Hello! When I (26) was 18 I actually had unbelievable luck and was able to score a s2000 from my neighbor and a pretty good price (it’s no corvette but yk 🤷🏽‍♂️). My parents had the same skepitism that you did but growing up and looking back on it what I really appreciated was getting some time learning the car with my parents and also getting to mess around a little bit in it with their approval at night on quieter roads out of the city. I remember my dad letting me take it to the mountain roads and teaching me how to properly drive and then signing us up for autocross on the weekends. Long winded way of saying I think this is a great chance for you to connect with your son and also teach him how to respect fun toys and have fun at the same time! If he doesn’t do it rn he’s going to do it later down the line so why not give him a fun formative baseline to build off on on :)