OK-TEAPOT! FUCK! Right yeah teapot, yeah, right yeah OK?'He'd also shout lots of abuse at intolerant or aggressive drivers that carved us up. He was only a slight bloke, but some of the abuse that he spewed forth make my expletive filled rants look like the dribble of a jizzing gnat. Right yeah OK.

[woolleyiain]

A few lessons and a failed test in a Micra, then practice and a pass in My 1990 Yugo 45 - it broke down on the way to the test station... fixed with some cable ties and gaffa tape, then spent the rest of the test with the assessor complaining it smelt like it had a fuel leak. Which it did, but only when parked on a hill I miss that car. I crashed it 6 weeks later into a Petrol Station.

[Pete-M]

Had driving lessons and passed my test in a Nissan Cherry SGX?Learned to drive in various shabby old RWD Fords bought shortly afterwards...

[STUNO]

Drove for years (off road) before I got a licence at 15 in 1963. The tester was the local traffic plicemin who was " a bit of a lad" when not policing. It was a very small village and the test took all of 15 minutes. No L plates then, you either had a licence or you did not.The car ? 60 something Beetle which I had never driven before the test as dad's Mk 3 zephyr was somewhere else. PASSED

[Andrew353w]

September 1977 (and a day off school as well!) Passed second time in my Gran's Mini 1000! I rememeber having to do hand signals for part of the test, too! My first test was taken in my Dad's Ford Capri (SYX 44 S-where are you now?) which I failed, as I flashed the lights at all my mates I saw as I driving around; the examiner wasn't impressed.... NEVER used hand signals again, until I took the driving examiner's driving test, when I had to use them again. Felt MOST strange....

[michiel]

I started late (at 26 years of age) in a Golf SDI, circa 2000, then the instructor upgraded to a TDI, which messed up my driving for a while after I had my licence. That Golf took off well with just the clutch, no throttle, but our Transit van couldn't, as I found out on a slight incline in Dunkirk shortly after - scared the crap out of my friends in the Espace behind me when I rolled back, stalling a few times while I worked out what went wrong. Too much power, assisted steering etc doesn't prepare you well for the shite cars I drove after I got my licence.

[peter9000uk]

1973 Fiat 124 (instructors)1970 Hillman Avenger 1500 Super (mine) which had a habit of jumping out of 3rd gear. Learnt to drive resting my left knee against the gear lever!I feel ancient compared to some of you lot now!

[r.welfare]

Summer of '94. 10 lessons in an AA L-plate Polo 1.3CL coupe (Mk2 facelift job), lotsapractice in my mum's '92 Metro 1.1S.

[Mr Lobster]

Had an instructor that I had lessons and subsequently passed my with who had a F reg Metro. Finished in beige for the future Autoshite win.In between went out in mums G plate Polo.

[Inspector Morose]

Driving lessons - Seat Ibiza Mk 1 SXI The instructor used to use it instead of the poverty spec one for advanced driving. What the hell he thought he was doing letting me use it to learn in god only knows.Test - VW Polo breadvan. A mate of mine was an instructor and we struck a deal that he paid me in driving lessons in return for buying some form of public transport vehicle for him.Bus Test No.1 - Leyland National. Made me love 'em. Still Do. Took it in Feb 94 I think. All I remember was that it was in a blizzard and sliding down a hill whilst on test with the examiner singing 'there may be trouble ahead'Bus Test No.2 - Wanted an upgrade to a manual licence to had to take the test again. Nothing interesting really, some totally shagged National Express Volvo coach thingy with the worlds worst gearbox linkage. Still passed though.First vehicle on passing car test? 1973 Bristol VRT with Metro Cammell body.Been weird ever since.

[pandamonium]

I learnt to drive first in my Dad'd Lada Riva SLX, then later in his Riva Estate. I passed my test in a Corsa though. Lets face it, 18 months driving Ladas and you can drive anything!

[synx508]

I had about 13 lessons and failed to learn to drive in a white 1985 Nissan Cherry, after admitting that my instructor had a point about my immature attitude to driving I gave up.Edit: It was a Cherry, not a Sunny. (excuse: I've just woken up)

[Mr H Sceptre]

Took driving lessons & passed test (1st time may I add) in instructor's 1987 Toyota Corolla 1.3 3dr. Spent a lot of time driving my Dad's 1986 Escort 1.3L as well.

[retro80sboy]

Had my first set of lessons in a Metro and then in a Pug 205 (failed my test in that). then passed in a Fiesta.First car was an MG Metro but its was basically knackered so sold it and bought a Nova.

[meggersdog]

1983 a brand new Fiesta popular plus in brown failed my first test in September.Passed second time,same car in October.Inbtween to two tests my instructer would say "you now know how to pass your test now I'm going to show you how to drive"Didn't get on the road proper until the new year.I was at college at the time and only had access to the gas welding equipment on Saturday afternoons so it took a long time to weld on new cills ,boot floor,battery tray and driver's side floor in my rotten Mini 1275gt that I bought for 50 quid.

[GrumpyOldMan]

I learned how to drive in a K11 Micra, which should have made the whole experience stress and trouble-free.However, my instructor was a particularly nice looking lady in her mid-20s, whose clothing usually consisted of two wide ribbons, which were barely up to the task of covering the bits that clothes are supposed to cover. Needless to say that concentrating on the road was a particularly difficult task and that by the time I was ready to take the test I had developed a Marty Feldman-like squint

[Whoop Whoop Pull Up]

S-reg Fiesta mk4 Ghia! Very easy to drive, but a sad-faced wretch to look at.

[saabhappy]

'71 J-plate Viva HC

[myglaren]

Learned a bit in a mates car that I thought was an Austin 8 - an Austin moggy-alike, and the firms van.

 

Started lessons in March 15th 1963 (17th birthday) and passed two weeks later after 7 lessons @ £1/17-6d each

 

Passed in the driving school car:

 

- major shite, finding a gear was pure luck.

 

It was snowing heavily at the time and hand signals were a must. Had to abandon them as it was snowing into the car so I wound up the window and said I'd continue with the electric ones, (even if they were untested technology) as my hands were slipping on the steering wheel.

 

It went reasonably well after that except for turning right at a roundabout instead of left.

 

Passed first time anyway

[hennabm]

Took a few early lessons at 14/15 in my dad's Reliant Regal Supervan III LVL 937J.Then when I started work at 15 I was instructed in the yard on a number of Fords; D series, R series and Transits.Formal lessons started at 17 in a MkI Fiesta 950.I also bought a Triumph Herald estate GTK 547F as my first car and dad used to accompany me on weekends.Passed my test at 17 1/2 and promptly bought a 1600E TLO 540G.

[AXrescuer]

Took and passed my test way back in April 78.Lessons = 1976 Mini.Test = 1978 Vauxhall Cavalier. Bastard changed his car the day before my test!

[ashmicro]

I've been hunting for a newspaper clipping, but to no avail.A former colleague of mine knocked down a policeman during his test - and passed!It was a pissing wet day in Belfast, and the cops were directing traffic after a previous RTA. As my former workmate approached, a copper who was facing the other way in the middle of the road stepped back to avoid being splashed by an approaching van.

[155V6]

Learnt & passed my test in a Mk 3 Escort,practised in my Dad's Renault 8S,Sunbeam Rapier Fastback & Mini Pickup. My Brother passed his test in my Dad's Talbot Sunbeam TI.

[messerschmitt owner]

learned on a Mk1 Micra and the driving instructor got fed up with new clutches every 14,000 miles, so my test was sat on the brand new Pug 205.Got to drive the family Citroen Visa and my uncles VW fastback too.First car I drove after my test was my dad's XJ6 3.6

[Timewaster]

First drive - a mates '77 Allegro (with a scafolding front bumper)Lessons and test(s) '88 Nova MeritPractice and first car '85 Mini Mayfair - Bought off my dad.My instructor was a family friend who worked for BSM when I booked the lessons, but then started up on his own.I cancelled the BSM appointment, but they wouldn't take no for an answer so on my 17th birthday 2 driving school cars turned up and sat glaring at each other!

[CIH]

Lessons and tested in a facelift bubble shape micra.

[babydriver]

funnelly enough looking at my ranking I took lessons & Test in a Toyota Starlet. my instructer was ex army and a total twonk, it always seemed to be my lesson that he would make me park on yellow lines out side maccy D's so that he could get a cuppa tea, and he would say if I caused him to spill it he would twonk me so hard!!!!!!!Made me park between 2 expensive cars on 'Barn hill' in Wembley and said this will teach you clutch control, fookin did too, never had a problem since.

[strangehighways]

I passed my test in early 2000.The first car I ever drove was my parents Vauxhall Carlton D-Reg (new shape). It was a 1.8l (90 bhp carb) , so was povvo spec, but still had central locking and disc brakes all round. A pretty big car to learn to drive in, but I loved it. I still have a hankering for Carltons. It was so well built (possibly built in Germany?).I had lessons from an instructor in a 98 Fiesta 1.25 zetec. Very quick off the mark and good in town. The throttle was far too sensitive though.