We got to talking last night about the first things we ever drove at our Dinner & Drinks meet. I recall a farm vehicle, I can

 

I have no idea.... The first thing I drove was an old fire engine on my Dad's family's ranch in Montana, when I was about 10. I ended up in a ditch.

 

I found a pic...

Right there, to the right of the gas pedal.
What do you call it?
If this forum can't answer the question we are not worthy of the vintage title.
help me out here...

 

Doug, as a youngster I can remember my grandfather's car having a setup like your describing. I'm going to guess it was a late 40's, early 50's Chevy car. I don't know what it was called.

 

What's that thing on a lawnmower/outboard motor you pull out/set, before you crank up the engine - the primer? That's what it looks like to me. Either that or the emergency brake.

 

Perky, that's the choke. Going back to the '53 Chevy 3100 Truck shown here it's the round knob just under the dash left of the steering colum. The knob just like it but coming out of the maroon dash above is the headlight switch.

 

Starter switch seems too obvious but I'm sure our classic car guys will know. (Of course this was even before my driving time.)

 

Thanks!

In a flash of insight I remember the farm vehicle I was thinking about was a 1953 Chevy Truck so that nails down the era.


I wonder if it was just called the started pedal? All I remeber is being a child of 13 this was not an easy thing for me to do, I suspect my feet were a bit on the small side for this operation.

 

"starter button"?

As a teenager I had a job as a courier for a tax prepration firm in the Washington, DC area. They had set up offices at all the Sears stores in the surrounding area and I would drive to pick up and deliver returns.

The owner of the company provided an old Buick (I think) for me to drive. Probably a late 40's model. This thing was a tank, but, man, it road nice! It had a similar starter setup. Turn the key, press down on the clutch and hit the starter button with your right foot. It had a throttle control on the dash that had to be pulled all the way out for the first start of the day.
-golfpro

 

Exactly!

And I know for a fact it engaged the starter because I remember a few times when the truck would chug forward on the starter motor because I was having such a hard time with these two pedals and my one right foot, that my left foot would not have the clutch in. Well I also remember dad saying "GET THE CLUTCH IN!".