The biggest issue with early drivers is inexperience. Sometimes that is coupled to immaturity which is a potentially lethal combination.
The cars you propose are extremely unsafe in a collision compared to any passenger vehicle built in the last 10 years. I personally would start with something used and inexpensive and see how it goes. Either you will have a car to send the junkyard after the first accident or something to sell and hand over the next vehicle.
Wow. That is so strange because I DID drive over a cliff a couple of weeks ago. Luckily I was driving my lifted Suzuki Samurai which I equipped with a “safety exo skeleton” and “3 point harness seat belts”. My truck did not roll because I also have “offset oversized wheels and tires” I just walked away from the horrific scene, but man was I drunk.
All my kids get to drive the 1998 Buick Regal first. They are great, and I’d like to do something nice for them, too. But I’d rather wait until they have a few years driving experience and are out of high school. The HS parking lot is not a good place for a nice car. One of our friends gave her daughter a BMW 3-series convertible to drive (she’s a doctor; she can easily afford it). Within a couple of weeks, someone keyed it. Mom took the car back. It could be an isolated incident, but remember that we are talking about teens here. All teens, including the smart, mature ones, do stupid things. Have you forgotten about all the dumb things you did? I’ve certainly forgotten most of mine, but I do remember a few.
OK4450, thanks for the reply, I felt like the Olds coupe I had was safe, it was years ago but it ran 275/40/17 on front and 285/40/17 rear with staggered Torque Thrust wheels, the tires where FireHawk SZ50’s and when built I had a power disc brake set installed with MOOG springs and steering linkage, it handled great. That was a car that never hydro planed. The Suzuki was something laying around so I built it. I kind of knew a small pick up would be best for him, but when you are sitting in Afghanistan waiting for the South Carolina National Guard to arrive many ideas go through your mind. Plus this posting gives me something to do. Look for my next post, Volkswagon Jetta 1.8T vs Volvo S70, maint. and repair.
I say get him the 442,he will be a hit with the girls and perhaps it stimultes a connection with mechanics BUT I hope you tell him that he has a great oppourtunity to learn mechanics on an easier car BUT that you really hope he does not chose to make auto mechanics his lifes work
I had plenty of friends with GTO’s, 406 tri-power FORDS, 383 Roadrunners, they all managed to stay alive. The guy that really scared me had a turbo Corvair. The safety is with the driver.
In my much younger, and far rowdier youth, I was known to nail the pedal now and then on my Roadrunner, my Superbee, etc.; even taking the Plymouth up to about 125 one night on a deserted stretch of interstate. Still had a bit left but the thought of the mother of all tickets made me back off and wondering about those old 14" stock bias ply tires holding up made me back off a bit.
The car handled and braked fine and not once never I ever come close to a wreck in one of those vehicles.
It’s pretty fashionable to bash the old muscle cars as being a white-knuckle drive but they’re not THAT bad. Look at the AAR Cudas for example.
The way I look at it is that an anemic 4 cylinder can hit a bridge abutment just as hard as a 400 HP V-8 so it all boils down to the driver.
A tip of the hat to you for your service. It is greatly appreciated and try to stay safe. My son in law spent a year in Irag and 2 brothers who are friends of my son each spent 2 tours in Irag and Afghanistan.
These where the choices, Suzuki missing cage and tire/wheel set.
I had the hand-me-down Honda Accord at that age and was happy to have it (though I wasn’t able to resist the temptation to see the needle hit the top of the speedometer-- and if that wasn’t enough I wasn’t even smart enough yet to realize that yes, that camero coming the other way is actually a cop-- not all cops drive impalas. 
I will say I’ve never had the urge to do that again off the track, though, so lesson learned I suppose. Still, a kid’s gotta learn not to be stupid somehow, can’t do all the thinking for them.
Later, I got a big slow truck for college. Good cargo space for making that summer move in and out of the dorm, not fast enough to be a danger, and burly enough that nothing is a danger to it. Came in handy for those camping trips with the girlfriends, too. What I liked most of all though is that it had the same engine I rebuilt for class in high school (my physics teacher was a bit more hands-on than most). I truly knew that thing inside and out, and there’s no better feeling of driving something you’re that in-tune with.
Don’t get the kid the same car you had, it’s not the same car anymore. Get him the modern equivalent to what the '69 442 was in your day.
Or don’t. Truthfully, he’ll be grateful to have any car if he looks far enough into the alternative of not having a car. That being said, out of your choices, pick the one you can really get under the hood and work on. Getting the kid’s hands greasy and wrench-calloused is more important than nostalgia over a particular model-- whatever you choose it’ll be nostalgic to him 20 years from now.
On the other hand, kid’s these days have too many extracurriculars and whatnot for getting into college-- might be best to give him a cheap, safe gettin-around-town-car for just that, and on the weekends work together under the hood of a separate project car. Since getting out of college I sometimes can’t do my own work on the vehicles anymore because of time-- and if I took apart my daily driver I’d be completely FUBAR’ed.
Can I be your son? My son’s first vehicle was a Samurai. Not particularly safe, but slow. Ask my son how many times he got to take my 68 corvette out for a spin by himself ------ NONE ! He’s still around too!
I vote for a really nice, used Geo Prism. Seriously. I sense projection here. He will be happy to get a slow car if he is as good a kid as you say. When he has 20,000 miles of driving experience it will be time to consider something that requires judgment and experience.
Give yourself the 442. You can will it to your son. When you are gone he will appreciate it. If he gets it now he may just end up wrapping it around a tree.
Even the Samarai sounds like a bit much. Not a safe car no matter how much you put into the roll cage. How 'bout helping him buy and make roadworthy a '95 era 4 cylinder Pontiac Grand Am. He can have some fun with it, but not have the mega horsepower that just gets young driver’s in over their heads.
For a look at the combined effects of testosterone, youthful exuberance, recklessness, immaturity, and inexperience, take a look at what happens when a 19 year old decides to pass an Ohio State Trooper at 100 mph. The trooper’s dash cam caught the horrific result.
http://bonehead.lerman.biz/php/FirebirdsWithoutWings.php
And, in case you are saying, “Not my kid”, I can virtually guarantee you that this guy’s parents said the same thing at some point prior to this smash-up.
These are the choices?
No disrespect meant, but there is no way in God’s green earth that I would put an inexperienced driver in that Suzuki. The 4-4-2 is, IMHO, far safer.
That is just too unreal, the car was 15+ ft in the air! A friend of my son tried to see how high a number he could get on one of those “here is your speed” signs. Just after seeing his speed he hit a phone pole, dead head on. Not pretty, thank god my son wasn’t in the car at the time. The kid lived, but he and several passengers were hospitalized for several months.
Just curious, what does your son want to drive?Either one of these vehicles or something else? Don’t waste your time and money on a vehicle he dislikes.
Vehicles that are disliked come up with mysterious expensive problems somehow.
too soon? 