A conversation with our own Craig Fitzgerald led to this question of the day. He gave me a smart ass answer to a question I asked him and that answer involved the words Dodge Omni. Like someone dropping a trigger word to a sleeper agent, I was immediately taken right back to the awful time I spent in the driver’s and back seat of a Dodge Omni during driver’s ed. My school didn’t offer the classes in house so everyone in town was forced to go to a “driving school” and take the classes and do their training hours. I remember at the time the Old Colony Driving School had a fleet of several Omnis and a shiny new Pontiac Grand Prix. The Grand Prix was like the holy grail for anyone with self respect because being seen in that wasn’t near as bad as being seen in the damned Omni. I never once got to drive the Pontiac.
The Omni was a decent trainer car because it was pretty small and maneuverable but after that, it was just a pure humiliation machine and it only got worse. Driving was something I had always wanted to do since the age I recognized it as an activity and my parents let me drive their cars while I had my learner’s permit, but some of these kids were completely lost and the only thing worse than being stuck in that stupid Omni was being stuck in it with a kid who wasn’t able to drive past the end of their own….finger. The most memorable thing that happened was a failed three point which was “executed” while I was in the back seat. The kid driving managed to back the car into tall granite curbing and rip the muffler off the Omni. We then had to drive “back to base” with the smelly driving instructor freaking out on the already skill-free driver while the car sounded like a wounded cow. So thanks for the memories Craig ya big jerk!
BangShift Question Of The Day: What Car Did You Take Driver’s Ed In?
I remember my driver’s ed class. It was the summer of 1994. My high school had a summer driver ed program and a fleet of 4 spankin’ new Chevy Corsica’s on loan from the local Chevrolet dealer. All of them were retrofitted with an auxiliary brake pedal on the passenger side to act as the instructor’s panic button. For whatever reason, there were a lot of students taking the course that summer. Each car had to haul 4 students as well as the instructor. If you’ve never had the pleasure of experiencing the inside of a Corsica yourself, let me tell you, its not that spacious. You can imagine how lucky the other students felt to have the privilege of riding with me. I was 6’3″ and 230lbs back then. I also had to ride my bicycle 4 miles to school that hot ass summer. Needless to say, I was a sweaty beast of a high school junior. We were crammed in that car like sardines and the Corsica was tuckin’ rubber. I couldn’t wait for that summer to end. Eventually, we all got through it unscathed. I took my DMV road test in that fall in my old man’s ’92 Explorer and passed with flying colors. I ditched the Huffy and got the keys to my first car. My Mom’s ’83 Citation X-11 hatchback. That car did neutral-drop burnouts like no other…..
Back in the ’60s, :(. Our DE cars were mid size Chevys , I don’t remember what exactly. I do remember my instructor. He was an imposing man, NO ONE ever gave him a problem. He would light up a cigar shortly after leaving school and puff away as we drove. If you screwed up, as I did frequently , you’d get a puff in your face. PC..?
When I returned 5 years later as a shiny new teacher, “T.O.” as everyone called him denied everything with his big friendly smile. Those were great times!
The local BOP dealer rotated cars in and out of our driver’s ed program. I used an ’84 Olds Cutlass Supreme and a Buick Skyhawk.
1981 Chevy Citation
While I don’t remember what we drove in driver ed class, I do however remember what we had as driver simulators – the simulator was based off of a mid sixties Plymouth Fury, and you can drive it as either a stick or a automatic.
My high school had a brand new 68 Chevy Belair for driver training.
It was a 6 cyl with MANUAL brakes & steering, what a slug. learning to park that boat was no fun. Our teacher would often loose track of the time and jump behind the wheel and drive back to the school like a madman for us to get to our next class on time.
I always wanted to mash on the passenger side brake pedal when he did that but knew that meant failing the course, getting my license was just TOO important.
An Edsel ,for real.
Hahaa, I had an Omni also. It was beautiful with its’ custom white paint and blue Naugahyde and corduroy interior. It was even more fun getting all four tires off the ground jumping it off the raised intersections at therailroad tracks. Sadly, the mighty omni met its demise when I fell asleep driving it home at 75 mph. The little car saved our live though, my friend and I walked away with nary a bruise.
Our driving school had some cool cars in the day.It charged way more than the other schools but there was a reason. I learned to drive in a 1985 Camaro iroc-z. It had a 305 and was automatic but way way cooler than the rest of the omnis and cavaliers that most schools used at the time. And the kicker was on the last night I went out with the instructor, and because he knew I was a car “guy” he let me drive his 69 chevelle ss, complete w 396, but sadly automatic. I think that driving that chevy was a big part of the reason why I love big blocks and old iron today.
90 – 91? Chevy Corsica… pretty exciting… I know. The highlight of the class was when one of the girls I was in class with decided to suddenly through it into park while going down a hill at about 45 mph for for no apparent reason whatsoever.
My school only had one drivers ed car. The local Chevy and Ford dealers alternated in supplying the car. Chevy in odd years, Ford in even years. I took drivers ed in 1962. A 1962 Ford Fairlane.
I took drivers ed in 76 and we had brand new Oldsmobiles. Big car. Not sure what it was but it was an “old lady” car. I also remember it was dark blue.
A light blue ’79 Pinto on loan from the Ford dealer and a tan ’79 Datsun 210 from the Datsun dealer. I took my driver’s test in my mother’s brand-new ’79 T-bird.
Cathedral H.S., Indianapolis, circa 1960…
It was a ’59 Chevy Biscayne four-door, dark green with a white top.
It had a straight-six, “three on the tree”, and redundant clutch and brake pedals on the passenger-side front.
The DE instructor was also the football and track coach. He could get real testy at times.
Generally, there were three students in the car and yes, I wanted to get out and stand on the curb while a couple of them “practiced”.
I would get chided for shifting too fast. ‘Not power shifts, but too quick for his liking.
As an aside, I already had a ’47 Ford convertible and learned shifting/braking in my dad’s driveway.
Back in 61, it was a 61 Ford 4 door wagon, with a 6 and 3 speed manual.
I think we had some kind of AMC at Simi High in ’79.
No driver’s ed, here. I started driving the farm trucks and tractors when I was 10. By the time I could legally drive I was probably a better driver than half the idiots out there.
I know what ya mean. I started on the farm trucks and tractors at 10. That didn’t get me out of drivers ed though.
1974 Pontiac full size, don’t remember the model. Took the test in Dad’s 1973 Nova hatchback, and failed the first time.
I took my drivers in my friends car a 1967 plymouth satelite it was jacked up to 19 inches from the bottom of the bumper maximum allowed by bylaws,it had mags and sidepipes and the driver instructor failed me for a rolling stop,i think he failed me just by looking at that car.
I never went to drivers ed I was taught the old fashioned way my dad tossed me the keys at 13 to an f350 oh his construction site and said go learn to drive
73 olds
We had 3 cars in 1971 . 2 Fords and a Chevy. Full size automatic. Took my test in a 64 Rambler Classic. Manual steering and brakes. Was fun parking that thing. I wasn’t done growing yet and could barely see over the steering wheel.
Took drivers ed in 1978 Matadors. Took my test in buddies 64 belvedere slant 6/ 3on the tree. I tell my son and he says “what the f— is a 3 on the tree!
61 Nissan Patrol 4WD in 63 100%
2004-ish 9C1 Impala
1976 Audi Fox 4 speed , got points deducted for driving with one hand , of course I had to shift with the other hand so I never did figure that one out and didnt really care since I passed !!!
The school had a fleet of 1972 Dodge Coronets. This plus the simulators is what we used back in 72.
91 Chevy Caviler 4 door
A baby blue 79 Ford Fairmont 4 door.
No drivers ed here either. Just a Farmall H and a ’46 Chevy pick-up out in the fields of Grandma’s dairy farm.
Am I the only one in the world that took his drivers test in a 1949 International 21/2 ton flat bed?
The state trooper almost freaked out when he saw it. But I passed.
Took my driver test in Dads red 1963 Buick Invicta wagon in ’72. Thought I was big time to pass first time parallel parking that rig but I think you’ve got me beat!
1970 – We had a driving range (closed course) with the usual Olds and Buick land yachts along with two 1970 383 Roadrunners, a 70 Mach I, and a Ford pick-up. It was race to see who could get one of these 4 every time we went. When we drove on the road it was all land yachts.
I think it was a Malibu for the class (needed it for better insurance) but I learned to drive in a 1986 diesel Silverado and a 1988 Pontiac Bonneville and took my test in my 1980 Mustang.
1969 Road Runner, lime green, 383 w/automatic and a 1969 Torino. Me and my friend took turns seeing who could go the fastest since our instructor used to take a nap on the way back to the high school. Our teacher always remarked that we always got back early. We both had the cars up past 100 MPH.
1991 Dodge Spirit
Back In my day we had to take our test at the State Police barracks. Dads 70 F100 was In no way going to be used for my test, I would have been laughed at with no floors and a cab that moved when you came to a stop. So I asked my Grandfather who happened to have a Dodge Omni like the one pictured. I only made one mistake Instead of trying to make a 3 point turn I did It In one but the cop gave me another shot and said do It over just don’t turn so tight so I reset and swung It wider to do my 3 point and passed, we later had a good laugh when he handed my License.
Mom’s 1980 Eldorado.
Had to take drivers ed for insurance,the car was a 1966 or 67 Matador,what an ugly car with that big back window. I remember the women instructor was a chain smoker and let us smoke too. I took my motorcycle license on a H-D dirt bike that was so much more quieter than my Kawasaki HD 500. My children went to the Old Colony driving school in Plymouth,is that the same one as you went to Brian?
I learned to drive in the mid-1950s while plowing with a TO-20 Ferguson tractor and a hand-clutched John Deere Model A tractor and driving around the farm in Dad’s 1949 Chevrolet pickup.
I took Driver Ed in 1965, driving the school’s 1965 Ford Galaxie 500 Country Sedan station wagon, which had a 352 and three-speed manual transmission. The instructor was the football coach, who had little use for male students who weren’t on the team.
I was 5’3″ and 125 pounds, so guess how popular I was.
The only thing I learned from the course was the technique for parallel parking because there was no need for such a skill in my home county. Tthe nearest parallel parking spaces were in a city 65 miles away.
Arizona School of Driving 1966 Mustang… it was just a used car at that time. Not collectable yet. LOL
We had an 81 Buick Regal in School, the teacher also had pedals on the passenger side.
No drivers ed. learned in a 1961 Ford Falcon Business Coupe, No power anything. The color was the first color offered by Ford as long as it was _ _ _ _ _. (fill in blanks)
78 Camaro. Was rusted so bad that the rear shock mounts were gone. Very dicey, but still passed on the first shot
BRIAN, Ole Colony driver school??? HAHAHAHA… yup a dodge or plymouth . My instructor(most likely retired by your time) fell asleep while on the drive and was on highway.. he woke up when we were entering N.H. and the other kids started laugh’n
no cell phones in ’85 for parents to go WTF.. and call the office and office get in touch with the car… it was priceless..
taking the lic test.. (quincy armory)the state police officer asked ,should I even bother with having you do a 3 point turn.. lol it was a small car..
our driver ed car was an econobox with a second brake pedal, no second steering wheel. i dont remember what it was, but it was cramped and slow. i had one cool girl i was friends with in the car and two stoners. it was hell on wheels. the roadtest we all packed into a bus and went to the course (an industrial park) and took it as a group. like a third of the kids passed. so many tears. they gave us crown vics, retired eighties police cars, to test on. i passed, but i dont remember the score. i think it was a great idea to have kids test on a land yacht of a car. this was in 1998 when there were still huge cars, not like today where everything is a six foot wheelbase.
Got my first driver’s license over in Swedish Lapland. The driver’s ed car was a beige -79 BMW 518i with an extra set of pedals for the instructor. He greatly enjoyed flooring the throttle as one was turning to teach us how to react quickly when losing control. Also got to learn how to do handbrake turns along a desolate road along the railway tracks. Useful stuff! The nearest stoplight was 100 miles away, so there were obviously other things we did not have to learn.
But, as far as driver’s ed cars go, I was lucky. I guess it set me on track for the 50 or so BMW that I have owned to this date…
an 80’s celebrity station wagon. I had a 1973 nova but figuerd the tester wouldn’t like the lack of seat belts and all the niose fron header leaks and not having carpet in it.
grew up on the farm, but still had to take drivers ed. we had a 68 tempest. teach finally let me get some drive time in the snow. when we came back to the school yard, I cut the wheel hard and step on the gas. spun that tempest right around. shocked him. that was the last time I got drive time. lol