Great topic...my wife Victoria and I had long talks about this when our two boys were young and came up with ...not in the car/2002 till old enough / big enough to not need booster/seat, around town only and not on the highway...fast forward to oldest son turning 15 he starts talking of my 2002 being his first car....well we all know that can't happen...we he/I agree to buy him a 2002 and fix it up before he turns 16...we do it, 75 Verona after a few months car looks much better than I ever thought possible...mom not all that happy but agrees he can drive it the four miles to the high school, around austin and back but not out of town (austin/Dallas) ...well he drove the wheels off the car thru high school and we got him a vw with air bags to go off to college...now 12 years later in the next month are so I'm giving him the 2002 (74 granda) he wanted when he was 15...he is now 27 I'm sure we will still worry as he drives it to go scuba diving/ snow boarding and the other dangerous things he does it's part of being a parent...I came to my 2002 at 20 after having a motorcycle wreck, I always felt the 2002 was much safer and was happy with that...Barney