Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[norustplease]

You may have seen the cropped version of the above image in the thread on my 544, but it occurred to me when posting, that what I had always considered to be a fairly large car (my Volvo) was almost dwarfed by the supermini in front of it, which , I think, may be a Fiat 500. Compare it also to the size of the various 'small ' cars behind it.
Accepted most older cars tend to be narrower than more modern cars, (try fitting a modern, medium family saloon into the average supermarket car parking space if you don't believe me) but this was an object lesson in how manufacturers have upsized their ranges in recent years. It makes the Volvo look as if it has been Photoshopped in at the wrong scale!
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1953 Citroen Traction
1964 Volvo PV544
1957 Austin A55 Mk 1
Boring Tucson SUV

[badhuis]

There is a topic on the Pistonheads forum about this "Classics dwarfed by moderns". Started 3.5 years ago and now on its 57th page:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=140&t=1218324
Contains many amusing pictures!
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a car stops being fun when it becomes an investment

[Ashley]

My 1951 Bentley is tiny parked next to a current Range Rover and round here they and other grotesque 4 X 4s abound. People can't drive them, so lanes can be terrifying on a bad day and everywhere there is evidence of incompetent and thoughtless driving combined with council negligence. Roads are potholed and the banks trashed. Rather than slow down or reverse, some just charge up the banks and keep going, so by this time of year there's a terrible mess and deep ruts where the Tarmac ends and the new "passing bays" begin.

The other side of the coin is the rather tragic story of a Porsche Speedster owner. There's a video of a white one on Petrolicious (YouTube and Vimeo) and an interview with the owner who appears very fond of the car and to drive it gently. They're hugely valuable, but I read the other day that some woman in a modern car and doped up on marijuana had smashed into the side of it, trashed the car, killed his wife and paralysed him down one side. I'm guessing a modern would have saved him from this vile cretin.

There is a good side to the story in that the Porsche Club in California have so far raised nearly $50,000 for her kids and the poor owner. People can be so very kind.

[norustplease]

One of the other side effects of this is that the single garage which is attached to the average modern house, is almost totally useless for putting a car in, since parking standards currently being applied were originally set in the 1970's!
Hats off to those of you restoring a classic in a single garage!
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1953 Citroen Traction
1964 Volvo PV544
1957 Austin A55 Mk 1
Boring Tucson SUV

[lowdrag]

I am currently on my third car in 25 years. The first was a W124 E-Class Mercedes, length 4785mm, width 1740.

The second a W202 C-Class estate, length 4487 and width 1720mm.

The latest, a C-class S204, is 4582mm long and 1770 wide.

So the C-class is wider than the old E-class. It is also much smaller inside. In the first two a set of golf clubs would easily fit sideways on. Not so in the latest car though.

[Bitumen Boy]

[Keith D]

I think that the opposite applies in Australia. Forty years or so ago most families drove one of what was termed the big three. A Holden, Falcon or Valiant. All large six cylinders or V8's and all six seaters. That is, six adults.

Today there are fewer large 6 cylinder machines, and when Ford and the General stop building the big ones in Australia within the next few months, there will be even less. Most four wheel drives have a much smaller footprint than those cars.

Small cars forty years ago were things like Corollas, Escorts, Marinas and Toranas. All cars with generous boots and full length bonnets. Small cars today are almost all unrecognisable hatchbacks without boots as we knew them and tiny sloping bonnets.

I don't think the cars have got bigger, just the parking spaces at the supermarkets have got smaller!

Keith

[Penman]

Hi
What Keith D is refering to is drivers preferences really.

This growing cars syndrome is best illustrated when you look at individual models.
HA Viva to HC Viva
Mk1 Cortina to Mk 5
The first Consul, Zephyr etc to the last model
Nova (called Corsa elsewhere) to the current Corsa
etc
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Bristols should always come in pairs.

Any 2 from:-
Straight 6
V8 V10

[MikeEdwards]

[goneps]

I suspect cars' obesity has developed to accommodate that of humans. Certainly the fashion now is for cars to be a lot taller, as clearly shown in the picture of the Volvo and Fiat 500, but the trend towards ever-larger wheels deceives the eye by keeping the proportions similar.

Richard

[peter scott]

I think as Richard suggests that the obesity of cars is related to that of humans. As to the tallness it's certainly easier for the obese to extract themselves from a high vehicle but it has also become popular due to folk wanting to look over hedges. Clearly more important than the greater fuel consumption due to increased frontal area!

Peter
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https://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[baconsdozen]

Remember the Jaguar Mk10 ?. Weren't they the largest (or maybe widest) british made cars?.
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Thirty years selling imperial hand tools for old machinery(Now happily retired).

[Rick]

[Ashley]

If you study school rnbs you'll find they're 90% 4 X 4s. They're just a big metal womb for "de kiddies innit" as one woman said when questioned by Top Gear because she and her friends had completely blocked a road in London with them.

I'm not far from Beaudesert where Princess Anne's kids went and at collecting time, it is bedlam. The council have put enormous boulders down each side of the road to protect Minchinhampton Common from pushy mums.

[mikeC]