We focus on getting lost while backpacking, but this brings up the possibility of having your car break down while en route or returning to home from a backpack trip.

An emergency kit in the car should include a few gallons of water, extra food (such as MRE's), and warm clothing, blanket and insulating pad. I have these in the car even when I am not backpacking. You need the same "10 essentials" in your car all the time as you would take on any day-hike.

I used to put a 50-pound of dog food in the trunk to provide weight for traction on snowy roads. Figured it could double as emergency food. I never had to test the edibility of dog food. In college, I knew some poor students who occasionally ate dog food!

I agree that age has nothing to do with survival, until you get to the "old" old age. May be a different situation if you were 95.