Who would let a kid drive a vintage Ferrari or a late model Corvette — particularly a young person with no experience using a clutch or shifting gears?
The answer is a group of Vancouver-area enthusiasts who want to create interest in the car hobby among young people.
Bryan Ram, a 23-year-old student in the auto collision repair program at the B.C. Institute of Technology, climbs out of a 40-year-old classic
Ferrari 308GT4 with a big smile. “I wanted to learn how to drive a stick shift,” he says of his first time behind the wheel of a sports car.
Jesse Coelho unfolds his lanky six-foot-four frame after driving a classic MGB, a Porsche Boxster, an Opel GT and an exotic Intermeccanica Kubelwagen. “I had a lot of trouble with the Opel with its stiff clutch and pedals so close together, but I’m getting the hang of it,” he says of his first experience driving a car without an automatic transmission.
An Opel GT, Porsche 911 and multitude of MG sports cars were among 17 collector cars available for young drivers to experience driving with a manual transmission.
Alyn Edwards, Driving
Jesse’s parents, Joel and Linda, are among the spectators at the Pitt Meadows Driving Academy. They say this experience will help their son work his way up to finally driving their precious 1968 Mustang fastback equipped with a four-speed manual-shift transmission.
The two young drivers were among 47 who took part in the Hagerty Driving Experience — created by the Michigan-based collector-car insurance company to give young drivers the opportunity to experience different genres of classic and antique cars while fostering interest in classics for the next generation.
“The majority of collector vehicles have a manual transmission and if there’s a generation that doesn’t know how to drive a manual transmission, they are not going to be drivers for these cars in the future,” says Tabetha Hammer, Hagerty Affinity communications manager.
The Coelhos insure their classic Mustang through Hagerty and received notice of the program via email. Others found out by word of mouth and through the two clubs that helped make it possible. This is the 13th time Hagerty has run this program in North America, two of which have been in Canada.
“Our clubs are the first to partner with Hagerty for this event,” says Les Garbutt of the Canadian XK Jaguar Register/Canadian Classic MG Club — it has combined membership of 165 enthusiasts.
Peter Rychels 1975 Ferrari GT4 navigates through the rain soaked course with a young driver shifting through the gears.
Alyn Edwards, Driving
Helping with this event is part of the clubs’ Bums In The Seats (BITS) program designed to keep membership up by bringing a son, daughter or other young people into the fold. Members are encouraged to invite young people to accompany them to events including a show, slalom race, rally or just a drive.
“We realized our meetings were boring,” says MGB owner Jennifer Orum. “We now have professional speakers, interesting videos and other features to attract young people to our meetings. We need them. We are all getting older and the thought of our cars ending up in the junkyard is not appealing.”
Back on the track, club member Doug Gale sits beside a young driver as he plows through puddles, top down in showery weather; shifting the 1969 MGB sports car through all four gears.
“You weren’t born in 1969,” Doug says to 23-year-old Jason Palacios, who has just had his first experience driving a car with a manual transmission.
It’s the first time he has ever been in a sports car.
A late model Corvette is driven through the puddles by a young driver learning to drive a sports car with a six speed manual transmission.
Alyn Edwards, Driving
“I want to buy one,” he says. “I already have a classic 1974 Mercedes 350SE and I want a two-seat roadster.”
Randy Sandhu, chief instructor in BCIT’s auto collision program, got many of his young students and his son involved in the daylong event.
Randy’s own interest is doing a “nut-and-bolt” restoration on his 1969 Jaguar XKE coupe. He tore it apart before ever driving it.
“My son is driving an XKE Jaguar before I ever have,” he grins. Seventeen-year-old Jeevan had successfully navigated a beautiful XKE coupe with a four-speed manual gearbox through the driving course. “They are hard to get used to,” he says. “The Porsche was the hardest, but these cars are much more fun to drive than modern cars.”
The question is still hanging: Why would owners of expensive restored exotics bring them out in the rain to let inexperienced kids pop clutches and grind gears?
Ferrari owner Peter Rychel sums it up. “When I was growing up, I was mad about the Ferrari and made my parents take me to all the dealerships. Salesmen would take time to show me the cars and let me sit in them. They made my dreams come true and I want to give young people the same experience.”
He says the young people trying out his car did really well. “They only stalled it once. It was a good day.”
Alyn Edwards is a classic car enthusiast and partner in Peak Communicators, a Vancouver-based public relations company. aedwards@peakco.com
