The great bulge of baby boomers has made its mark by bucking trends. (Or it likes to think so.) It's no surprise, then, that drivers aged 55 and up are buying more new cars than previous generations.
For the longest time, drivers in this age cohort gradually purchased fewer new cars as they got older.
But for boomers, cars represent freedom – especially for women. And if you have the freedom to choose, who wouldn't want to drive off into retirement in a new car?
Sales of cars and trucks in Canada jumped in 2013 with the 55- to 64-year-old age group replacing 35- to 44-year-olds as the demographic most likely to buy a new car, according to those who study car-buying trends.
According to data from Edmunds.com, a car-shopping website, buyers 55 and older accounted for more than 40 per cent of all new car sales in the United States last year, up from 33 per cent in 2008 while buyers between the ages of 18 and 34 represented only 12 per cent of new-car purchases.
This pattern has not been lost on car makers, who are marketing more than four-door sedans to image-conscious seniors.
We asked Peter Cheney, Globe Drive columnist, to choose several cars for the unconventional senior. He picked, we elaborated: