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16 year old gets Boss

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I read a story saying that a 16 year old got a Boss. They asked his dad and everything and he said that he bought it for his son and everything. Do you guys have any thoughts or opinions on it? The kid lives near me and I heard about it all summer long at the car shows. The boy and his dad actually just drive it to car shows and stuff because his neighbor has a 1970 Boss and they go to car shows together. I personally don't have a problem with it as long as he is not out here doing 130+ on the highways and is ruining the car, as long as he is responsible with it I don't see a problem. Any thoughts from you guys?
 
A 16 year old can just as easily get killed in a Prius so I don't have a problem with it.
 
Sounds like his father is more involved than most, so I would base it on the kids experience. Did he grow up driving carts? I was a pretty responsible teen, but I am sure a Mustang would have only gotten me in trouble. But, it is a reasonably safe car. He just has to use the valet key.
 
I feel it's a mistake. Not for the power, speed or risk. I think that your have to work to your goals and not get them easily. I saw too many yahoos in college with 911 turbos. Where do you go from there?
 
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Boss1601 said:
I feel it's a mistake. Not for the power, speed or risk. I think that your have to work to your goals and not get them easily. I saw too many yahoos in college with 911 turbos. Where do you go from there?

+1. I don't come from money so I would have a hard time just handing a kid a car like that at 16. Maybe when he is 18 and graduates HS with honors or something to earn it.
 
Personally I have a problem with it. I don't think the majority of 16 year old kids are mature enough to handle a sports car...hell, some 30 and 40 year olds aren't. 16 year olds are a bundle of hormones, testosterone and angst and I just don't think adding a sports car to the mix is a smart idea. I unfortunately have seen the other side of the equation and have had to make those 2am knocks on the door. I'm sure mom and dad thought they were being great parents when they got junior the fast car, right up until they were asked to come down to hospital to take him off life support so his organs could be harvested. I guess my only hope is tthat dad has the MY KEY option in use and sets the speed limit to 60mph.
 

TMSBOSS

Spending my pension on car parts and track fees.
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Stereo typing is convenient but often inaccurate.

Will a 16 year old go out and kill himself with a HP car?? Could happen

I have some experience with this. I bought my first car in 1977 when I was 16. A 1968 427 Vette, ragtop, 4-speed, 3:70 gears, hooker headers and side pipes. In short, it flew.

Did I kill myself? nope. Wreck the car, nope. Enjoy the heck out of the car....you bet.

Remember...it's an individual decision. Can it turn bad?? Sure.

Should it be discouraged??? Why?

I hope the car is enjoyed by both father and son. Mine sure was.
 

Grant 302

basic and well known psychic
Sounds like a bad idea to me. I bought my first car at 17 and there's no way I had the experience or maturity to handle a car with this much power on the street. And by that age I had been to a few race schools.

Sure, there are kids who will be just fine in a car like that, but there are waaay more examples of tragic incidents involving teens and bad judgement in moderately fast cars. Sadly common here in OC.

Good grades and academic achievement don't trump raging testosterone and peer pressure.
 
I think it's a case by case bases, there's Biff the world beater, Mr. indestructible. Then there's Myron, Mr. Mellow. You can't say for sure if one may metamorph in to the other until mother nature's done with him/ her. A persons brain isn't developed until around 22yrs old more or less, anything can happen until then. Hows that for non committal. :)
 

GB899

NO REGRETS
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TMSBOSS said:
Stereo typing is convenient but often inaccurate.

Will a 16 year old go out and kill himself with a HP car?? Could happen

I have some experience with this. I bought my first car in 1977 when I was 16. A 1968 427 Vette, ragtop, 4-speed, 3:70 gears, hooker headers and side pipes. In short, it flew.

Did I kill myself? nope. Wreck the car, nope. Enjoy the heck out of the car....you bet.

Remember...it's an individual decision. Can it turn bad?? Sure.

Should it be discouraged??? Why?

I hope the car is enjoyed by both father and son. Mine sure was.

My version had a big block Pontiac Firebird convertible in it... same story... fun not fatal... and I was not from money either, I paid for it with my paper route money 2 days before my 17th birthday...

I had the pleasure of attending Track Attack with a wonderful 16 year old woman... and her father...
She was the proud owner of a Laguna Seca... and a wonderful driver... even in the 500 on day 2...

Please don't assume young men and women are idiots... (Just because we were...lol) I was surrounded by a pack of over 100 teenagers with guns over the weekend... it was my son's Trap Shooting team... guns don't equal evil either... stereotypes just cause problems...
 
Impossible to judge with information provided. Maybe he only takes it out with his dad until he is 21. Maybe he is dying of cancer and will be dead next week. Maybe he has been cart racing for 12 years. Maybe he spends every waking moment out of school helping the homeless and waxing his car. To many unknowns to judge.
 
I think if it's the kids first car it's probably a bad idea. I remember my dad saying he should have bought me five $100 cars to tear up before letting me get something nice as I tore up two Mustangs before getting my first Boss 302 at 17. This was in 1971. By the grace of God I never killed myself or anybody else but it's nothing short of a miracle that I didn't as I was a fool behind the wheel.

Having said that, not all kids are the same and getting a responsible 16 year old a Boss could be a positive bonding experience for father and son. My parents made the down payment on my first Mustang and I made the payments working at the local KFC so it wasn't handed to me totally. I bought my son a 93 Firebird for his 16th but a car was the farthest thing from his mind. He is now 35 and it's still just a way to get from point a to point b. Frustrating for the old man who still still acts 16 when it comes to cars.

I can't tell you how bad I wish he was into cars. When he was born in 79 there was a Boss 302, Boss 429, and two Corvettes in the garage but nothing ever rubbed off or stoked his interest in cars.
 
Who are we to judge this young man. the only judging we should do is ourselves. For me: I know if my son was not mature enough to handle this car, the car would never be purchased. So with that I'm guessing this father did the same. We could go on and on with different views on this and remember it's only our views not even knowing this young man. the only thing I can say is...I'm sure glad my dad did'nt buy me a 1969 or 70 Boss or any other High Preformance car.
WHY: because he knew best...Thanks Dad!
 
I have a personal experience that is not too far off from this. My son's first car at 15yrs old is a '65 mustang restomod that has a Hipo 302. He and I started building the car when he was 14yrs old. A LOT of car for a 15yr old as it will smoke the tires as long has you are in the gas. He put so much work into the car, and it being a nice car, he took unbelievable care of it. EVERY morning before school, he would wash or wipe down his car. When he graduated, he had earned an athletic & academic scholarship at oSu. I bought him a GT Track Pack car and we started our "build-a-Boss" program on the car. (I have bought 3 salvaged Boss's worth of parts) We still have his '65 in the garage as he said he NEVER wants to sell his first car.
He takes the same care with this car. Constantly washing, staying on top of maintenance and everything any responsible car owner could or would do. He has never been written a ticket (knock on wood) and has been great driving some over powered cars since he was 15. Had we bought him a "beater" I think he would not have taken the same care and probably would have treated it that way. MANY people questioned why we would have our son have these two cars as his first, but I look at it the other way. If they have something they are proud of, they will treat it and take care of it differently. Hearing that the father and son take the car to shows, tells me the kid knows what he has and will more than likely take care of it. I don't begrudge any father from spending quality time with his son and sharing a love for cars and more over Mustangs. Good for them!
My son's first car that we built together:
SStang3.jpg

His current ride:
1BossFinal3_zps2c06d676.jpg
 
I'm not judging the young man, but instead making a general statement. In general 16 year old drivers are not mature enough to handle the responsibility of driving a high horsepower sports car. Are there exceptions? Certainly. In my experience in my professional capacity, I see a lot more 16 and 17 year old kids doing a lot more stupid things with cars than people who are much older simply do on as grand a scale (and trust me, a lot of experienced driver do enough stupid stuff on their own). I think a secondary issue is also poor parenting. I've seen way to many parents get junior a car just to make them happy without thinking through the consequences. I can't tell you how many times one of these kids screws up and the parents blame everything else except the kid. There is a good reason why teen drivers insurance rates are high.
 

Grant 302

basic and well known psychic
I don't care what others drive or how they decide to spend their money. If I saw the kid at a car show, I'd probably compliment his car. I bought my Boss at 24. I catch crap all the time from people because I look young and they think that my parents bought the car for me. I usually just get a laugh out of it.

When I was 18, I was driving a mid 11 second fox body. If the kid has a passion and understanding for cars, I don't see a problem. Not every 16 year old is going to wrap their car around a tree.
 
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I do have a problem with it as well. I bought my car at 24. I still do a few silly things on the street, but its controlled. When I was 16 I was dumb, I did stupid things and would love to impress my friends and flirt with girls, I was a show off, everyone was. Would I have done something stupid, moat likely? Being 16 and having the hottest car in the school would have pushed my ego to the moon lol just my 2 cents
 

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