Teenagers / Classic Cars ??

My Barracuda was my first car, and I cherished the automobile since I had a great deal of time and love in it. I kept it clean, knew the limitations of both the brakes and suspension which kept me further back in traffic and not willing to take the risk of pulling out or tailgating those in front of me. It was also unique enough that everyone in our town knew it was my car, and that fear kept me from doing or trying anything that I could have gotten away with with a common car. I kept that car, and yes, have had some real good times with the family. My daughters have enjoyed cruising in it and my oldest daughter has helped me work on it. Honestly, if my parents had bought me some just common used car, it could have been a whole lot different.

I just recently purchased a project '66 Mustang for my 13 year old daughter. She knows it will take a couple of years to complete and that we will be doing some minor modifications to it for safety and reliablity. I will be adding sheetmetal to isolate the gas tank from the rest of the car, I will add more modern seatbelts in both the front and rear seats, it will get a modern sound system made for the car, as well as an approved suspension system and modern rubber all around. The 302 the car now has will be peppy (210 stock hp) but will still be decent on gas. It will also get a unique paint job that can be easily spotted. Best of all, due to the number of early mustangs produced, the parts are very common and reasonable. We will have a whole lot less in it and still have something very unique that she can be proud of.

At any time that she loses interest in the project, we could always sell the car for profit to fund a newer bodystyle. However, at the current time, it is more than an automobile, it is an opportunity to bond with my daughter, something that many parents missout on.

I can tell you several other stories of parents and children that have bonded over a restoration, enjoyed shows together, and was much more cautious based on the time and effort provided.

Are there risks? Absolutely. However, we believe we have a much better chance of getting our daughter to be a responsible driver by making her work on and for her car. She will have to purchase the gas and insurance on her car which will lead to her to having a job and enough work ethic to keep the job if she wanted to drive. And with the laws here in North Carolina, she must stay in school to keep her license.