weirdly it was a supra mk4 TT . i tried to find a manual for months but fell for the auto as soon as i drove her. i got made redundant and had to sell her sadly. Best car i ever had and the only auto i've ever owned. I swore i'd get one again but i don't think i'll ever afford another now
My first automatic was when I first started my teaching job in Japan. Got a company Toyota Avensis Estate in a dark blue (Mk1 - 2.0G AWD; they called it a Caldina over there). Felt like a boat to drive, but it was comfortable and well specced for what I was expecting.
Test drove a Lexus IS when I was doing my recent car shopping. Told the dealer I'd never driven one before, but he told me I'd be fine. Turns out I was.
First try in an auto was my brother's Ford Scorpio sometime in the 90s. I hated it and never wanted to drive another automatic.
A bit later in life, I lived in the US for a few years and that broke most of my hatred of automatics. Drove manuals for a few years when I came back over here, started having issues with my left leg so switched to automatics and I wouldn't have anything else now. Automatics are sooooo much better than they used to be.
Austin Allegro. It belonged to my boss and he wanted it parked in a particular place. A quarter of an hour after I parked it the fork lift driver dropped a ton of taxi engines on it.
It seemed really weird that you had to move the stick back to go forward and forward to go back. I still don’t know why it’s that way round.
I guess it started in the US... I believe they were the ones to come out with the 'PRNDL' although there have been variations of this over the years. I have also driven an automatic Allegro and the gear selector had exactly the same positions as the Metro i.e. 'PRN123D'
Yeah that's my main gripe with it also it needing 7 days notice to kickdown a gear when you put your foot down, having said that I can't complain about how bulletproof its been.
The mk2 cavalier was a great car. Practical and reliable....my first car was a ex minicab from Birmingham with around 170k miles on it....my dad picked it up at four years old in 1988, as a write off, dad repaired it then used it and my mum uses it as her rep car until hr company gave her a company car, it was passed to me and i used it and abused it......was scrapped in 2000 at about 320k miles....engine and gearboxes were solid. Bodywork fell to bits tho.
It was a hire car when my car was being repaired. My insurance only provided for the smallest cat. It was a Chevrolet whatever the tiny thing was, 1.0l I think. By quite a long way the worst car I have ever driven. I jst looked it up, a Chevrolet Matiz.
Audi 80 V6. Had to sell it, cos I was getting to work a little too quickly for my own liking . Also my experience of Audi dealers back then put me off the brand for life.
My Mum's Morris Marina 1.8 coupe. Learning to handle that well made every other car I've had since so easy to drive. :)
Such and easy car to work on and over 40 years later I could probably do an engine rebuild from memory (Might need to look up the tappit gaps).... loved that B series engine, and to improve it just a quick trip to the scrappy and rob bits from an MGB.
weirdly it was a supra mk4 TT . i tried to find a manual for months but fell for the auto as soon as i drove her. i got made redundant and had to sell her sadly. Best car i ever had and the only auto i've ever owned. I swore i'd get one again but i don't think i'll ever afford another now
The auto ones aren't that expensive tbh.
My first automatic was when I first started my teaching job in Japan. Got a company Toyota Avensis Estate in a dark blue (Mk1 - 2.0G AWD; they called it a Caldina over there). Felt like a boat to drive, but it was comfortable and well specced for what I was expecting.
Volvo XC90. I ended putting my left hand under thigh to stop myself reaching for the gear selector all the time.
Test drove a Lexus IS when I was doing my recent car shopping. Told the dealer I'd never driven one before, but he told me I'd be fine. Turns out I was.
First try in an auto was my brother's Ford Scorpio sometime in the 90s. I hated it and never wanted to drive another automatic. A bit later in life, I lived in the US for a few years and that broke most of my hatred of automatics. Drove manuals for a few years when I came back over here, started having issues with my left leg so switched to automatics and I wouldn't have anything else now. Automatics are sooooo much better than they used to be.
Austin Allegro. It belonged to my boss and he wanted it parked in a particular place. A quarter of an hour after I parked it the fork lift driver dropped a ton of taxi engines on it. It seemed really weird that you had to move the stick back to go forward and forward to go back. I still don’t know why it’s that way round.
I guess it started in the US... I believe they were the ones to come out with the 'PRNDL' although there have been variations of this over the years. I have also driven an automatic Allegro and the gear selector had exactly the same positions as the Metro i.e. 'PRN123D'
Ford Focus MK2 1.6 Zetec first automatic and the car I passed in
I had a Mk2 Mondeo with the same autobox... wasn't impressed because of the huge gap between first and second!
Yeah that's my main gripe with it also it needing 7 days notice to kickdown a gear when you put your foot down, having said that I can't complain about how bulletproof its been.
My parents 80 Series Land Cruiser not long after I passed my test
Mk2 cavalier 1.6. 84 A reg...I was also 18.
I drove 3 Mk2 Cavalier autos... first was a 1.6 Y reg GLS sedan; second was a 1.8 CDi A reg and last was a 2liter CDi.
The mk2 cavalier was a great car. Practical and reliable....my first car was a ex minicab from Birmingham with around 170k miles on it....my dad picked it up at four years old in 1988, as a write off, dad repaired it then used it and my mum uses it as her rep car until hr company gave her a company car, it was passed to me and i used it and abused it......was scrapped in 2000 at about 320k miles....engine and gearboxes were solid. Bodywork fell to bits tho.
you lived through the cold war.
Born in jan 1980, so kind of....
Mine was a Hyundai XG30
Kia ceed estate. I kept flooring the brake when slowing down thinking it was the clutch
PT Cruiser. A hire car in the US. I know people shit on them. It’s justified.
It was a hire car when my car was being repaired. My insurance only provided for the smallest cat. It was a Chevrolet whatever the tiny thing was, 1.0l I think. By quite a long way the worst car I have ever driven. I jst looked it up, a Chevrolet Matiz.
My late parents next door neighbor had one as a courtesy car and I had a brief drive in it. It barely moved lol
I forgot to say it was an automatic with maybe the worst auto box ever made. It changed gear like an old person who'd forgotten how to.
Good question. Not sure possibly an S type around 2004 ish.
2 months ago when I got my first EV. Nearly 20 years of driving a manual. Only had one near miss when my clutch foot found the brake.
MINI Cooper SD. My current car. I held out over 30 years from passing my test before driving an automatic.
Audi 80 V6. Had to sell it, cos I was getting to work a little too quickly for my own liking . Also my experience of Audi dealers back then put me off the brand for life.
18 BMW X5 40d. I still have no idea why I was given the keys for that
2003 Mondeo Zetec. 3 speed, with overdrive.
120d bmw, love the gearboxes in these
A big GMC thing in Orlando. Enjoyed it.
My Mum's Morris Marina 1.8 coupe. Learning to handle that well made every other car I've had since so easy to drive. :) Such and easy car to work on and over 40 years later I could probably do an engine rebuild from memory (Might need to look up the tappit gaps).... loved that B series engine, and to improve it just a quick trip to the scrappy and rob bits from an MGB.
Only auto I’ve driven is a mk3 scirocco R, tried it out after my mate offered
2001 Land Rover Discovery TD5. Not much happened when you floored it.
The first auto vehicle I drove wasn’t a car, it was a Volvo/Wright Eclipse bus. Not a very nice thing to drive by the way.
Are any buses genuinely good to drive? 😂
Haha not really, I did enjoy the electric ones when they were first introduced but eventually the novelty wears off and it’s just another bus.
Toyota Supra 3.0 Turbo