Question for the pros

Ok, Sacha has it dead on and it sounds like he speaks from experience as do I.

I'm 41 now. But I started working part time when I was 13. By the time I was 16 I purchased my SECOND car - a 1976 TransAM with the 403 engine. I souped it up and drove it like a maniac. I grew up in a town where you either partied on the weekend or raced - and I wasn't a partier. Each and every weekend found me doing Lord knows what on a country road. I'd peg that 120mph spedometer in between the idiot lights at the bottom of the speedo - so 140-150mph. Sometimes it would be on a 2 lane road and in the middle of the race all of a sudden there is another car in your lane - ever pass someone on the shoulder at 145mph?

It's a wonder I didn't kill myself or someone else.

Three times I was caught in the act of racing. Typical dumb kid thought that it was a good thing when they would give you a ticket for a contest of speed rather than the actuall mph over the speedlimit as it was a fixed price ticket and much cheaper. I'd ask the officers to write them up that way! Not knowing or realizing (or at that age even caring) that a Contest of Speed ticket is equivelent to a DWI as far as your insurance is concerned.

Three times I appeared before municipal court and justices of the peace on the subject of suspension of my license. It was never suspended though I was placed on year long probations TWICE.

Lord knows how many tickets I had - and I won't even get into the accidents.

When I was 18 our family insurance company gave my parents the option - I go, or they ALL go. So county mutuall and progressive (expensive) insurance was my thing until my early 20s. And high rates until I turned 25.

Sacha has it dead on...very young kids don't need to be driving cars like that - for their own safety and for others.

Speaking for myself - no way in hell are my two boys going to drive performance cars.

Earl

I think age doesnt have as much to do with it as maturity, and how they look at the car. If somebody is 16, and they get a car (even if it is bought for them) if they mod it out, work on it, spend money on it, race it...... They will be better drivers than one who gets a fast car just because its fast, and knows nothing about how a car handles or how it works.

Just my 2 cents.

05mustangbabie,

Try not to take this all too bad. I think the main concern here is for your safety. Most the comments, although not all well said, are genuine in their concern. All of us who have owned and driven a GT know that it can be a hell of a car to handle. Not only is the horsepower substantial, the rear axle can hop like the Easter Bunny on Crack in a surface transition and especially rough surface corners. If you are not a well experienced driver, the beauty of this beast can have you sitting sideways into another car, a guardrail or a tree in a split second.

With that said, if you are responsible enough to afford the vehicle, you learn the mechanics of it, how to properly maintain it and you are cautious and respectful driver, it will be one hell of a first car and one, I am sure, you will take care of and drive as careful as possible.

My first car was an 18 year old 1970 Ford Maverick with an inline 6 cylinder engine. (I was not allowed to get my driver's license until I was in college and could maintain my grades at a 3.5 average or higher.) Driving was a privledge not a right at 16/17. My father made me review the Haynes Manual and then ran me through various scenerios on possible mechanical breakdowns. He went so far as to have me bust the engine apart based on a full breakdown and rebuild it (we remachined and bored out the cylinders along the way ). When I was done, I knew nearly everything about that little car and I would NEVER find myself broken down on the side of the road to become a victim. That was his main concern. However, along the line I acquired an absolute love of engineering and "how things work". I can never thank him enough for this.

My point is..... Know that you are getting something that many of us did not have the luxary to get. My father would have never given me a new vehicle, because he wanted me to learn. When I bought my first NEW Mustang myself at the age of 26 it was a beautiful thing. It was the best feeling to have done it all by myself. Unfortunatley, my father died a year earlier and never had an opportunity to see how I turned out. His staunch authoritarian approach has allowed me to appreciate everything I have, it took losing him to realize that.

Enjoy and appreciate your father and your new car. Know that life is short and do not for one second, take that car farther than you can competently control it, because, my young friend, in an instant... you could lose it all. Your life, your father and your car.

Good Luck. You are one lucky young lady!!!!!

Jennifer

It’s that one time...

Not to sound condescending, but it is not the 99% of the time driving that gets you into trouble, it’s that 1%. This is where experience comes into play. No matter HOW careful you drive the Mustang, HOW much you respect the power, HOW much you concentrate when you drive, it is that time when there’s rain on the roads, or snow, (I live in California now, but I grew up and went to college outside of Chicago so BELIEVE ME I know...) or some jackass on the road is doing something that jackasses do, or you are in a hurry, or angry or distracted by your friends in the car, or WHATEVER, that that BAD THING will happen. You miss something you wouldn’t normally miss, or the backend breaks away... All of a sudden you are in a whole new world with the car that bites back, and you have NO experience behind the wheel to bail you out. It is the 1% that you should fear! That is all it takes for someting horrible and IRREVERSIBLE to happen.

Well now. This is getting pretty far down the list and probably no one is going to read it, but here's my .02 worth.

I'm an old fart - 51 years old. Our 2 daughters both had accidents in their first year of driving and in each case the car was totalled. One daughter was at fault (hit a tree, guess it wasn't the tree's fault), the other was hit by a cop who ran a red light w/o his lights or siren on. Being an ASE Certified Master Tech, I taught both girls to respect their cars, do minor repairs and some avoidance driving techniques (a lot of good that did).

My advice - drive something else your first year, then decide from there. OR if you're really set on having a new Mustang GT as your first car, spend a grand or so on a driving school where real professionals will teach you how to handle the power and performance of this fine automobile.

One thing about advice - it's usually worth just what you paid for it.

Good luck with your decision and let us know what you do and how it turns out.