If you really had to drive.
Not sure what you used. But looked like it would be interesting to ask.
I took the drivers test with an old Chevy 230 straight 6, 3 on the tree, manual steering, manual 4 wheel drum brakes.
Yes a,stripper rubber floor, heat but am radio.
Dad did ask if they would take the radio out but they said no charge

You could actually look at it another way.........there might be a few less drivers but the ones that passed their driver's test in vehicles like the one you described would probably be much better drivers................glass half full


Mike

100%

I was thinking about this just the other day while I was parked out on the freeway.......on the earliest cars, the driver had to adjust the timing on the fly to get the car to start and run. It wasn't an exact preset every time, you had to get a feel for it depending on other factors.

Now people just push a button and go.

I took my road-test in my bosses clapped out '74 Chevy PU. It was an auto, but it had manual steering and brakes. The beauty of it though was that the officer took mercy on me and let the parallel parking slide because he knew there was no way I could do it with the heavy steering.

I had two choices (with probably not enough experience overall), 1973 Mazda RX-2 four speed or '69 Fury III four door 383/727. Ok, big car or manual transmission? I chose the big car...

I took a completely different approach with my own sons than my parents did. When my sons had their permits they drove EVERYWHERE we went, in town and road trips. California had just changed the law and in addition to drivers ed/training they also had to have 50 hours with a parent/guardian before getting their license. They also got their permits at 15, not 15-1/2 (the law had changed for a very short time when they were teens). They had their 50 hours within a couple of months. My youngest drove to Van Nuys for one of the flings (not sure which car, though). They learned stick in the 440/18-spline Dart. They drove everything we had. They also built their first cars...

I made my son learn and test in an old Toyota pickup. manual trans and steering. To this day he prefers a stick over automatic.

My kids both learned in a 66 C-10, SB and granny 4 spd. I didn't make them test in that though, but they had no issues. My son still prefers a manual but my daughter likes auto.

I remember my sister taking her test in her 68 Dart with manual brakes and manual steering. She passed but cried the whole time.

There'd be less drivers if they raised the minimum scores to pass both the written and road tests....my scores many decades ago were 99 on the written and 98 on the road test, I argued for 100 on the roadtest, but the State Trooper said no one gets 100, he deducted 2 points for "speeding", I was in a Driver's education car that the speedo didn't work, plus I was making my case that I was maintaining speed with traffic rather than impede it, although I was over the speed limit, It was allowed by State driving laws....many years later my CDL test/roadtest scores were a perfect 100/100....... my wife flunked the road test 3 times as a teenager, she got a 70 (minimum required) only because she bawled her eyes out and the same instructor felt sorry for her....I tried to teach her how to drive over the years, but it just wasn't in her..... some people are just not capable of handling mobile equipment.... don't get me started with geezers on the road!

Uh, Dayclona, "bawled" not "balled"...a different thing entirely...

Agreed, the embrace of mediocrity is problematic, distasteful, and dangerous.
But everybody gets a trophy, right ?

I took my drivers test in a 67 Ford F150, 3 on the tree, with a camper shell on it. The tester looked at the truck, then opened the passenger door and saw the three speed and shook his head. The only thing he marked me down for was going to slow through a uncontrolled intersection. Remember, you also had to parallel park back then.

I agree with the premise of the OP...
Today's cars are built more like mobile infotainment lounges on four wheels than vehicles in which you actually have to be alert.

There should be no wonder we encounter many more "drivers" these days who just sit in the left lane and pass the time..
Sound insulation, Adaptive cruise control, and Lane holding is all it takes to completely shut out and ignore the outside world for hours at a time...

My boys are getting the same treatment Jim_Lusk is giving his..
We hire driving instructors for the important formal basics, plus NY requires 40 hours driving time logged with a parent or other adult.
They drive me/us everywhere from local errands, to countryside trips, to long-distance highway travels.
We are already past that with 6 months to go before road exam.

My goal is for my boys to be very much aware of everything around them ..
- Art

I'm thinking there would be less drivers if more people practiced birth control.

less legal drivers

A "driving test" was never really about driving. It was just bureaucratic smoke and mirrors to justify another government department. Their only real accomplishment was establishing one's identity, so they knew whose licensse to suspend or fine, which they did rather well. Not sure how many people died or were injured in daily parallel parking, it didn't help anyone on the interstate.

I thought once you determined a drivers adequate eyesight, and basic reflexes, a personality test would be a more useful discovery, like how "explosive" one was with road rage tendencies, using the horn, tailgating, hogging the left lane when not passing, "teaching another driver a lesson", a rolling stop, one finger waves, texting while driving,, not using their blinker to signal a turn for other nearby drivers, littering, ignoring zipper merge, etc., all traits I suspect on the psychopath spectrum.