Who says he will crash it. I bought my Daughter a gunmetal grey 40 year anniversary mustang as her first car at 15. It was a V6. She drove it very well and earned her Camaro I bought her last year.
If he likes to show off...... no matter what you buy him he will more than likely wreck it. That does not mean all kids are alike.
I agree with this 100%. I've driven high performance vehicles from day 1 of driving, and even had my full motorcycle license when I was 15, a year younger than you can get a car license circa 1989 in Canada. My first bike was a Honda 750 Interceptor, and my 2nd a couple of years later was the first of the CBR 900RR Honda series. My first car was an Eagle Talon TSI Turbo in 1990, and all my rides have gotten better from there. I never had a single crash of any kind in my youth, and although YES I did do some things driving that were probably questionable, I made it through OK. I'm sure our youngsters now should be given the same chance that I was. Life is to short to drive something average after all. My advice is to get what you really WANT, and enjoy it while you have it, and to just have the attitude that you aren't the only one out there and to treat other drivers how you would like to be treated. That wave you get from fellow bike riders, or the high beam flips from another sportscar driver, and even the yells and waves from kids in the window beside you trying to convince you to do a full power launch at that next light are more than worth it.
edit - Seeing Tupac at the top of the thread made me think of his folks. Putting your offspring alone into a cockpit of a plane takes more balls than letting them loose on a 400 hp car in my book, and Tupac from all accounts I've read on here is doing fantastic with his flying/aircraft maint/etc. He's the kind of example I think I'd most want young drivers and even pilots to take after. Like the previous poster said, if a young driver wants to show off, invariably they'll learn their lesson irregardless of what they're operating.
buddy of mine has 2 vipers, and loves em both.
Ya Cap, like I said back in the car picture thread, this is Viper number 2 for me also. I had my first one back when they were relatively new and very rare, and my fondest memories of driving ANY car are of that one back around 96 or so. They are still pretty rare, especially in Alberta, when I drove my Vette I'd see another one or two every time I went out to drive around or head out to Banff for the day. No longer. The downside is that if a cop in the oncoming lane sees me going a tad faster than he appreciates, I'm the ONLY red Viper out on the road in a city of 1.1 million as a matter of near certainty, so expecting any "breaks" if there is a ...legal entanglement over velocity at some later date is pure fantasy.
I'm going out to the Ford dealership this afternoon to peruse a few of their Mustangs left on the lot from this year, I don't know what it is about this car today, your write up, or what, but I'm compelled to go explore them. If the dealership doesn't burst into flames when I walk in, as I've always been told would happen if my shadow crossed their door, I'll report in how it goes. I still can't believe I'm going to do this, as my youth was spent in battle with my arch enemies, most of whom were "rollin, in my five point oh"....I feel like I'm doing something traitorous. Again, something fishy is going on, don't be surprised by a new car picture here later to match yours. To be continued.
