In my youth I was quite a fan of motorsport and I liked nothing better than travelling to a racetrack and spending the afternoon watching different classes of cars race around the course. I do believe some of my contemporaries went to great lengths to avoid paying the admission fee by concealing themselves in the boot of a car as it entered, but that’s another story! In those days we didn’t get the chance to get behind the wheel of a car at all until we reached the legal age to drive at seventeen. After a cursory glance at the internet recently I discovered that there are now such things as kids driving experience days. Here’s a little taster:-
You’re a kid and it’s years before you can even begin to learn to drive but you’re desperate to get behind the wheel for a speed thrill like you’ve never experienced before – what do you do? Well you could get down to a famous racetrack on a kids driving experience day to fulfil your dream. There’s a great choice of marques for all you speed freaks with a further array of huge machines and other vehicles for those of you who are not complete petrol-heads.
The Aston Martin has long been regarded as a car for the discerning driver, such as James Bond and Prince Charles, preferably one who likes to drive at unholy speeds in superb style and comfort. With exquisite vehicles such as the Vantage, the Vanquish and of course the flagship DBS V12, driving an Aston Martin can be truly described as an exhilarating experience. Our track days cater for the racing driver in all of us, rocketing around the track at nearly 200 miles per hour into tight corners and thundering straights. The experience days are an intensely satisfying –and considerably cheaper- alternative to actually owning one of these machines.
Another great car is, of course, the Porsche. During the 1940s and 50s the company began to expand its operations and in 1964, after a considerable number of motorsport victories –namely with the 550 Spyder- Porsche released one of their all-time, best known sports cars; the 911. This was another rear-engined, air cooled vehicle from the Porsche design bench. It has since enjoyed great success in rallying, in circuit motorsport and in terms of road car sales. After several generations of revisions to ensure the car is fully up to date with modern engineering techniques, the 911 remains in production to the present day.
Each Porsche driving experience day provides time to find out just why Porsche have enjoyed such commercial and race track success. Located in numerous areas of the UK, they provide experiences of driving the 911, as well as its equally impressive derivatives, the Boxter and Cayman. Built and sold for speed and power, the Porsche badge has long been a mark of quality for the true petrolhead. Far from relying on brute force, each of these German thoroughbreds is imbued with qualities that only finely-balanced engineering can bring, in terms of power distribution, balance and torque. So join in for a lesson in how to experience one of the world’s ultimate sports cars in comfort, and at blistering speed!
Perhaps you don’t fancy the confines of a racetrack and prefer to be off-road, so what about a country safari in a rally car or even a quad-bike. A complete off-road experience can be had in an all-terrain four-wheel-drive vehicle with the thrill of hill-climbs, muddy dips and powering through purpose built courses.
However, fast cars and 4x4s are not the only vehicles on offer for kids to try their hands at driving. Bigger vehicles like fire-engines, a monster trucks or diggers or what about the ultimate ride in a lads and dads tank day? Today’s kids truly are the luckiest generation.
A kid’s driving experience is just one of the hundreds of interesting things to do outdoors that can be purchased as a gift or for yourself from My Outdoor Store. Follow the link to discover our vast selection of days out ideas.
Bruno Blackstone is a freelance writer interested in all things to do with the outdoors and helping others get the most from the outdoors. Starting with a psychology degree his early career was as a social worker and family therapist working with families to help them achieve more positive and stable relationships. In his more recent career he has coached many senior executives in both small and large organisations in areas such as strategy, human resources, organisational design and performance improvement. He now continues his work in the business world but he is also co-owner of My Outdoor Store a price comparison site for outdoor enthusiasts.