Guy Fieri gave his teen son a truck after a year of no tickets or accidents
Guy Fieri and his wife Lori are raising three boys: sons Hunter and Ryder and nephew Jules. Jules’ mother was Guy’s sister who passed away in 2011. The last time I wrote about Guy, I talked about his kids in that article but I didn’t cover much of that because there was so much else to talk about. There was a cute part about when they got their licenses, they were given the family minivan to drive for a year. It’s an old Chrysler with over 250K miles on it that once belonged to Guy’s parents. The conditions were, if the kid went a year without any tickets or accidents, they would get a new car. Cut to last New Year’s Eve, which is also son Ryder’s birthday. After a year of no tom-foolery in grandma’s minivan, Ryder was gifted a ‘new’ truck, which meant his brother’s truck after being overhauled. And Ryder had to pay half.
Guy Fieri’s son Ryder had a milestone birthday — and not just because he turned 17.
The Food Network superstar’s youngest son celebrated his birthday on New Year’s Eve and the big day came with a gift he’s been earning for a full year. In PEOPLE’s September cover story, Guy, 55, who also has a son Hunter, 26, revealed that he has a rule when it comes to the boys’ first vehicle.
“You know what Ryder drove to school [when] he got his license? He got my parents’ old, used 259,000-mile Chrysler minivan. 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,” he said at the time.
Well, one year has passed and Ryder has since graduated out of the minivan. Guy — who is hosting “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives Live” at Food Network’s South Beach Wine and Food Festival on Feb. 24 — tells PEOPLE that to reveal the big gift, he set up a scavenger hunt for Ryder and his friends at his ranch in Northern California.
More specifically, it was for his brother’s crew cab pick-up truck: “Hunter wanted my truck, so Hunter bought my truck and we made Ryder buy Hunter’s truck.”
Guy and his wife, Lori, pitched in half the cost, and Ryder used the money he’s earned working on his dad’s shows to pay for the rest.
“We had taken the truck from Hunter, taken it to the detail shop, had it all gone through and made it Ryder’s truck and a couple of my buddies come driving up the driveway and honked the horn. He lost it. I’ve never seen him happier about a gift he was getting,” says the chef.
“I mean, what is the gift? The gift is, ‘Hey, you have to pay half the money we’ll pay the other half.’ But he was really excited,” he adds.
A few months later, the excitement still hasn’t worn off. Guy says Ryder takes the time to back the truck into their driveway every night.
“I saw him the other night. I was getting home about the same time he was. I say, ‘You back in?’ He goes, ‘Oh, yeah. Truck looks way cooler when you look at it from the front,'” recalls Guy.
Many people buy their kids cars. It’s an incredible privilege, of course, but it’s not an uncommon practice for those who can swing it. And lord knows Guy loves his cars. I think making a teenager earn their share of a car is healthy. They’ll likely value the car as a result. Parents come up with different deals, like they buy the car and the kids pay for gas and maintenance. Or the kid can only use the car if they maintain certain grades. The terms are family specific, like Guy’s boys having to be ticket and accident free for a year to get a nicer car. Guy’s making a joke of making Ryder pay half the price of the truck not being so much of a gift but again, he’ll be invested in it. Plus, Ryder works for Guy’s lucrative shows, so the job is also a gift.
The part I most relate to is Ryder wanting his brother’s truck. I remember the cars I wanted when I was a teen and they were always someone else’s. I never wanted whatever was new and hot, mainly because I never knew what was new and hot. So I could almost feel Ryder’s excitement when he saw Hunter’s truck all souped up just for him driving up. When I was teen, my father hung on to his old Mustang and I was allowed to drive that. It wasn’t mine, but I could use it until I left for college. My brother has the car and when I sit in it today, I still get that thrill. Hand me downs are fun.
Photo Credit: Instagram and Getty Images
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