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 few times I was driven it was in a Ford LTD or later a Mercury Topaz. Dad climbed the ladder at work! 😀
I’m so old I walked to school.
Driven? What’s that mean?
Just coming to post this. I don’t think I was ever driven to grade school.
Right? Kids these days.. Almost the first thing I did when google maps came out was to see if I did actually walk over a mile to kindergarten.
Dad had a 1977 Ford Granada – 2-door with the 200ci inline 6 and a 4-speed on the floor, and bench seats front and back. I remember thinking I could have this as my first car, and looking through JC Whitney catalogs for ways to ‘improve’ it as a kid. Sadly he sold it before I got my license.
Mom had 2 Chevy Astro vans – a 1986 and then a 1990. I got to drive this in HS sometimes when my brother didn’t take it first; eventually I ended up with it full-time in college. The van was great for the many apartment moves I made in college, and we used the 2 bench seats out of the van as extra couches when we had parties. Was challenging driving it in the Wisconsin winters since it was RWD, but kept things interesting at least!
My dad commuted with a coworker and on their way in I would get dropped off at school. It was either my dad’s ’72 Vega GT wagon that burned oil like a two stroke or the coworkers ’67 Galaxie 428 ex-cop car. I always loved riding in the Galaxie because he was never afraid to use the entire throttle. More than once we were late getting picked up and would see 100 mph on part of the trip in.
On the rare occasion my mom drove me to school, it was in her ’95 or ’96 Chevy Corsica, white with the solid red interior. When I was in 7th grade she leased the all-new Chrysler Pacifica, which at the time I thought was awesome.
Freshman year, my older brother was nice enough to drive me to school with him in his green 2wd regular cab long box ’97 F150.
Mom had a ’68 Dodge Dart that we drove forever, Step father had an Ancient 72 Corolla wagon, after his 64 Tbird and VW beetle. We used to get wood (4′ lengths and bring it home in the Corolla.
We later had a 76′ Chevy Wagon ( with the rear facing seats) and mom got a ’78 Celica that was an insurance recovery..
The car I drove to high school was a ’72 AMC AMX that we towed home with the transmission hanging by close line from he wiper gears.
I walked or rode my bike most of the time, since it was like a mile and a half and the bus took a really long loop in the opposite direction before circling back to my neighborhood.
But, our family cars at the time were a 1990 Subaru Loyale wagon and a 1995 Chevy Lumina APV
In order: 1977 Plymouth Volare wagon, 1985 Dodge Colt sedan, 1987 Isuzu Trooper, 1989 Toyota Camry.
Schwinn Bicycle if I was not on a Bus. I suppose we had a few different cars as kids though. I recall a big Green mid seventies Pontiac Catalina and an 80’s Celica in grade school. I learned to drive in a 91 Sentra 4 speed manual(poverty spec). I was never handed down a car, so I started buying cheap and selling for more at 15. First car was a 71 Mach 1. Ran, but definitely required plenty of attention to fix the stuff the dude screwed up trying to make it a “race” car. Big cam with stock valve springs and a hokey home made dual points setup along with 3.0 open rear end and stock torque converter on the FMX really taught me the finer points of mismatched parts and how they embarrassed you and often left you stranded. Also how Ford did a terrible job making seemingly similar drivetrains parts swappable.
I mostly walked to school in 1970s New York City, and later took the bus for junior high. But on the rare occassions when I got a ride, it was in my dad’s 1965 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser station wagon that had been sloppily resprayed by Earl Schieb in an unattractive metallic aqua (a color I normally like on most cars, but not this one, which was originally a very nice 60sish metallic blue).
I’m taken back to those days every time I sit in any ’60s-70s GM product just ’cause of the smell: the plastics, vinyl, rugs, and glue… all so distinctive and reminding me of my childhood.
I walked K-8 and any requests for a ride were met with either a good laugh or a stern lecture on self-reliance – and my father worked right across the street.
Izuzu I-Mark of some kind. I can’t remember exactly! Then a few older German cars later on.
Primary school to the end of high school. We walked or took the bus on the way back.
1981 Ford Falcon SP
1982 Ford Taunus GT SP coupé
1983 Renault 18 break (destroyed against a truck)
1984 Renault 18 sedan
1985 Ford Sierra wagon
1974 Ford Falcon Futura
1988 Ford Escort GL
1989 Renault 21 GTX
1992 Ford Escort Ghia S
1993 Peugeot 405 SRI.
1989 Ford Taurus Station wagon, 2000’s right hand drive mail jeep, or some form of 1980’s-1990’s F150
None. Grade school was 4 blocks away, so bicycle was my mode of transportation. And when the bike was down, I hoofed it.
1970 AMC Rebel Wagon – Red w/o fake woodgrain
1971 Mercedes 220 – Blue 4 speed
1977 Mercedes 240D – Red 4 speed
1979 Volkswagen Rabbit diesel – Inari Silver (green) 5 speed.
The Rabbit became the car I learned to drive in and periodically drove in college (shared with two siblings)
Ford F-600 (yellow bus) was my most common means of transport, with the bus stop a 1/2 mile walk from home.
Oh, I like those big ’70s Mercedes with the small engines. Slow, but so comfortable and pleasant to be in, and that thin, giant steering wheel. At least that’s how I remember them… haven’t been in one in at least 15 years.
My dad refused to buy a car with an automatic, so it was always the lowest-power Benzes. He bought one more 240D in 1982 before moving to Volkswagens/Audis/BMWs in his final years.
A late-sixties Datsun 520 or 521 with a home-made camper shell on the back. My fifth-grade art teacher, who lived next store to us, owned it and she occasionally gave me a lift. I normally walked the mile-and-a-half trip, but sometimes I ran late.
Yeah yeah, I’m younger than everyone else here: a 2003 Mazda Protege5.
It was a fantastic car until it started dissolving in front of us. We had to have rust repair done under warranty, and by the time my mom got rid of it in 2007 (yes, it was 4 years old!) the paint had started bubbling up for a second time. The Protege5 reputation really is true.
When I first started school my mom had a 1970s dark blue Chevy full-size sedan of some sort. Impala probably. Then my parents bought a brand new 1977 Vega. They didn’t keep that very long for some reason. Then she got a new 1979 Mustang that she kept until 1991. It was a good looking car but handled terribly and the V6 didn’t have much power.
My grandmother also drove me to school, when I was just starting school she had a eggshell colored ~1972 Dodge Dart, then some sort of souped-up bright yellow Chevrolet with chrome wheels and big tires in the back. Which was weird because my grandmother was very mild-mannered. Then they got a big Ford Country Square wagon, fake wood sides and the fold-up seats in the back.
I just realized even though I’ve always liked cars I never knew or cared what models the Chevys were lol.
In chronological order, by parent, 1977-1990:
1974 Buick LeSabre sedan (mom), bronze with the epic paisley/brocade GM land-yacht upholstery available in the mid-70s.
1977 Ford Thunderbird (dad), black over red velour. His second favorite car he ever owned according to him, ranking only behind the 1961 Thunderbird he drove while he was dating my mom.
1979 Mercury Grand Marquis (mom), burgundy over burgundy velour.
1982 Datsun Maxima station wagon (mom), which gave my mom 240,000 reliable, incident-free miles, until she was rear-ended hard at a four-way stop by an oblivious teenager. I still pour one out for that car – it was great.
1985 Chrysler Fifth Avenue (dad), white with navy leather interior. The longest lived car in my family history so far – as a traveling salesman notching up to 1500 miles per week, the bulletproof 318 LA under the hood wore out three Torqueflites on its way to racking up nearly 460,000 miles, before the rear main seal finally gave up the ghost. I drove that car to prom. No need to climb in the back seat to get lucky, when the front split bench seat is so spacious and cushy.
A blue 1957 Renault Dauphine for the first year of school, and then a yellow 1972 Renault 5. Let’s just say we rarely got there on time
Ford Fiesta – tan 4-speed
Ford Escort – dk gray 4-speed
Ford Ranger – white 5-speed w/ bed topper (i’d read in the back on pillows on longer trips)
Usually rode the bus, but these were the vehicles that would come when I puked or whatever.
My dad carried me to school in his 83 buick park avenue. In 7th grade his commute got further so I had to start riding the bus. His favorite song was Margaritaville. We would sing it every time it came on in the car. We would also stop and get donuts a couple days a week. I miss the early 90’s.
Driven to grade school?!? If we didn’t walk, roller skate or ride our bikes, we rode the bus. I can’t think of any time we were driven unless we missed the bus (and that wasn’t a pleasant ride, I’ll tell ya) or had afterschool activities and couldn’t take the “late” bus.