I wanted to see how others would go about making a character who is meant to be the "getaway driver" for a group, just as a fun theorycrafting and character building exercise.

A few things which I think are key to building this character

• Vehicle proficiencies
• Able to be effective in combat while mounted (either with melee weapons or more likely ranged weapons/spells)
• Access to spells which can be used to buff any creatures you are mounted on or which are pulling your cart or what have you. 

So, what direction would you go? 

Either a Drakewarden Ranger, or an Oath of Glory Paladin with the Soldier Background?

Quote from IamSposta >>

Either a Drakewarden Ranger, or an Oath of Glory Paladin with the Soldier Background?

 I think I like Oath of Glory Paladin more than Drakewarden Ranger here. The Drakewarden would make for a good mounted combatant, but from what I remember will be more or less focused on using the drake as a mount, whereas the aura for the Glory paladin would work really well for driving a cart or other larger vehicle, giving a speed boost to both creatures which are pulling it. 

My only issue with the paladin is that you are still mostly restricted to melee combat. The character could still work that way, but I imagine if you are driving around a cart or something and trying to fight at the same time, you may get more mileage (pun intended) out of ranged combat. Although, even in that case, you could just pick up a ranged Cleric cantrip or take a dip into warlock of good ol EB.

Honestly, I really like Glory Paladin for this build now that you bring it up. Would love to see if someone else has any other weird ideas. 

Edit: I am tempted to say that multiclassing Glory Paladin with Sorcerer (after you get your aura) may be the way to go. By multiclassing this way, you can pick up a few blaster cantrips for when you need a ranged option and can pick up the Twinned Spell metamagic. This latter option will be helpful in the instances where you are driving a cart with two horses pulling and you want to target both with a buff at the same time. 

With Str 16, can’t the Drake haul a wagon? (Although I prefer the Glory Paly myself for this.)

Quote from Kaboom979 >>

My only issue with the paladin is that you are still mostly restricted to melee combat. The character could still work that way, but I imagine if you are driving around a cart or something and trying to fight at the same time, you may get more mileage (pun intended) out of ranged combat. Although, even in that case, you could just pick up a ranged Cleric cantrip or take a dip into warlock of good ol EB.

Honestly, I really like Glory Paladin for this build now that you bring it up. Would love to see if someone else has any other weird ideas. 

Edit: I am tempted to say that multiclassing Glory Paladin with Sorcerer (after you get your aura) may be the way to go. By multiclassing this way, you can pick up a few blaster cantrips for when you need a ranged option and can pick up the Twinned Spell metamagic. This latter option will be helpful in the instances where you are driving a cart with two horses pulling and you want to target both with a buff at the same time. 

 You could skip the dip and use feats, but 2 levels of Sorcerer and the Metamagic Adept feat is nice for many classes (like Bards). I’m presuming Divine Soul?

Quote from IamSposta >>

Quote from Kaboom979 >>

My only issue with the paladin is that you are still mostly restricted to melee combat. The character could still work that way, but I imagine if you are driving around a cart or something and trying to fight at the same time, you may get more mileage (pun intended) out of ranged combat. Although, even in that case, you could just pick up a ranged Cleric cantrip or take a dip into warlock of good ol EB.

Honestly, I really like Glory Paladin for this build now that you bring it up. Would love to see if someone else has any other weird ideas. 

Edit: I am tempted to say that multiclassing Glory Paladin with Sorcerer (after you get your aura) may be the way to go. By multiclassing this way, you can pick up a few blaster cantrips for when you need a ranged option and can pick up the Twinned Spell metamagic. This latter option will be helpful in the instances where you are driving a cart with two horses pulling and you want to target both with a buff at the same time. 

 You could skip the dip and use feats, but 2 levels of Sorcerer and the Metamagic Adept feat is nice for many classes (like Bards). I’m presuming Divine Soul?

 Probably the best choice, as the cleric spell list would have a few more buff we could pick up. At first I thought Metamagic Adept alone would be enough, but if the goal is to twin spells then 2 sorc points wouldnt cut it. So as you pointed out, both a dip plus the feat might be the way to go. 

Your other comment brings up an interesting point. How many creatures would you regularly need to pull a cart? Its been a while since I have looked at the hauling stats for most creatures. I was working under the assumption that most large carts would need two creatures to pull (as that is the mental image I usually keep), but depending on party size and how much stuff you have, you may only need one. 

That makes me wonder how this build might change if you only needed one creature instead of two. In that case, I might just remove the Sorcerer levels altogether. Having a mount you can regularly summon is helpful for a single cart, but the paladin can get that eventually with Find Steed as well, so I agree that Paladin should still be the primary class. 

The other benefit of the Glory Paladin is, of course, the Ben Hur references. Now we need a good chariot race!

Some of the Maneuvers (like Maneuvering Attack) would be nice, maybe 86 Sorcerer sub Fighter, 86 Metamagic Adept sub Fighting Initiate. That would also synergize well with Glory Paly.

Here:

• A Camel & Riding Horse are both Large w/  Str 16
• A Mule is Medium w/ Str 14
• A Draft Horse & Warhorse are both Large w/ Str 18
• A Pony is Medium w/ Str 15

It seems pretty clear from the table and the fact that a creature can pull a cart that is 5 times its carrying capacity that this build will (in most situations) work with just one animal pulling things, so you likely do not need to be using metamagic to twin buff spells. Now if you wanted to drag around a carriage with 6 party members and hundreds of lbs of gear, you might need to relent and get that second horse. 

Another class I might throw into the ring is the College of Eloquence Bard (with the appropriate background to get vehicle proficiency). 

The bard is a full caster, so we get access to more powerful support spells more quickly. The bard can gain expertise in things like Animal Handling to help it control the creatures pulling the cart. It can use Magical Secrets to pick up summoning spells it may not have access to (like Find Steed). 

For the College of Eloquence, it can use its Mantle of Inspiration to give the creature pulling the cart extra movement speed. Granted, this is a limited "turbo boost" compared to the Glory Paladin's consistent aura. The benefits are that it also lets the creature move without provoking opportunity attacks, making it easier for your cart to get out of a sticky situation unscathed. 

I need to look over the spells lists of both classes, but I would probably put this one on par with the Glory Paladin, with the Drakewarden Ranger fairly close behind. 

Now, of course, because the Paladin and Bard are both Charisma casters and since you only really need 3 levels in Bard to get the Mantle of Inspiration boost, you could honestly probably make a multiclass of the two work. 

Longstrider is a good spell for boosting your animals' speed.

Goliath totem warrior. Eagle or Elk at level 3, then Bear at 6.

Goliath totem warrior barbarian. Max out strength as soon as possible. Go bear to get the doubled carrying capacity. Then go 3 levels of paladin for Oath of Glory for Peerless Athlete. Then get a bit of Random Magic Sorcerer for Enhance Ability (Bull's Strength, specifically) and a chance to grow a size larger on a roll of 93 or 94 on the wild magic table. Oh, and grab Enlarge/Reduce while you're at it. Then go a few levels in Fighter to become a Rune Knight and get Giant Might. Grab a Belt of Storm Giant Strength and Potion of Growth when you get the chance. Lastly, put your final few levels in Wizard and grab the Graviturgy subclass, allowing you halve the weight of Large or smaller objects. Or you could go Rogue to be able to Dash as a bonus action. Your choice.

Who needs a ride? You are the ride! You're strong enough at this point to carry your entire party, plus a dragon or two! Maybe even more! Become the ultimate grappler (if you take that feat)! Throw dragons off cliffs with ease! Bench-press a mountain! Seriously, at this point, you could beat Hercules in a weight-lifting contest! You might even be able to grapple that tarrasque! Like, seriously, the sky's the limit!

Variant human. Starts with skill expert, expertise in sleight of hand. Could be a rogue, most likely. 

You tell him where you're starting, where you're going, and he gives you five minutes. Anything that happens in those five minutes, and he's yours. Anything a minute either side of that, and you're on your own. He doesn't sit in while you run. He doesn't carry a weapon. He drives. 

If all you need is one horse for the getaway, a Cavalier’s your man.  You’ll only need 5 movement to mount your steed.

Quote from Sisyphus_Rocks >>

If all you need is one horse for the getaway, a Cavalier’s your man.  You’ll only need 5 movement to mount your steed.

 True, but if you are driving a cart or carriage do the normal rules for mounting speed apply?

Quote from Kaboom979 >>

Quote from Sisyphus_Rocks >>

If all you need is one horse for the getaway, a Cavalier’s your man.  You’ll only need 5 movement to mount your steed.

 True, but if you are driving a cart or carriage do the normal rules for mounting speed apply?

 RAW, it appears that the mounting speed difference only applies to mounts, not land vehicles like a carriage.  But I don’t think it should take as much movement to get in a carriage or cart.

Quote from Sisyphus_Rocks >>

Quote from Kaboom979 >>

Quote from Sisyphus_Rocks >>

If all you need is one horse for the getaway, a Cavalier’s your man.  You’ll only need 5 movement to mount your steed.

 True, but if you are driving a cart or carriage do the normal rules for mounting speed apply?

 RAW, it appears that the mounting speed difference only applies to mounts, not land vehicles like a carriage.  But I don’t think it should take as much movement to get in a carriage or cart.

 TBH, I have never been a fan of mounting speeds (or getting up from prone) since it punishes faster characters more. Not sure about RAW, but as a DM I would agree you could get onto a cart or carriage faster since most usually come with a small step or stairs for boarding so that any normal person can easily ascend (whereas mounting a horse usually requires some skill)

A wizard with teleport or anyone with a helm of teleportation. A cleric with word of recallwould also work equally well, if not better.

I don't think that this was the goal of this discussion, though. For an actual driver, why not a character who's a Glory Paladin and a Drakewarden Ranger? Soldier background for land vehicle proficiency, or something that gives you air vehicle proficiency (the drake can fly eventually).