Earliest Memory of Being In A Car

Do any of you have any early memories or stories of being in a car?

I don't think we've ever discussed this. Besides, I'm bored.

I think the earliest memory I have of being in any car is my dad's 1982 Accord hatchback in gray. I think it's a combination of my parents telling me about it and me somewhat vaguely remembering it, but I do remember that my dad put me on his lap while he was driving and I got to steer at the ripe age of probably 2 or 3 years old. I do remember pressing every button on the radio, because buttons and knobs are cool.

My dad is a mechanic, so my memory of being around cars is a pretty loaded question- I've been around cars all my life. I do remember my dad coming back from work after working on trucks. The smell of diesel on his hands is very hard to wash off, and it's actually a fairly pleasant smell. I feel like he works with cars more, but he occasionally does trucks every so often still.

1986 Renault 11 GTL.

I also remember driving while sitting on my mother's lap and I was barely able to grab the steering wheel.

There was also the Mk2 Fiesta we rented when we went to Menorca. I do not remember much of it other than being put in it and then taken out, but I do remember that it was white.

I also remember chasing Corrados in early 90's Mazda Coupes, but I guess that's not the earliest memory I have in a car!

Difficult, it is well over 60 years ago, but I remember being in my Grandfather's Horch V8, and in the beetle (Licence plate NP-80-81) owned by my uncle, which my father regularly borrowed. I vividly remember one of the suicide doors opening, but luckily my father grabbed it in time.

I vaguely remember being in our motorhome, if that counts. And the '65 Electra and '64 (I think?) 912 my Dad had as projects he never made any headway on.

My earliest memory of being in a car would have been when I was three or four - all I can remember about it was that I had to go in the back with my mother and that it was rather closed in and dark. Several years later I learnt that it was a pre-war Rover Ten my father bought after he married (before marriage he rode a Triumph Twin motorcycle, but my mother put an end to that).

[quote=Wolseley;1011996]My earliest memory of being in a car would have been when I was three or four - all I can remember about it was that I had to go in the back with my mother and that it was rather closed in and dark. Several years later I learnt that it was a pre-war Rover Ten my father bought after he married (before marriage he rode a Triumph Twin motorcycle, but my mother put an end to that).[/quote]

that is a long time ago, welcome to the forums.;)

[quote=henk4;1011997]that is a long time ago, welcome to the forums.;)[/quote]

Hi and thanks for the welcome.

Yes, it does sound a long time ago now that I look at it, but I should add that the car would have been almost 20 years old at the time. We moved to Australia a year or so later and my father updated to a Mark VIII Hillman Minx, a car of which I have considerably more memories.

My earliest memory is being a passenger in my granddad's sky blue Vauxhall Chevette with that lovely smell of leaded petrol!

I'd like to fill in some details on some of those early memories.

The Porsche 912 was in and out of my Dad's life very quickly. I have only the vaguest of memories of that car; I remember it was resale red with a black interior. I remember it being hot, so he must have had it over a summer. I was maybe three or four years old but something about it (racy noises?) made an impression.

He had a Scirocco as well. I remember the steering wheel made me think of slices of pepperoni where the horn pads were, and I was fascinated by the bank of warning/indicator lights in the IC.

The Buick is the clearest of my early memories, because it was with us the longest. It was a black Electra 225 sedan, big and imposing. My Ma drove this car for a while; she called the steering wheel "slimy". I also remember being pulled over for something. The cop was really polite, and he told me it was my job to make sure everyone was wearing seat belts (this was before seat belt laws). I took it to heart and have always been a seat belt nazi. I also remember my Ma backed it into our motorhome, a big ol' Dolphin 3450 powered by a Chevy 454. The Buick wasn't so much as scratched, but it took a nice chunk of fiberglass out of the motorhome. I still have both California black plates off this car; they're probably worth a small but not insignificant sum these days.

I don't remember the chronology of any of this, so I can't say which is the earliest of the memories. But I have to think it triggered something which turned me into a car guy.

My earliest memories of being in a car were all in my moms 1971 Dodge Demon in plum crazy purple.

That would be me when I was in 7 years old and my dad is driving a car going 100mph