A kid’s grade school years are some of their most formative. As a kid, you learn to socialize, maybe build a friend network, and figure out who you might become as a person. As a teenager, you might experiment with new experiences, have feelings you’ve never felt before, and perhaps not realize how good you have it while you’re not currently paying bills or having adult responsibilities. Part of grade school involves sometimes being driven to school by your parents or guardians. What were you driven to school in?
My family has always had an interesting relationship with cars. One of the earliest vehicles I remember was the W123 Mercedes-Benz that my mom named ‘Jane.’ I couldn’t have been any older than 5 years old or so when that car was written off. That was in roughly 1997 or so.
My parents also had a pretty big fascination with minivans. My mom would try to have the latest vans, which would lead her to buy a new 1999 Ford Windstar, a 2003 Chrysler Voyager, and then a 2003 Oldsmobile Silhouette. Dad often had older vans, including a 1993 Plymouth Voyager and a 1995 Chevy-Van 20.
Some of my earliest school trip memories involve riding in the second row of that brown ’93 Voyager. My dad would have WLS 890 AM blaring, and in between loud pops of static, I listened to talking heads make commentary on politics. I still remember how much WLS marketed Rush Limbaugh back then. I also remember the smell of my dad’s cheap cigarettes, the softness of the burgundy cloth seats, and the gentle whine of the van’s transmission as it began its departure from this mortal plane.
I was too young to understand the political banter at the time. Instead, I found the voices, broken by bursts of static, to be soothing. That van was more welcoming than any school bus.
As I got older, the vans went away, and were replaced by vehicles like a cherry red 2003 Chevy Blazer, a 2000 Ford Ranger, a 1990s Nissan Hardbody, and a gold on tan 1995 or so Saturn SC1. My dad always drove these older, more beaten vehicles, and the Saturn was no exception. It had only basic amenities, and its interior was worn from a working man who put in hard overtime every single day and relieved stress through packs of cigarettes.
I loved the little coupe. Its exhaust was rusted out, so the car sounded “sporty” to my kid ears. It was a manual, too, so I got to watch dad throw the stick back and forth. I was also in love with the Saturn’s design, from its gigantic instrument cluster to the body, which made me think of a spaceship. In 2010, when I was 16 going on 17, my dad tossed me the keys and gave me a crash course in driving a manual.
Sadly, as much as I wanted the Saturn to be my first car, the vehicle met its end when my dad lost control at an intersection and slid over a curb at high speed. The impact was so hard that the vehicle’s unibody split.
In my later school years, I’d run late for the bus, and my mom would have me drive myself to school in her GMC Envoy XL while she sat in the passenger seat. Then, I’d roll up to the school’s door, toss her the keys, and then sprint in.
A part of me does wonder what would have happened to me as a car enthusiast had I not lived much of my grade school years out of the backs of so many cars. What if, like most of my classmates, I always rode the school bus?
Here’s where I turn things over to you. What cars were you driven to school in as a kid or teenager?
Top graphic image: Saturn
*The* chariot of my childhood was a late 1980s Plymouth Voyager, the years with the big huge single square headlights. Long drives from Atlanta to NOLA where I slept or devoured the Timothy Zahn Star Wars novels in the back seat. Even got to drive it a little bit in grassy fields while sitting on my dad’s lap.
Years later when fortunes were better they leased a Durango, expecting to get a boat to tow, and then when the tides ebbed they got a Honda Accord EX upon prompting from my extremely German uncle.
I imagine the exchange went something like:
Dad: “I’m looking for a company car for long drives. What do you think about -”
Uncle (who, it should be said, is from Munich, built and raced BMW engines, and at that time owned one of the best rated European service shops in Atlanta): “Get a Honda.”
Dad: “…but if we’re talking comfort, though, especially on long dri-”
Uncle: “Honda.”
Dad: “What’s the cost of ownership diff-”
Uncle: “I provide very comfortably for my family by fixing BMWs. Get. The. Honda.”
We ended up with the Accord EX which still runs like a top.
I walked until HS.
A 1982 Honda Civic 5-door wagon, light green, 5 speed. And later after that had been damaged in an accident.. probably when I was in seventh grade a 1987 Volkswagen Vanagon, blue, 3 speed automatic. That’s the car I learned to drive in.
I rode the bus to kindergarten and then walked from 1-10th grade until I got my DL and got my Grandmother’s 1969 Ford Galaxie 500 2 door. She bought it new and I got it in 1985. Cars my mom and step dad had when I and my 3 older sisters had: some kind of blue for station wagon, red 70s grand prix with white leather, a brown LTD, a 66 dodge van, 83 chevy conversion van (new) 82 Tercel, my sisters has various pintos, mavericks, pacers. JFC the 70s cars were so so bad. BY high school the walk was 1.5 miles each way and it was still Faster than taking the damn bus.
Quite a few?
Chevy Corsica, late 70’S cougar, daihatsu rocky, 3rd gen caravan, Astro van, 96 c1500, 1st gen Dakota…. Trying to think of any others
Though I did ride the bus most of the time. Bluebird flat front that the driver would shut off if she was angry and it would have to cool off before it could be restarted. Mrs. McGregor. Grumpiest old lady ever!
I remember a gen 1 Voyager, a red Pontiac Sunfire convertible (black top thankfully not that white top), and a red Z34 Lumina ????
A school bus for a year, an old Ford LTD for a year or two, then a new Nissan Sentra for a year, and then my bike. The bike was definitely my favorite.
For my kids it’s bikes most days, the younger on a trail behind attached to mine. Sometimes I drive them in when I’m going to be doing a long commute after, but it takes just as long by the time we do dropoff by car as to get them there by bike.
Walked to the local school until 3rd grade. After that, on days my brother and I didn’t take the city bus, my mom drove us in her green ’74 Datsun 710 wagon. Early on, my dad drove us to day care in his dark green ’72 Ford F250. Great times and it seemed we were always running late.
Being an older GenX, I wasn’t driven to school at all – I rode my Schwinn to school until my parents did the all-too-common “lets get back to the land” boomer thing and moved us out to the sticks, where I had a three-hour bus ride every day. But as far as family cars went, my dad was an air-cooled VW guy, so we had a ’63 Bug when I was a toddler, a ’71 Bus until about 1978, then he did a left turn off a cliff and bought a brand-new Peugeot 604.
It was simultaneously the most comfortable car I’ve ever ridden/driven, and had reliability that would gag Lucas – most of the issues were electrical in nature and involved all electrical systems being run through undersize relays, which would either burn open and things wouldn’t work, or stick closed and everything would stay on and deplete the battery. It was also a beautiful piece of machinery and handled great if you didn’t mind dragging the door handle around corners. If I ever found a clean one, I’d probably buy it even all these years later.
Toyota Camry (V20)
K through 3rd I walked to school
4th through 6th I took the bus to school but my dad would pick me up in his ’86 Chevy K20 Silverado in what I’d call “old man” style now – colored bug deflector, side steps, twin CB whip antennas, etc. Sadly that truck got stolen when I was in 7th grade.
The bus was the only option until we moved for my sophomore year of high school and then walking was the only option. I honestly don’t think my parents ever drove me to school.
Most of the time we lived within walking distance of school, but the odd time I was given a ride, it was one of these.
Maybe this is why I have a love for cheap, small and efficient cars. Particularly hatchbacks.
I walked or biked most days, it was only a few blocks away from home. The rare occasion I was driven it would have been in my mom’s Crown Vic or my dad’s Windstar
While I was always either bused or lived walking distance to school, the rural kids at my grade school (grades 4-8, maybe 100 kids in the whole school) were all picked up in either Roadmaster Wagons, or Chevy Astro/GMC Safari vans. This was the 90s, after all.
Feet and school bus. Who are these spoiled younguns getting chauffeur service? 😉
My wife drove our kids 4 blocks to school. It was a point of contention between us. We’re just as guilty.
I don’t recall ever being DRIVEN to elementary school. We were within walking distance, and when I was old enough, I could take my Schwinn instead of walking. Yes, I’m an old.
Dad would drop me off at middle school, since that started earlier and was a little further away (’77 F250 with a hopped up Lincoln 460), but I had to walk home every day.
Rides to school? What am I, some kind of fancy boy?
I walked. Rain or shine unless school was cancelled for snow.
We only had two snow days when I was in school (born in ’66) and that was because of the Chicago Blizzard of 1979. Nowadays, we have about three Inclement Weather days off a year. As a parent, I’m not sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, I absolutely do not want my kinds to suffer. On the other hand, I don’t want to raise feckless children who can’t handle anything and some suffering is probably integral to avoiding that danger.
We didn’t often get snow days, and we certainly didn’t get advance notice. We had to sit next tot he AM radio waiting for them to read the alphabetical list of closures.
There was a problem in Boston a few years ago where there was a mid-day storm and all the schools in the area announced a noon closure. That sent parents leaving from work to take car of their kids plus all the buses. All trying to make their way through an active storm and un-plowed roads.
The result was just icy gridlock, and parents freaking out because their kids were stuck on school buses for four hours and parents had no idea where they were.
After that, they got a lot more aggressive about cancelling / delaying school based on forecasts for snow.
Oh man, I forgot about the AM Radio Vigils. Alas, again, we hard hard-ass administrators who took no pity upon our districts.
The bus. If I was being driven to school it was a real weird day.
None, I walked or rode my bike depending on the time of year. Jr High and Sr High were courtesy of the big yellow bus. Seriously I don’t think I was ever driven to school, just occasionally picked up from school in HS when I stayed after for the real roads driving portion of driver’s ed.
Bus for me in a generally rural area. But besides that…
My mom tended to keep her cars for years so most of my memories are from her 1986 T-Bird which I got picked up from school/sports/friends/etc for much of my formative years. Before that was a 1980 Fairmont which I don’t remember much from except the dark brown vinyl interior with no AC. I still have scars on the backs of my legs. Going way back was an old 1972(?) Sunshine Yellow Datsun 510 wagon that I only have vague memories of but still want one to this day.
My dad had a series of company vehicles, mostly 80’s GM & Ford products (Pontiac Parisienne, Mercury Zyper, a very unfortuante diesel Bonneville) then when he switched companies, a series of Mercedes E class cars and one S class. My dad drove a lot for that job so he chewed up the MBs to the tune of about 200k in 4 years or so. Most of my memories center around the E class cars.
A bus.
Though one year in middle school the school district flipped my bus route. I used to be the first stop before going into a neighborhood. That year they made it the last stop after the neighborhood. Except it was full and I had nowhere to sit. They didn’t want to change anything so my parents drove me to school for the year until the bus route was back to normal the next year.
So for that year it was my mom’s 90 Subaru Legacy, which eventually became my car.
In high school my best friend was like 6 months older than me, so during junior year he drove to school. He lived in that neighborhood, but we didn’t have an agreement to pick me up. If he drove by while I was waiting for the bus I’d hop in with him, otherwise I’d get on the bus. Numerous times I’d see him coming down the road as I got onto the bus.
He drove a Daewoo Nubira. Which had a giant dent in the door from a stripper.
Elementary school was 3 blocks away (on the short side of the rectangle even) so I walked in kindergarten, 1st, and 5th grade. 2nd and 4th I was homeschooled, and 3rd was the one year I got driven, since I went to a private school that might somehow be more of a challenge for my brain. We had a green Aerostar back then.
Middle school was also all walking or biking, just a bit over twice as far in the same direction. If I did get driven in, I think it would’ve been our Econoline conversion van. Not a super fancy one with a TV or the taller roof, but it had the wood window sills and second-row captain’s chairs.
The first two years of high school were still mostly walk/bike, but my dad would give me a ride on bad weather days on his way to work (he biked to work when it was nice out) but I can’t recall what car that would’ve been. Maybe the Mystique? Possibly Taurus wagon? That might have showed up a bit later.
Once I got my license, I still biked most of the time, but gradually started driving my 4-cylinder ’87 Mustang more and more, until I didn’t bike at all by senior year.
The school bus. Both my parents had jobs that did not allow them to drive kids to school.
’72 LeMans then a ’79 Regal