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Learn to drive with a Drivers outside Mirror only ?

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1967 Chevelle SS 396 L78 (Sold in 1970)
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I learned in my '55 Chevy (1st car) with "3 on the tree"....I was 14, because in Florida a teenager could get a learners permit at 14 in the 60's. I sort of bribed my parents into buying me a car instead of me building a hydroplane in shop class like most guys. :) It only had the inside mirror plus the driver side mirror. If I recall correctly, in '55 & '56 the driver side mirror on Chevies was dealer installed as an option. I think I learned that on the Tri-Five site. My '67 Chevelle came new with only the inside and the driver side mirror (base items). My latest Chevelle came with both outside mirrors, as it has quite a few options on it.
 
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I learned in my '55 Chevy (1st car) with "3 on the tree"....I was 14, because in Florida a teenager could get a learners permit at 14 in the 60's. I sort of bribed my parents into buying me a car instead of me building a hydroplane in shop class like most guys. :) It only had the inside mirror plus the driver side mirror. If I recall correctly, in '55 & '56 the driver side mirror on Chevies was dealer installed as an option. I think I learned that on the Tri-Five site. My '67 Chevelle came new with only the inside and the driver side mirror (base items). My latest Chevelle came with both outside mirrors, as it has quite a few options on it.
My fathers best friend Leo Conrad taught me how to drive his 50 chevy coupe a stick six with only a rear view mirror. He stated teaching me when i turned 15. He taught me so well that once i let out the clutch in first i could upshift and downshift without using the clutch he knew that car inside out . As a mater of fact i got my pink slip on that car. The day of my road test my dad got called to work early so Leo took me . it was 1969 and when my turn came up the DMV inspector said ok kid wheres your car i pionted to the 50 coupe across the street Leo was sitting in the back . The inspector took one look at the old chevy and said could,nt you find something better than that to drive . i told him it was a very nice car . he then said is it a standard shift car i said yes . he then said you know if you roll back from a stop you fail your test . i said i wont roll back . he said ok kid lets go we got in i stated it up smooth first gear take of no clutch for second or third plus the downshift he then made me go up glenwood ave a steep street made me stop halfway up and start i didnot roll back he looked at me and said your a driver kid who taught you i said the old man in the back seat . he turned looked at Leo and said you did a good job teaching him . we went back to the Armory he handed me my pink slip and said wait for your license in the mail it takes a week. Try not to drive on your pink slip in case od an acident .Alex
 

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Discussion Starter · #26 ·
This thread and quote didn't happen to be inspired by a certain YouTube channel video did it? :)

I'm not sure how I would vote on this one. I learned on two different cars before I took my driver's test. One had 1 mirror on the driver's side. The other car had 2 mirrors, one on each side. One was from the 1970 model year. The other was from the 1986 model year. :)
But maybe, just maybe, some of you out there in internet-land, learned, or drove a car with NO mirrors at all. ;)
Nope, not at all. That isn't my words its something I read and responded to here on TC.
 

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I learned on a combination of vehicles, a truck with passenger side mirrors and a car without one. Funny though. When I am out cruising or backing up in my Chevelle I keep glancing over to a passenger mirror that I know is not there. Just from doing more driving now in vehicles with both, I guess. Funny how the brain works...or not.
 

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I learned to drive in a 65 Fargo 3/4 ton P/U on my cousins farm in Manitoba, lots of mirrors. Slant 6/3 on the tree, I spent a month there when I was 10 and drove everything I could get my hands on. A good buddy of mine when I became old enough to go for my licence had a 70 Mazda 808 coupe and it took him two tries to pass his drivers test, bet me 20 bucks that there was no way I would pass on my first try so he let me use his Mazda with a 4 speed for the test. The tester was our other buddies Dad and me being the youngest of my group of buddies was very tough on me in the test, because everyone in our group had already smacked up at least one car. Passed with no problem and only got one point off on the test. I was two inches too far away from the curb parallel parking, because he got out of the car with a tape measure to check it. It was a great day for me, got my licence and a 20 dollar bonus that I probably spent on beer. ;)
 

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The first vehicle I owned that had a mirror on both doors (not just the drivers door) was a 1977 Monte Carlo I bought in 1980. My previous 1967 Chevy II, 1972 Impala and 1973 Impala did not have passenger door mirrors. I did learn to drive in a 1969 Custom 10 that had large mirrors on both doors.
 

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1969 Grand Prix. 455 TH400 12 bolt.
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Inside and left door only rearview mirrors for me. Then and now. Nobody in my family ever had dual mirrors on a car until I got a 72 SS and only had that a year. It was 09 before I had a passenger side mirror on a daily driver.
 

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1968 Chevelle Malibu, upgraded to a 396/TH400 from a 327/PG
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1977 Ford LTD II coupe.
 

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We have a 63 Riviera that didn't have a PS mirror. I wear contacts and my license has a note that I have to have mirrors on both sides. That PS mirror comes in handy for parallel parking!
 

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We have a 63 Riviera that didn't have a PS mirror. I wear contacts and my license has a note that I have to have mirrors on both sides. That PS mirror comes in handy for parallel parking!
I love that generation of Rivi's, one of the most beautiful cars to ever roll off a GM assembly line. My 67 Belair doesn't have a PS mirror either and it makes parallel parking a pain in the ass so the Belair doesn't go to the city much, besides just about every time I've taken it to the city some idiot tries to run into me. It baffles me how someone couldn't notice a maroon 18 foot long land yaught. :(
 

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Discussion Starter · #37 ·
Yep, one mirror.
71 Impala, then all my cars had one mirror until I started driving square bodies.
It only had the inside mirror plus the driver side mirror. If I recall correctly, in '55 & '56 the driver side mirror on Chevies was dealer installed as an option. I think I learned that on the Tri-Five site. My '67 Chevelle came new with only the inside and the driver side mirror (base items). My latest Chevelle came with both outside mirrors, as it has quite a few options on it.
The first vehicle I owned that had a mirror on both doors (not just the drivers door) was a 1977 Monte Carlo I bought in 1980. My previous 1967 Chevy II, 1972 Impala and 1973 Impala did not have passenger door mirrors. I did learn to drive in a 1969 Custom 10 that had large mirrors on both doors.
Inside and left door only rearview mirrors for me. Then and now. Nobody in my family ever had dual mirrors on a car until I got a 72 SS and only had that a year. It was 09 before I had a passenger side mirror on a daily driver.
The reason I started this poll was because the guy the wrote what I added to my post #4 claims that in the 60's the passenger side mirror was standard on most cars and I know it was not.Claims the designers and engineers were "idiots" . But we all know that's the way it was and cars were built that way,the passenger mirrors were an OPTION back then.
Plus most of the older cars had a great "greenhouse" and most were easy to see out of.There were some cars that had the optional passenger side mirrors but they were definately in the minority and not what most people drove. From my recollection the passenger side mirrors weren't standard equipment on American cars until the late 70's and into the early 1980's.
(y) Appreciate all the responses
 

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A 66, 4 67's, a 69 w/68 dog house, and a couple 70's.
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My 67 is running just the inside mirror, looks symmetrical without outside mirrors 😆

Besides, to quote Fonzi, I don't want to see where I've been, I want to look cool getting where I'm going!
 
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My first car was a ‘65 Chevelle. Real POS. $50 beater. LH mirror only. I don’t think I had a vehicle with both LH & RH mirrors until I bought my first new truck in ‘94.
Still occasionally driving a car only one mirror. Thought about it but couldn’t bring myself to add a RH mirror.
 
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