25th May 2014, 16:16
Are you kidding?? Back in the 70s it was not uncommon for children to crawl around in the back of station wagons without safety belts. My mom and her sister sat on the floor on the transmission hump in the back of their car. Now kids even up around 6-8 have to be latched into a child seat depending on their size. I won't even begin to mention the endless array of electronic devices these young children inappropriately have.
The new SUVs and mini-vans do use space more efficiently than the big sedans and wagons of yore and are externally smaller, however I would love to still buy a true large American sedan. In the last 30-40 years it wasn't families driving the full-size sedans anyways, it was largely mature married couples who no longer had children at home.
26th May 2014, 07:05
The luxury car segment typically cares very little about MPG. More about luxury and comfort for passengers and long trips.
My family has done annual 2000 mile round trips to Florida with Cadillacs and Lincolns. Roomy with ice cold air conditioning. The best of all were new Town Cars. Even as far back as the 50s, these cars were not purchased by young kids. It was typically a successful business owner or the like. Otherwise you would buy a new Chevrolet. It was a status symbol more so in years past.
The over 60 crowd I know like the new Cadillac sedans and usually have a nice crossover as well. Again gas is not a issue. And many still have no car loans. They retired and want a really nice car to drive.
I still like the models that were not designed in a wind tunnel. I liked the front ends of the various Marks and Town Cars. There's something special about these cars when new. Opulent spacious new leather, and I always liked the instrument panels. Air so cold you could wear a suit in a hot summer evening. If they made a true full size like the ones we had up until the 1980s, we would buy a lot again. On trips these cars are a dream to drive and own. New, not well worn; a very big difference.
25th May 2014, 07:57
How come there are so many young adults in my area making high disposable incomes? I am outside Phiadelphia (Exton Pa). In fact most of Chester County is that way. Young adults commonly driving luxury crossovers, sports sedans everywhere. Possibly they continued their education and work in the high tech and pharmaceutical. It's no different than the past. You can go right to work blue collar or seek out the higher paying jobs. My first high end cars came around 27. Not old in my opinion.