If that is in your budget that would probably be a pretty damn cool car. Great dynamics, safe and just enough power to be fun.

 

if you trust her than I don't see why not.... the car isn't the problem, the driver is....

 

Ford Fusion AWD. I drive one as my DD and it is a FANTASTIC car for the money.

 

Get a beater for daily purposes, build the stang with her...with the beater she would be inclined to drive the mustang less and keep it as pristine as possible. By beater I mean a nice decent and safe daily (not your Z06 / M6)



Good luck w/your decision.

 

As you and many others already touched on I would feel more comfortable putting my teen driver in a newer car with better ABS brakes, airbags and traction and/or stability controls. If she like the 68 stang I would suggest putting her into one of the latest generation mustangs, their lines mimic those of the classics but with alot more safety features. Buy her a newer one, put some custom wheels and a few other custom touches so it can stand out in the crowd. Let her gain some experience in that before cutting her loose on the roads in classic muscle pony car. I think if you call you insurance provider and get a quote on a restored classic 1968 Mustang vs 2008 Mustang that might help you make your decision as well. If she really has her heart set on the 68 make her some kind of deal in which if she does not get in any accidents or get any moving violations in the first year of her driving that you will then purchase the 68 to start restoring. I think it is really awesome that your daughter is into cars and working on a resto project would with a son or daughter is something I hope I can do someday.

 

allow her to make a decision (allowing young ones to make decisions for themselves will show in the future)

I would offer her these options:

1. Buy a cheaper daily driver while she builds the mustang.....which she can only drive if she proves herself with the dd (no accidents, speeding, dui etc)

2. Get a nice daily driver, and she can build the car in a few years (maybe a H.S. graduation present?)

 

If she has respect for cars and you as a parent, she should be fine in anything you choose suitable. There are a lot of teens who fail in having any respect for things handed over to them, and likely will never learn. If she wants a older mustang, do a restomod style car with all the "new" features, minus the few that are not available aftermarket. If she loves it and respects it she will do ok, then it comes down to trust on your end. Best of luck.

 

2 best ideas so far: Manual Mini Cooper or Honda Accord (manual/automatic)


I think you should build the Mustang with her, if not have her do it and teach her to drive it auto-crossing and then see where you're both at. There is no sense throwing her the keys of something she could harm herself or others in... believe me it's just as easy in a Honda as it is a BMW for a teenager.

Having said that: My father was _____ enough to hand me the keys to an E46 M3 on my 16th birthday. No wrecks, 2 tickets later and plenty of stupid stories which my friends and I still speak of and are ashamed about today = I would NEVER hand the keys to anything like an M3 to my kids when they are 16 knowing what I did.

That's all I have to say about that.

 

Great input from everyone. I had not considered the idea of getting her a lesser DD while building the Classic.

 

I would suggest something practical (she can take friends) & safe (AWD & airbags) with still a bit of power. First 2 that jump in my mind are an Audi A4 1.8T Quattro or a Volvo S60R.

 

caymen !

 

or an Audi S5 !

 

I can understand the reasoning behind that, but that is NOT a good idea. If she has more than one car, she will always have it in the back of her mind that if she stuffs one that she'll have another one to drive.

I think my dad did it right. Me and brother have both recently made it through our first 2 years of driving w/o crashing our cars. He taught us to drive on our old range rover (read big slow car) and when we got our licenses he never let us(and still doesn't) drive his car without him. He told us he would drive us places, but when we got our own cars is when we could drive our selves around. Bottom line his cars were for him, not our convenience.

I got my 911 at 17 and my brother got his m5 at 18. Because we both had to wait longer than legally required for our cars, I think we didn't take them for granted as much as kids usually do. It has also been made clear to us that if we crash we will be walking until we get actual jobs and can afford to buy new ones ourselves.

Because of all this we have great respect for our cars and take great care of them. Having a nice car, I was also perfectly happy for months just driving around civilly before I even wanted to find out how hard it could push me into the back off my seat.

Get her the car she wants and she'll love it and take care of it. Make it clear that its her only car and that your cars are for you. With the lack of drivers aids of the mustang, if thats the car u decide on, I would highly recommend enrolling her for http://www.streetsurvival.org/ I had so much fun and learned so much that I did it twice!

Good Luck,
Pierce

 

I would agree with some of the above that an E36 M3 is an excellent car for a respectful/mature teenage driver. I was given my '95 M3 in 2002 (it was a "bubble car" prior to my ownership) and my sister was given a '96 M3 new in 1997. We both respected the cars we were given and appreciated having such "cool cars" to start off.

My dad's guidelines for use were that if I received a speeding ticket, my car would be sold immediately. Needless to say, I didn't get a speeding ticket and absolutely respected the car 7 years later, I am still **** about it like no tomorrow.

E36 M3s can be had for $10k all day now, so it would be a great and dependable second car during the Mustang build.

 

my first car was a older Mustang and it was ok it got me where I needed to go