Bought my 15 year old his first car this last weekend.

1966 VW Squareback with sunroof. $3,000. Runs great. Rides straight and brakes good on the freeway coming home.
It's a bit rough but we have 10 months to fix it up and get it ready for the high school parking lot. He is beyond stoked. We have been looking for the last 6 months or so. We were lucky to find one with very little rust needing just a little body work. The paint is in rough shape but it will last for a few years until he gets past the learning phase before putting a lot of money into paint and body. The interior is rough as well.
Plan of attack:
Try to clean and restore some shine to the paint.
Fix wiring issues: blinkers don't work, ignition switch is missing, gas gauge doesn't work. probably some other problems with the gauges. Speedo cable screams intermittently.
Clean and restore dash and gauges.
Adjust pedals
Get sunroof working
New interior kit, Red seats, black headliner, black door panels, black carpet
New Rubber for entire car. All windows and doors. Beading between body parts, etc.
Inspect motor and trans. Seal up leaks.
Lower suspension.
New stock steelies painted red with chrome caps and beauty rings
Ordered 5 ft. Pedro Roof Rack.
It should be a fun father/son project. He has already shown so much interest in getting this to done just in the search.
Here she is when we brought her home. He named her "Gracie"






Here he is putting in the work:

Here is some of the inspiration for what he wants it to look like:

 

cool first ride!

 

Nice! These are the type of rides that set your kid for life lessons.

 

Nice! Great find.
What an awesome F/S project.
Best of luck!
Get a "Gracie" build page goin' for the boy.

 

Wow, too cool. Dad points for sure!

 

Cool ass car! A lot of room for monkey business in the back

lol

 

that thing is glorious

 

This is awesome! Just awesome! A kick ass Fathers Day gift has to be coming your way

 

That's great, a million times better than buying him a new car he won't fully appreciate.

 

That is badass! Great first car, and not too rough at all honestly.

 

Very cool Aaron!Your son is going to have a blast with "Gracie"!My very first car at 15yrs old was a 1966 VW bug ragtop(sliding rear roof,not a convertible).My dad and i fully restored and of course did mods to it!Your son is going to have a lot of fun with his Volkswagen!

 

That is so cool! That is the car, except for color, that my parents had in my kindergarten days living in Germany. My USAF Dad was stationed at Ramstein 1970-1974.

 

That's awesome. Way to go dad! Did I really look that young at 15?!

Good luck!

 

I love those old square backs! Sweet ride!

 

Last year I sold a time capsule Honda riding mower to a guy who drove the cleanest 04 extended cab V6 5-speed TRDOR Tacoma I have seen up close.

Anyway we are just chatting about this, that and the other. We get to talking about how he likes and has VW squarebacks. Somehow he got in contact with an old woman who was selling one. And she didn't wanna sell it, then she did, back and forth. She advertised it for sale and people had come out and she turned them away. I guess they just didn't have what it takes to even own the car. The guy had to have multiple visits, interviews, and literal interrogations with her so that she would feel comfortable selling it to him. Everybody else wasn't "deserving" of the opportunity to buy it.

I thought it was weird and I would have just left.

Anyway, this thread jogged my memory about that.

Nice car.

 

BADASS! Can't wait to see the progress pics!

 

Very nice! It will be a fun project for you two to enjoy.

 

Sweet ride for a first car!

 

That thing is awesome.

 

Awesome! It's good that you got him something he has to put some time it. He will appreciate it more down the line and you will enjoy the time spent with him.