Fieri’s son drove his grandma’s minivan for a year to prove he was responsible enough to own a car
Guy Fieri, everyone’s favorite Mayor of Flavortown, is a well-known lover of cars. While you can find him cruising around in his beloved 1968 red Camaro or another vintage car in his collection, his son Ryder was as fashionable on the road for the last year. He was driving his grandma’s minivan.
The father-of-two (his other son, Hunter, is 26) told PEOPLE last year that his newly 16-year-old would be sporting a family hand-me-down. “You know what Ryder drove to school [when] he got his license? He got my parents’ old, used 259,000-mile Chrysler minivan,” he said. “I’m not buying Ryder a car, and I refuse to let him buy a car until he spends one year with no tickets, no accidents, driving the minivan.”
Well, Ryder did it. And now he’s got a new car to show for it. On his 17th birthday, his dad set up a scavenger hunt for Ryder and his friends. At the end of it, they found the keys to Ryder’s older brother’s pickup truck. “Hunter wanted my truck, so Hunter bought my truck and we made Ryder buy Hunter’s truck,” Fieri said.
Fieri, who rose to fame after the success of his Food Network show Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives made sure his son knew the reasons behind his decision. “It’s a rite of passage,” he explained. “Show me that you can spend a year driving the car, not getting any dents, not getting any wrecks, not getting any tickets. Prove that you’ve got it all together. Then you can take your own money out of the bank and go buy a car.”
“I want the boys to be self-sufficient,” he continued. And he’s committed to that lesson. When Hunter first got his license, he drove a 1996 truck his grandfather used to own, with “no working windows.” Hunter, who has been working with his father’s businesses since he was younger, said his decision paid off. “He’s a great teacher and a great father and leads by example. He does the right things to train you for the real world. And teaches you discipline and hard work and to not give up, and that not everyone’s going to hold your hand through life.”
“I get so many opportunities to learn from other people and I get to experience some amazing places and experiences. I can’t complain at all. It is amazing,” he added in another interview about working with his famous dad.
Earning their place in the world and learning the value of money is one way to help them become responsible young adults, even if that means driving a minivan around town for a year.
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