When our oldest was 8 we bought an old Scout for $75 and they drove it around the farm.
Around here a lot of kids had cars because they lived several miles from the bus stop and they just drove there, parked the car , got on the bus and then drove it back home every afternoon.
I heard this about my dad’s cousin. His father was an entrepreneur and when Bobby was 14 he drove 20 miles to the next town to get ice and delivered it to homes on the way back. THis was in the mid 1940s.