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I don’t have a specific set of rules per se regarding who gets to drive my car, but once it’s out of my sight I worry less about my partner Kay crashing—she’s a fantastic driver—and more about the Abarth picking up parking lot dings or a curbed wheel. Between the two of us, there’s little to worry about because we both care for the car and aren’t driving around like yobbos all the time,
In someone else’s hands, I’m not so sure. Valet? No, never…
For anyone else, it’s mostly by gut. This is a $20k compact car that I fret over, let alone those of you with multiple $100,000-plus vehicles in your fleet. Who gets to drive your car? How does one ‘pass muster’ before you’ll let them out for a jaunt?
I would let any experienced “old sports car” driver behind the wheel of my 87 carrera. Fact is, I am surrounded by people that have very little to no experience with sports cars at all, forgotten classic sports car, which require totally different skills. Actually the car wears 225F/275R tires and without any electronic help nor power steering, it needs a hell of a lot of concentration and quite some strengh to keep it where you want, depending on the road shape. So I imagine the only guys who would ever drive my car is the mechanic, a friend that used to drive old BMWs, my brother who has tons of miles behind his 90 hp Beetle, and my father, because it’s my father and I owe him everything I got. Oh and yes, before I forget, even I am not allowed to drive if roads are not completly dry.
Everyone who likes it can borrow my VW T3 (everyone likes it) I give it away very often because its so practical and everyone needs a big car from time to time. I love when my bus makes other people happy! Friends used it for weekendtrips, flea market, transporting furniture, band gigs, etc
With my classic mini, the way I see it is, if you can start the car (choke, throttle, key, starter button, no synchro on first) and drive it around the block without stalling or crashing you’re good to go! It’s been passed through the family for years and I’m the current keeper so I can’t be stingy with it as it was given to me.
But then with my Mazda I bought new in ’11 I’m a bit more picky as it’s always been “my” car and I don’t really share it (except with my wife), despite it being a less exciting new car and thousands of them around..
It depends on the car. I’ll let almost anyone borrow my truck. My bikes, a select group of riders.
My BMW (330i), well that’s a bit more picky. There is a small list I’d let drive it without supervision, but that number grows substantially if I’m in the car and they promise to leave the TCS on. This BMW has about 100 more ponies than my last one, so I’m a little more cautious about it.
Yet, I want other people to enjoy this type of car. Honestly, it isn’t all that rare, and the more people I can expose to well handling, moderately powerful, inexpensive for what it does, vehicles, the more enthusiasts we potentially have. One of my most vivid car experiences is a friend of the family who took me for a ride in his rally prepped Celica All-Trac. I had never really understood what you could do with that kind of setup. I was on my way to being the proverbial “car guy”, but that set the trajectory pretty quickly.
I read an article recently about a Petrolicious writer given the opportunity to drive an F40. I admire that owner (whomever it may be) a huge amount, because Trailer Queens and Garage Kings are in my opinion, a shame. While I wouldn’t buy a car I could not drive and I admire those with grail cars. I want to thank the ones who still put them on the road regularly, so both they, and the rest of us, can enjoy them in the environment they were built for.
My cars are far from priceless so let that be the filter. The first criterion is they must be able to drive a stick and the second is they have to be interested enthusiasts.
My wife and I let just about anyone drive our cars, we love sharing what we’re passionate about. In all the time we’ve been doing that we only had one incident; someone hit a pheasant and I was plucking the feathers from behind the bumper for days.
When my brothers and I are together for holidays all our keys are piled on a table and anyone can grab any car they want and take it out for a thrash. My nephew just bought his first car, a 91 Miata and was eager for his uncles to take it out, so the tradition continues.
Other than occasionally my wife .. when I’m in the passenger seat and needing a break during a long drive / journey … and my mechanic ….
Nobody ! Not valets , not friends .. not even the rest of my family . Nobody !
The funny thing was with my AutoDelta modified Alfetta GT …. It .. wouldn’t let anyone other than its mechanic drive the thing . Seriously … it had a ” Christine ” complex ! My ex wife back in the day would get into the drivers seat and it refused to start . A friend or family member … the same … but should I or its mechanic jump in right after ? Zoom … started right up without a hitch ! No exaggeration . No storytelling . Just a simple case of Fact sometimes truly being stranger than fiction .
Funnier thing is … when it came to the ex-wife … methinks the car might of been a whole hell of a lot smarter than I was …. sigh …
The only person I know who I feel absolutly safe about borrowing my car is my dad.
He had multiple Beetle in his life and many more classic car, Hes been driving since 1978 and he’s largely capable of repairing the car if it broke down on him.
Other than that some of my friends drove it like around a block with me inside and thats about it.
I’m willing to let just about anyone drive my cars… so long as I can drive their car(s).
Life is too short to be stingy and if you can swap vehicles for a drive, why would anyone turn down a new experience? They’re insured and at the end of the day, they’re just cars. You can’t take them to the grave and time/money dictate what’s in the stable. So, drive everything you can and enable others the same.
As long as they are not a complete doofus, I would let other people drive my cars.
I think it’s nice to share the experience.
My father had so many different cars when I was growing up that I can’t even begin to make the list or remember them all. They weren’t show cars, they were in varying conditions, but all were wonderful in their own, disparate ways. My father was/is a mechanic, so cars came and went regularly, but I always had a choice of vehicles to take out if I needed. On any given day, I might take an old Datsun ute, a ’74 Jensen Healey, a ’63 Suburban, a ’65 Mustang GT, or even a Meyers Manx. They changed so often, but none were too precious to jump in at any given moment and take to school, the the desert, the mountains, the beach. They’re just cars.
The only reason I would NOT let someone drive my cars is on account of safety.
Now, who WORKS on my cars is another story.