Winters can be tricky here, and when I had both a FWD and RWD car from about 1982 to 1999. When I started to skid, my first thought always was “which car am I in?”
I learned to drive in a 1961 Mercury Comet, and I still prefer RWD. Manual transmissions, too.
43 and my first 2 cars were FWD stick driven in a decade’s worth of Wisconsin winters. It was the most ‘in control’ of a car I ever felt.
I got my first RWD vehicle 4 years ago. I can throw it into 4WD in really bad weather but in that inbetween stuff I hate RWD.
Most of my vehicles have been RWD. A 1978 MGB, 1974 Fiat 124, 1990 Mustang GT, 1991 Mustang GT, and 1995 F-150. The Mustangs could be a little squirrley if you were quickly pulling out into traffic on a slick road.
A Citroen!
A Mini!
Nope, I’ve got it: your dad’s Cord!
Hah.
I’m 33 and half of my cars (2/4) have been RWD, including my current coupe.
I’m 30 and just got my first front wheel drive. It’s also my first automatic.
Lets see:
98 Jeep Wrangler: 4x4
03 Mustang GT: RWD
05 Yamaha XT 225: RWD
05 Yamaha FZ6: RWD
07 Mustang GT: RWD
10 Ranger: 4x4
98 SVT Cobra: RWD
08 Miata: RWD
14 Escape: FWD
I’ve only ever owned RWD cars and drive them in all weather with no issue. I don’t have a problem with FWD, and don’t find there to be much difference in modern versions under most circumstances, especially since manufacturers design most production cars with a bias for understeer, anyway.
76 RWD was all that was available; I drove and bought my first FWD when I was 38. I’ve had a few of each since.
I’ve had only two FWD cars out of a myriad of rear-wheel drives.
I don’t care for FWD; the car I have now torque-steers from stop signs and traffic lights on snow and ice, no matter how gently I start. I can’t do control drifts around snowy corners. It gets stuck in snow much easier. It’s far more expensive than rear-wheel drives to fix anything from the engine to the transmission to the steering because everything is piled on top of everything else. I am not enamoured with it, to say the least.
“FWD is better in snow” is a myth perpetrated by the car companies to sell FWD, beginning in the late '70s. Because it’s so bad, four-wheel drives and all-wheel drives are selling better than they would if rear-wheel drives hadn’t practically disappeared.
Hurrumph. Something or other about my lawn; I can’t remember.
I learned on a 1962 Ford Falcon back in 1968. I didn’t drive anything but RWD until 1978 when I bought a Honda Accord.
Since then all my cars have been front wheel drive except for a 1982 Volvo 240.
I’m 38, started driving in 1996. All of my vehicles have been either FWD or AWD.
Seven out of the twenty I’ve owned have been FWD. I learned on (and first several cars were) RWD, pretty much the only choice in the 60’s if you stayed domestic. Some of the FWD cars (2CV, SAAB,) were toy cars, not my only car.
Current rides are FWD and AWD, so electronically gussied up that it’s hard to tell FWD from RWD in ‘normal’ driving. I did a bit of a test during our recent snow, and the FWD was a bit better at starting, but the AWD seemed more stable in motion. Just my feeling.
Heh-heh… I’m not quite as old as you GNS (I’m 53) but I do know what a "10 speed Roadranger… " is. 
FTR, I’ve never even owned a FWD car, except for an 85 Olds’ Toronado that I bought for my 1st wife. (Since I hardly ever drove it, I figure that one doesn’t count. 
)
6 full sized vans and 8 full sized trucks (1/2 & 3/4 ton), 2 small trucks, 4 full sized sedans and a full sized (1/2 ton) truck, at the moment.
And truth be told, for various reasons, I would much rather have a RWD. YMMV 
I’m 33, I’ve driven an RWD '04 Mercury Grand Marquis, a slightly upscale version of the infamous Ford Crown Victoria, i.e. the standard American police car for most of the past decade. Hella powerful V8 engine, I can see why cops love them.
For many years I drove nothing but four cylinder Mustangs. (RWD, obviously.)
Over the last 5 years I have driven Saturns. Wow, what a difference. I will never go back to RWD for a daily driver. The primary reason is that I’m in Ohio, and RWD is horrible in the snow. FWD is an order of magnitude better in the snow.
I learned to drive in a 76 Chevette and had great fun in the frigid Alberta winters bombing around and doing doughnuts (until the car ended up with a lightpost sticking out of the hood somehow).
I’ve been in a FWD ever since (doing my doughnuts in reverse :D)
People keep talking about how bad RWD cars are in the snow. Rear engine RWD cars do just fine in snow.
I’m 31. My first car was a RWD Ford Ranger. I prefer FWD.
Yes. The front-wheel-drive big lie.
All that weight at the front of FWD cars bog them down. My car got stuck in snow yesterday that wouldn’t have stopped a Crosley. Disgusting.
