He had a tendency to occasionally rub his father the wrong way in refusing to let him drive his car.
But the father didn't have to wait long to fulfil that desire, grabbing the chance to ease behind the steering wheel when the police hauled in Bruce and his younger brother Tony for a drag racing incident along Riverslea Rd during their late teens.
"The police made us walk home that day and Dad was so happy he got to drive it home," he says with a laugh.
But he emphasises the need for teens to whet their appetites at club events not on public roads.
But the Bairds readily accept their insatiable appetite for the need for speed is irrevocably part of their father's genetic composition so why fight it.
"If it wasn't for Dad we wouldn't be here doing it today," says Bruce at the Hugh Baird Memorial Autocross at Bridge Pa, Hastings, on Sunday, November 1.
The memorial, a club championship rally, is of significance to the brothers whose father died 12 years ago when he was electrocuted working in the roof of a house on Sunday, November 1.
The HB Car Club runs the annual event that offers drivers a prologue of sorts to the Tomoana Warehousing Transport-sponsored Hawke's Bay Rally to be hosted here on November 14, which in turn becomes a special stage to the national series.
The Bay Rally used to be part of the national circuit but has lost that status.
Brought up in the sport since knee high, Bruce recalls shadowing his father through the rally circuit in the Bay of Plenty.
Hugh was immensely proud of the Escort, which led to the trio building a "Flash Harry" Escort he wrote off after just 20 events.
"He [Dad] just shook his head and said, 'You idiot'."
For the record, the Baird boys were brought up around Fords and "Holdens are gay".
The pair now have Toyotas and Bruce also has an Intruder.
Bruce has 38 rallies under his sleeve but nothing memorable, settling for midfield.
The former Triple Bridges champion, at Chesterhope Bridge, reckons it can be a cruel sport.
"They [Hawke's Bay Rallies] are very unforgiving and the only two I have never finished."
Originally from Opotiki, the Bairds often found themselves among big-name drivers of yesteryear.
Nissan honcho Paddy Davidson was Bruce's first ride in a rally car.
So what did the then 10-year-old think?
"Holy shit, that's fast."
The buzz of going fast and pushing the car "to the point of no return" has kept his engine on idle, as it were.
"You can just go out and do it without getting speeding tickets."
It takes countless hours to organise the Bay Rally but Hugh and Clarence Herman, still a club member, persisted without fail.
Bruce and Tony won't be competing in it next Saturday.
The older Baird won't because he has numerous other commitments and fears the inevitability of "another DNF" but he was delighted to take a journalist for a spin on the track.
"A lot of people said it was good to see your dad's car out there on his day [memorial rally]."
Last Sunday, Bruce won the D class to finish seventh overall while Tony clinched the E class to sit fourth overall.
"I was pretty happy considering I haven't driven the car for almost five years," he says with a grin, revealing he spent an entire week trying to spruce it up for the memorial rally.
Clubmate Dave Harlick, driving a Mitsubishi EVO1 was the overall winner, ahead of Geoff Warren (Subaru WRX), of Hutt Valley, and Geoff Newton (Mitsubishi EVO6), of the Bay, who competed in the G class.
Bruce fondly recalls coming up with the idea of transferring his paternal grandmother's number plate on to his father's Escort Mark II.
He had contacted an uncle to ask if he could "put two dead people" on the car and the rest is history.
"It's pretty cool to have granny on an old Ford Escort."
On reflection with Tony, Bruce notes having the memorial rally on the day (Sunday, November 1) of his father's death will probably never happen again.
He thanked Down the Road Restaurant and VJ Distributors for their sponsorship of the memorial.
