Is the "first" you drive important?

I have a weird question: Is the first car you drive, and I mean by first any first, important?

That is, the absolute first, the first V8 you drive, the first RWD, the first turbo, etc. I see a lot of people talking about the first AWD or the first Mustang they drove. Seems like the first one always makes a memory.

I, for example, have always thought that I want to drive a true BMW as the first BMW I drive, and ideally it would be my own too. To me, it would be RWD, manual and NA I6.

I also think that it wouldn't hurt if the first of anything you drive is not really good, this way you can appreciate a good one later.

I have for years refused to drive a Bimmer. I once moved my brother's X1 a couple of meters backwards and that's about it, but that's not really "driving".

I also read about this guy, Davide Cironi, refusing to drive a modern Ferrari until he could drive a real manual Ferrari as his first. Sounds like saving your virginity for the right one, no? And sometimes that doesn't work hahaha

Your thoughts? :P

It can be bad too. 

For example, my first BMW was an E30 M3. It's ruined all other BMW's for me. I later drove a 135I and it felt isolated and non-engaging. It was quick yes but not really that fun to drive. 

for Porsche on the overhand, My first was a 924S. Fun car but nothing special. Later when I drove a Cayman S, It was a hoot. 

In reply to Spiritus_Spatium :

The first FWD turbo car - a 1980 Saab 900 - was definitely an eye-opener for me. Growing up in a podunk backwoods town, if it wasn't an RWD, 2-door, V8 muscle(ish) car, it wasn't worth being on the road. A short drive in that Saab really changed my mind. 

My first was a 1980 Toyota Celica GT Liftback. 20R, 5 spd, no ac, power steering or cruise control. In 1996 when I was 15.

I learned to drive a manual and how to drive in the snow in that car.

It wasn't fast or flashy but I learned to appreciate driving a manual while my friends all drove automatics.

I guess it made an impression on me because my next 5 vehicles were all manual (by choice).  I've sought out manual versions of all the vehicles I've owned.

That car got me into cars, which is what defines who I am today.

Most normal drives in cars tell you so little about them compared to autocross/on a track the ability to just try things out is relatively rare.

I'll drive anything. I don't try to "save myself".

I don't know... I've always kinda liked cars but didn't really get into them until my 20's... before that it was all about wanting to make them look good and have a killer sound system... I  bought my first set of car speaker/subs LONG before I had a car... ironically I've never had a "system" in any of my cars :( lol

but I will say... the first car I ever drove was an 86 (or was it an 87?) Plymouth horizon that my 'rents bought new... it was about 10 years old, my dad brought me out the the abandoned runway on the air force base we lived on... I managed to break the shifter cable (5 speed manual car) between shifts... ended up it was one of the bushings... dad reached under the car and managed to find a gear (3rd) and drove it up... later I'd understand that bushing as I'd replaced them on the mr2 with bearings, and I had "booger bushings" on my neon ACR... a replacment for the exact part I'd broken all those years ago... I still have a soft spot for hatchbacks because of that car... and the mopar 2.2L... even though I always wished it was turbo (once I knew that was an option)... 

the car I really learned to drive in was an '82 diesel 4x4 GMC suburban... all 145hp of that thing was amazing... super slow... it was the first thing I ever really helped much with (well I did help dad pull the head on the Horizon when I was 8 or 9)... but the suburban is where I busted my knuckles helping dad remove and rebuild the transmission (more than once) over the years that we had it... come HS it was the car I drove to school most frequently... it got 18mpg (which really didn't matter with $1 fuel but hey... I knew what a SBC or big block got in those things by comparison)...  it was great at towing things around town, could haul the entire family comfortably and was always fun to drive (it was a bus... who doesn't want to tote along 8 of their closest friends while in HS?)... thank to that beast I keep wanting to buy another suburban... seems like a practical tow vehcile and they are a lot cheaper than pick ups on my area... it also is prob a big reason that I now own another diesel (06 jetta TDI)

while I was in HS my sister bought an 85 crown vic LTD... she didn't have her license yet... so it was a 3rd "family car"... and for 4 months of my sr year in HS my dad was in Italy working... which meant it was MY 2nd car (suburban 1st)... as my mom liked her little 14 y/o tercel hatch that had good a/c (nice to have in FL)... what I drove depended on how much gas it had... I learned how badly some cars can hold up with the LTD... how fun sounding a leaky exhaust can be... 

thinking back I have a soft spot for most every car I've ever spent any real time with... except that bloody altima... I even look more fondly on our Prius than that thing...

first car I drove was a 1980 Aspen Station wagon with the Slant 6 and a 4 speed manual. First car of my own that I drove was a 1974 VW Superbeetle. First car I truly loved to drive was my 75 Fiat 124 spider

I learned how to drive on an '81 Datsun 210 wagon that was pretty close to falling apart. The clutch was so difficult to work on that car that I managed to completely miss that a LeBaron Turbo I later bought had a thoroughly trashed clutch - it was still much easier to work than the one on the Datsun, so I figured nothing was wrong with it.

First car I actually piloted myself was a '74 Vega.  

No, it doesn't matter what you drive. And IMHO, "saving yourself" means you miss some really great cars.  There's no single ideal car, anywhere.  Drive them all, learn what you like, learn what you don't like.  

Just drive.

(you may even find out that some of the hype surrounding many cars is just hype)

I was working for a builder sweeping out garbage as a 14 year old.  

I convinced an 18 year old burnout to let me drive his clapped out 4-speed manual early 1970’s Toyota station wagon.  Beer bottles in the back rolling around.   

I don't think I can even remember the first car I ever drove, let alone the first of any particular type of car.

Having grown up in the 70s and 80s, most of the cars I drove first were really pathetic.

We had a 78 Chevy crew cab 3/4 ton with a wheezy 350, a 78 IH Scout, and a 69 Chevy pickup.  I learned to drive in the 69 pickup when I was 5.  My first car was an 83 Chevy Celebrity.  It at least had the 2.8L V6, but it was really slow and marshmallow-y

I remember driving my buddy's 84 vette and thinking it was amazing.  Now I look at early C4s and laugh because my girlfriend's Suby Legacy 4 banger is faster.  I remember driving my 96 Impala in Los Angeles.  I wanted to get on it at a red light to get in front of a Camry because my lane was ending.  I didn't win.

So for me, the "first" is nostalgic, but I also have a logical, pragmatic side.  I loved my E30 (first bimmer), but its hard to ignore the fact that the E46 trumps it in many categories while providing heated seats and a quiet ride.  I have a real soft spot for Berettas (my second car) but I won't ever own one again.

I do, however, recall at age 8 or so when dad sold the 69 pickup.  I was in bed, the guy came to talk to dad about it, and when the truck drove off I could tell from the 1-2 shift that it wasn't dad driving it and I cried.  I knew it had been sold and I was sad.  It had the 307 and 3 on the tree and I've been kinda hoping to find one like it ever since.

Keith Tanner said:

I'll drive anything. I don't try to "save myself".

Whore

D2W said:

Keith Tanner said:

I'll drive anything. I don't try to "save myself".

Whore

x2

Damn guys, so much awesomeness in this thread. I love GRM for this.

I read all of your replies. I generally think that driving anything is best, but with that BMW thing it's kind of personal. I will keep on refusing to drive Bimmers until I can get one from the era I like. Those E34s, E36s, E46s and E39s are awesome. I just don't expect much from them, they are old cars after all. I will get one with an I6, enjoy it as is and then V8 swap it and keep the I6 for a Locost build.

I got kinda mad when I had to "drive" my brother's X1 to move it, but as I said it's silly thinking like that because putting it in R and backing up three meters is not really driving. On the other hand, he just bought an MX-5 and we went for a drive at 1:00 am. He was driving the E36 M3 of it and eventually he was like "do you want to try it?". He didn't have to ask me twice :D

Now, this is a weird comparison, but the MX5 reminded me soooo much of the KA24DE D21 and D22 trucks we have had in the family business.

First time I rode in a turbo was with my dad in my uncle's new S40 T4 back in 2003. Made me a Volvo fanboy. Then I stole it for a drive around the block, maybe in 2012. Last year I bought my own, but with a manual.

A car is a car first.   Just like a woman.   Each have their perks.

If I told you the first car I drove/learned to,  you all would not believe me or faint.

Trucks, busses, bulldozers can be fun.

I rode in a BMW once.   Wasn't impressed.

Scariest drive.   Twin engine go kart.

First car was a Morris Minor Estate. Think I was about three years old and left in the car, whereupon I got it out of gear and rolling downhill. There is a parenting lesson in there somewhere, but I am not clear on what it would be since I came out fine in the end. It was my sister's fault.

Been hooked on Brit cars ever since and not without one since I turned 16. A subset of that fetish is cars with only two seats and RWD.

First vehicle on a street I drove was a 1977 Dodge Tradesman window van. My first car was a 1980 Buick Park Ave Diesel.  My first car to drive daily was a 1984 Ford Tempo 5-spd. Next car I purchased was a 1989 9C1. So no... I don't think it matters all that much. First auto-x car 2002 Hyundai Elantra. I'm now autox'ng a 1978 C10 pickup. 

If I had to identify I'd say I'm a truck person, with a preference to GM and manual trans.

My first car drive was my dads new 1953 Chevy Convertible at age 5. I sat on his lap and steered.  

Ive been hooked ever since 

I'm with Keith, I don't care.  If its' got 4 wheels (I don't ride motorcycles, too scared of them), proper seat belts and a proper crash structure of some kind, I'm game.  Maybe some of that came from my years as a valet and also working at an auto auction.  I drove anything and everything. 

I especially feel this way about track time.  Our LeMons team has multiple cars that we bring to the track.  When asked which one I want to drive, or if it's OK with me if I drive car X instead of car Y, my answer always is "Whatever.  Tell me what time to have my gear on, strap me in and let me go."  Sure, if I can get my hands on a faster car, even better.  But at the end of the day, seat time is seat time and I'm thrilled to get whatever time I can.  Being on the track is my happy place, so I'll wheel whatever is put in front of me.

My first car in high school was a '97 Mercury sable that I bought from a friend's dad for $600. It was truly and awful car. Later when I bought my parents' '02 Accord with a 5 speed, it felt like a rocket ship.

I think it matters, but only for perspective's sake.  

first car. 93 altima. I loved that car. comfy, decently quick(for me at least) stone dead reliable. when i sold it, it had 367k miles and still ran perfect. I even took it the track, a hdpe at cmp. it was solid and predictable.

next car. first rwd. first manual. first mazda. 88 rx7. slow on the straights but amazing handling. I have still not driven a car that matches its balance and handling. I do not like rotaries, I understand them but don't like them. I loved the seats in that car. it totally ruined my image of good handling by giving me too good too soon.

third and fourth. first bmw. first 6cyl. 88 and 90 e30 325i. I love horsepower. these cars are better than my first two in that department. especially my m52 swapped one. these handle very well just not FC rx7 well. the interiors suck period.

The first two vehicles I drove where an 80's Toyota Minivan and an Isuzu-powered S 10.  I thought of vehicles as mere appliances and driving as something to be endured to get from point A to point B . . . until I bought my KA powered, 5 speed Nissan Hardbody.  That's the first vehicle I'd owned that I was proud of and enjoyed driving.   Really wish someone would make a true mini-pickup again.  

Keith nailed it. My first drive was a rusted out 1962 Chevy truck that only had brakes on one front wheel. It was memorable. 

The honest truth is I enjoy driving my 1956 bus as much as I enjoy driving the Abomination or the Samurai as much as the last Corvette I drove. I even like driving my fathers zero turn mower while cutting grass. 

It's about the drive, and for me the machine is secondary.