16 years old, new license, first drive: 2000 Cobra R!

[Goose17]

Spent the day getting my son his license. He turned 16 today and the only license office with an opening for a test today was a 2-hour round trip out in the country. I pulled him out of school and took him for the big event and he passed with flying colors! On the way back home, I told him that the first car he should drive as a licensed driver should be the Cobra R! It's the only vehicle in the fleet that he hasn't driven yet. He was game! He started out real timid with the car and was shifting at about 4000 RPMs. After some coaxing, I got him to get up into the power band more, which made him smile.

Before anyone goes down the path of: "how could you promote this..," we have had many discussions about judgement/safety. I also am glad I'm in the car with him teaching him how to handle performance cars. He got to feel the back end step out at one point today as well as to learn about wheel hop. He is a smart kid with a good head on his shoulders. Today he got another notch in the experience column. We also had some fun father/son bonding.

Pics and vid from today:

He passed!

After charging the battery, he climbed into the driver's seat for the first time and immediately commented about how the Recaros seriously lock you in:

Had to put a little gas in it to play:

My reaction a few times:

A little video montage:


He then took his car out solo for the first time:

 

[ZYBORG]

 

[gimmie11s]

Epic Goose... EPIC!

Life is too short. I sure as hell don't need to tell you, but don't listen to the nonsense.

Enjoy those boys... Wont be long before they both take you to school on the basketball court (if they don't already) LOL.

Nice!

 

[gimmie11s]

View attachment 1441055

LMAO

 

[TFStang]

Why do people have to step in on a perfectly good post. Goose is obviously a very proud dad and chose to share something with the R community that I'm sure will be remembered and cherished by him and his son for a lifetime. We should all be so fortunate. Pretty cool dad if you ask me. Furthermore if his son really did total his car, well that's awful and what kind of a moron comes on here to exploit something like that. There's no place for people like you on this forum. Goose is an asset here. You are here to encite negative notions as to a respected and courteous member. You should find a different forum.

 

[Goose17]

I told my son he will always remember that his first licensed drive was in the R and that someday he will be telling his teenage son the story. It was a neat time for us to share.

As for Mr. cool cobra, he is my stalker and has chucked many-a-spears my way. I'm used to it from him. There are some anger issues there. Yes, my oldest wrecked his car. What cool cobra is trying to "spin" is that me teaching my sons how to handle performance cars somehow lead to the mishap. As usual, he is way off. I posted the details on the forum he has been banned from, but the short story is my son was doing 40 in a 45 and as a result of a distracted driver, hit another car. There was no "spirited driving" and fortunately everyone was ok. It was a tough, but big lesson for him to learn.

 

[CobraBob]

That video and those pics were cool. Your 16 year old doesn't drive like a typical new 16 year old driver. I can sense the maturity and respect for the machine he's driving. Keep teaching him; keep nurturing him. I personally think you're doing a great job!

 

[98 svt]

You bastard! Letting your son drive the R! What were you ever thinking? AND you let him take it over 4k RPM? Heavens to murgatroid!

LOL some people don't know when to keep their mouths shut.

 

[13COBRA]

Cool story!

My dad taught me how to drive a manual in a 1997 Viper GTS.

 

[DAVESVT2000]

My dad had me driving small construction equipment- tractors, road graders, pavers, etc at 14. Those were some tough pieces to shift back in the day.

But I had to learn quick or else you could end up with dips or poor grades as in the slope of a driveway or parking lot.

Fortunately most older equipment went so slow you could leave it in a certain gear for quite a while.

 

[TK1299]

Goose, you're one cool ass dad. My father was very hard so it is difficult to grasp the relationship you have with your boys, but it's great.

 

[03cobra#694]

Knock it off before I pull my stick out.

 

[Goose17]

Knock it off before I pull my stick out.

Thanks for getting rid of my stalker's comments and cleaning up the thread.

I appreciate the comments guys. I thoroughly enjoy sharing my cars with my kids and seeing the smiles the cars put on their faces.

 

[specracer]

Our oldest his 1st drive was a Raptor, he has also driven our 16 F80 M3 now many times (a manual), I will gladly let him drive anything we own. But will be VERY limited because of collector insurance age restrictions (unfortunatly) where our other cars he has driven are "normally" insured.

I think it's fantastic to get ANY kids the chance to enjoy the passion of cars, because you can pretty much guarantee that many of their classmates don't give a shit about cars.

 

[stangfreak]

Guys a good father. And I envy your garage and cars.

 

[Goose17]

Our oldest his 1st drive was a Raptor, he has also driven our 16 F80 M3 now many times (a manual), I will gladly let him drive anything we own. But will be VERY limited because of collector insurance age restrictions (unfortunatly) where our other cars he has driven are "normally" insured.

I think it's fantastic to get ANY kids the chance to enjoy the passion of cars, because you can pretty much guarantee that many of their classmates don't give a shit about cars.

That's awesome your oldest has driven your Raptor and M3!

I checked into collector car insurance since it would be considerably cheaper. All of them had an age cutoff set to 25 years old. I have too much fun watching my kids enjoy the cars, so I am forced to fully ensure all of them. When they go off to college, I'll probably make the switch.

 

[TK1299]

I'll pay the insurance for the 00R. But there is a stipulation.

 

[TFStang]

Our oldest his 1st drive was a Raptor, he has also driven our 16 F80 M3 now many times (a manual), I will gladly let him drive anything we own. But will be VERY limited because of collector insurance age restrictions (unfortunatly) where our other cars he has driven are "normally" insured.

I think it's fantastic to get ANY kids the chance to enjoy the passion of cars, because you can pretty much guarantee that many of their classmates don't give a shit about cars.

Pretty cool about the Raptor and funny thing you mention their classmates not really giving a shit about cars as this has been kind of shocking to me in recent times. Kids these days don't really care, or could care less about cars. They are more into tech gadgets and games. Sad to see. When I was in school, it was all about the cars for me and my friends. Not so anymore.

 

[STAMPEDE3]

I actually smiled a few times when he did after getting on it a bit.
Teach them young.
I was 15 and had my license 2 days when my brother threw me the keys to his brand new 86GT and said to take it to the drag strip. I had some seat time before due to living in the country.
Built myself up from 14.7 at 15 to running 9s by the time I was 23.
IMO being brought up like that and working up to it was the reason I never wrecked a car.

 

[tones_RS3]

That's awesome man!
I've had my driver's license for many years now,.......when can I drive the "R"?!?! lol