Now this is a great story, both car-wise and family-wise. Congratulations to you for a victory in both. My only suggestion – and it applies to both – is to provide this daughter with a manual transmission. I think she would appreciate the car more and build her driving skill. My son, my daughter, and my wife all drive manual transmissions (known these days as millennial anti-theft devices). All the guys my daughter dated were amazed and intimidated with her ability to drive a stick. None of them could, except for the last one, and he is now her husband. Before she got her license I also forced her to take the Skip Barber full one-day driving school at Laguna Seca. She learned panic and threshold braking in 5-speed Dodge Neons, had four and a half hours on the skid pad in 5-speed Dodge Rams with bald tires, and muscled through two autocross sessions in a 6-speed Dodge Viper. She was exhausted at the end of a 9+ hour day but gained a new appreciation for what it means to handle a huge hunk of metal. As for your clone GTO, I am envious. My first car of my own (I did share ownership of a 1930 Model A couple, which my brother still has) was a 1963 Pontiac Le Mans convertible with bucket seats, a 326, and a 3-speed on the floor with non-synchro first. What I wouldn't have given for a 1964 Le Mans with a real, all-synchro 4-speed. Mine was bought in Milwaukee when it was six years old with painted-over rust and it eventually rusted away.
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