[Rocco Testa]

A 1988 Pontiac Fiero with a V6 and a 5 speed. Some what fast, handles great good on gas, you can take it to car shows and one of the very safest small cars out there. ( voted by testing not by me google it) I know they have been given some really bad raps but don't believe it. I bought my son one when he turned 16 and he fell in love with the car. He still has it and he is now 24. You can pick up a real nice one for small money, although they have been climbing in price lately. The other plus for a young kid is it only has 2 seats, so you can't pile in all your friends and get distracted when driving.

[RocktimusPryme]

Also of note, while 4th gen trans am are expensive, especially if you want the big pissed off hood, 4th gen Camaros are pretty cheap. Gen3 power with a T-56 could be had for fairly cheap with tons of aftermarket opportunity.

[jerry455]

I agree about the Fiero. I found a dead 1986 Fiero SE with a bad motor. We found a used 3.1 motor and had my daughter help me swap. She realized how much work and money repairing a car can be . She took very good care of that car while her friends were destroying all of the new cars their parents were buying them. I think working on that car she had a lot of sweat equity into it. She drove it for 4 years and then my son inherited it. He wanted a manual trans so we found a wrecked V-6 5 speed car and stripped it of the needed parts. It took us almost a year to rebuild that car for him. He was on his permit and driving with me and my 4 cylinder 5 speed Fiero SE in the meantime. He took great pride in that car. His friends teased him his car was 2 years older than him. He did not care, he loved that Fiero. He probably had 200 runs at Milan Drag way with the Royal Pontiac Club of America drag days and 8 years of daily driving to high school and then college. The Fiero was a very safe vehicle. It was also small so they could not carry other people, distractions, around with him. It was a very good experience for me and them with that car. I enjoyed working with them and nurturing their love of cars. Now I have their kids that I have to instill a love of cars. That is going to be fun.

[Chief of the 60's]

While Fieros are fairly reliable and held up very well in crash tests back in the day I would still want a car with as many air bags as I could get for the money. Air bags DO save lives and with all the crazies and pre-occupied drivers on the road these days, the more bags the better. Also, Volvos are known to be one of the safest vehicles on the road and a Volvo wagon with some miles on it can be bought reasonable. Sure they're fugly, but safe and reliable.

[Firedup6975]

My Daughters first car, 6cyl. 5 sp. 1995.

[Firedup6975]

Anddddddd her car now.

[TAKerry]

Guess im too practical. I understand you wanting to get him interested in cars, but that will happen no matter what he drives. For a first car I would buy something safe and reliable, Toyota or honda. I would stay away from anything german, too expensive to upkeep, especially if they have some years on them ( my wife drives a Mercedes, ask me how I know). When my son turned 16 there was a caddy sedan for sale down the street for 1500. He bought it with money he had saved. He washed and waxed it every weekend and loved that old thing. I figured it was big and slow enough that he wouldn't get hurt in it.

[Firedup6975]

I guess it depends on the kid. Also we made our kids wait until they were 18 to drive, and they had to have their own insurance. We helped pay for their first cars, but they had to pay that back as well. By 18 they both had jobs and were a bit more careful with their cars knowing we were not going to replace them if they abused the driving privledge. My Son got a used 1986 Ford Taurus SHO. He never had an accident, Miranda is wild like her mama lolol. She danced with a turn here sign going into a shopping center, and guess what......she had to fix it and she paid for it. of course dad helped her. She eventually got bored with the 6cly. Bird and up graded to the WS6 TA.

[unruhjonny]

@ Firedup;
Thanks for sharing those pictures, and the story... that seems pretty cool of you -and I liked seeing the final picture of you helping her work on the car.

@mgar; I enjoyed reading your story too.

@ jerry; again, I enjoyed the story.

I initially poped in here to offer advice, but ended up gleaning some great ideas from many of you - ideas that I hope to put to use in about twelve years
My son is turning four nex week, and my daughter turns two about two weeks after that.

I like the sweat equity bit.

[Firedup6975]

This is where the respect for cars....all cars started. She was 4.

[ta6point6]

I am not a big Ford guy but the 90's Mustangs look good and are plentiful. Easy to slap some rims on and ready to go.

[Firedup6975]

Fox body stangs are very popular these days. I know here the racers buy them all up as a preferred drag car. My Sons first car was a Ford Taurus SHO in about the same condition as that one above.

[Formulajones]

89 5.0 LX mustang is one of the cars my son still owns and drives, and was his first car. They are excellent platforms, solid drivetrains that take abuse, and why they were (and still are) so popular.
Most of the time he drives a 65 bug and loves it. The peoples car, simplistic and easy to work on. We are a classic car family, that's all we drive, so he naturally gravitates towards that which made his car choices pretty easy. He's now looking for a 72 charger, something he's always wanted. Yes we like and own all brands here, we don't segregate

[Chris65LeMans]

When my kids get to driving age, and if they’re lucky enough for me to buy them cars, it’ll be something with 4 cylinders and probably Japanese. Not enough power to get them in too much trouble, and stuff built in the last 10 years will have stability and traction control, abs, side airbags, etc.

I don’t really buy the “first car is important to get them into cars” theory. My dad wasn’t a car guy - so it wasn’t “passed on” to me. Speaking of the old man, he would be laughing his ass off if he read this thread talking about “finding a car you kid will like.”

[unruhjonny]

Originally Posted by Firedup6975

This is where the respect for cars....all cars started. She was 4.

That is so great!!

Thank again!

[Chief of the 60's]

Originally Posted by Chris65LeMans

When my kids get to driving age, and if they’re lucky enough for me to buy them cars, it’ll be something with 4 cylinders and probably Japanese. Not enough power to get them in too much trouble, and stuff built in the last 10 years will have stability and traction control, abs, side airbags, etc.

I don’t really buy the “first car is important to get them into cars” theory. My dad wasn’t a car guy - so it wasn’t “passed on” to me. Speaking of the old man, he would be laughing his ass off if he read this thread talking about “finding a car you kid will like.”

LOL! Same here.

[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by Chris65LeMans

When my kids get to driving age, and if they’re lucky enough for me to buy them cars, it’ll be something with 4 cylinders and probably Japanese. Not enough power to get them in too much trouble, and stuff built in the last 10 years will have stability and traction control, abs, side airbags, etc.

”

LOL,, I think as parents we all tend to think that way but in all honesty if the kids are brought up right and have a head on their shoulders there really isn't too much concern. I'm more worried about the other drivers on the road, not my son and his driving. We really don't care for all the driving aids either, or air bags for that matter.

When I look back, I was 16 and started my daily driving in a 56 Nomad with manual steering, manual drum brakes, no seat belts, a fairly potent high strung 327 that would run with anything on the street at that time. I'm still here. I may have been 16 but I was sensible. I knew my limitations, and more importantly, the cars limitations. Drove that thing for years, then bought a couple of novas to daily drive, and the whole time I also had a SS 454 chevelle in the garage I would enjoy on the weekends.
By most peoples accounts, the way they worry today, I should have been dead a long time ago

[Firedup6975]

I would never let any new driver get into a big HP car as a first car teen or adult. They just don’t have the reaction time as an experienced driver does. Plus if they get a cool looking car out of the gait they tend to get careless showing it off. Just my opinion. My Daughter didn’t get to drive my Challenger until she was well into her late twenties. She drove my 75 TA, but never my 69.

[jerry455]

The Fiero was not what the kid would like, we got it for free. I had to put a motor in it. What better way to teach your kids the value of a dollar and take care of what they helped build. I also enjoyed spending many hours working together with them. My son would not have wanted anything Japanese or German. We live in metro Detroit and those are not what we drive .

[U47]

Originally Posted by Chris65LeMans

When my kids get to driving age, and if they’re lucky enough for me to buy them cars, it’ll be something with 4 cylinders and probably Japanese. Not enough power to get them in too much trouble, and stuff built in the last 10 years will have stability and traction control, abs, side airbags, etc.

I don’t really buy the “first car is important to get them into cars” theory. My dad wasn’t a car guy - so it wasn’t “passed on” to me. Speaking of the old man, he would be laughing his ass off if he read this thread talking about “finding a car you kid will like.”

My wife has a 2012 Sentra SL 4 cylinder CVT. It's already been over 130 MPH. BTW, traveling the desert floor at 100MPH it gets 35mpg.