New Seniors

I remember my great love affair with cars when I was growing up. The family car was a 1941 Ford. It was not driven very often during the war and looked new when it was traded in for a Plymouth ten years later. My father’s vehicles didn’t interest me much.

What excited me were the latest chrome laden machines coming out of Detroit. I used to walk to the car dealers near where I lived to watch the cars being delivered or press my face up against the showroom window, because kids were not allowed inside without an adult. I leafed through all the car magazines on rack at the drug store and dreamed about driving down the avenue in a big-finned auto and catching my reflection in the store windows to see how cool I looked.

In November of 1952, I turned 16 and passed my driving test a few days later having learned to drive on back roads before the big day. My first cars were a far cry from what I dreamed of driving. A ’36 Ford came first followed by a ’37 Ford. They weren’t big and beautiful like the Detroit iron of my dreams, but as we used to say, “I had wheels.”

It wasn’t until I started making money on my own that I was in a position to buy a new car. I started with a Thunderbird and soon moved up to Cadillac’s – a string of them. It was the car I wanted to drive for as long as I can remember. And, each time I was fortunate enough to get a new one, I must admit the reflection in store windows was thrilling to see. This continued for years.

Back in the beginning of my driving career, gas was cheap. Even after the fuel shortages of the ‘70s, the cost of filling up the tank wasn’t a big deal. But, since the start of this century, gas prices have climbed and went through the roof last year. I no longer own an American built car, but I don’t drive a particularly fuel-efficient one either. And my love affair with my car is a thing of the past.

This change of attitude is not just because I’ve gotten older and hopefully more mature. Part of it is that all cars, with a few exceptions, look like other makes of cars. Small cars are just mini versions of the bigger ones. Whether they’re made in the U.S., Japan or Europe, it’s hard to tell which one is which. Besides, most of what I see on the road is silver/gray, white or black. Cars just aren’t sexy any more.

Now we are moving rapidly into the “green age.” In my opinion, cars will not only be more fuel-efficient, they will look like it too. My rationale is simple: there’s no sense driving a vehicle that gets high gas mileage if other people don’t know you made a sacrifice in order to save the planet. Of course, we may not have much say about what we drive since the government controls the auto industry. That being the case, I don’t expect to be admiring myself in the store windows driving one of these new age cars.

Don Potter: Editor-in-Chief

Don Potter, a veteran of the ad agency business, is a Philadelphia native currently living in Los Angeles. He is the author of an acclaimed marketing book, The 50+ Boomer: Your Key to 76 Million Consumers. In retirement, Potter has written two novels, hundreds of articles and is a frequent lecturer. A leading advocate for those 65+, he is a founder of NewSeniors.com.

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