Hey, I AM a kid.

I have two turbos, both with manual transmissions. I love them both. I have a clean record, and I consider myself a fairly safe driver.

However, I'm still glad that I learned to drive on a less powerful car with an a automatic. Learning to drive on the Taurus helped drive home the importance of planning ahead. In that car, you couldn't pass much.. in an emergency or otherwise. I can still remember bouncing off a curb on my first trip behind the wheel (thankfully it was one of those driver's ed cars with two sets of controls). Heck, in the few years I've been driving I've scraped my cars a few times. Not really a big deal, but then again I don't own any cars that it would be hard to find body parts for. Heck, if nothing else high school was quite hard on the interior of my car.. the random passenger that would put his/her cigarette out on the seats, etc.

It's really too bad you felt that you've made the right decision and too bad that you feel like you've written to Ann Landers. You've found a group of people who appreciate the 780 for what it is. A rare Volvo.

Handing any turbo'd car to a teenager probably wouldn't result in too many positive responses on the board.. but handing a 780 seems worse. A 764 is just as fast... you gave a 240 to your daughter, and yet a 240 isn't good enough for your son? Hmm.

As for NOS... if you can't fathom how reckless it is to equip a 16 year old's first car with it, I shouldn't bother with a response.

SUGGESTIONS: if you insist on giving the car to the son, have him pay to fix it up or fix it up himself. At least this way he will appreciate the money and effort it takes to make a car nice. Take the money you're spending on the car, and send him to a defensive driving class. BMW of America offers a minimal class like that. They travel around the US and offer you a chance to hone your driving skills on some 323i's. And they offer an autocross for those who are 21+. Loads of fun, and skills you can take home with you.

- alex

'85 244 Turbo
'84 245 Turbo