Medium size cars are now called Large cars

Cars get bigger with each generation. The original MkI Escort _was_ a small car - smallest in the range at the time.

These days, a Fiesta is as big as a MkI Escort, with the Mondeo being bigger than the Granada.

I drive what would have been considered a large family car when it was launched (the Alfa 75), but it's only the same size as a new Focus!

Tastes have changed. The market for the cooking-brand executive car is gone; the Scorpio lives on as the Jaguar S-type, the Senator as the Cadillac CTS. FWIW, these cars were never that big anyway. You want big? Cross the Atlantic and hop in a Pontiac Parisienne or Tempest sedan.

Sierras are tiny little things. A Bora is approaching Sierra size.

Richard

That's because new cars are *massive*. New Vectra estate is bigger than the Senator / Carlton. SteveH is absolutely right.

Like the others say, the cars themselves are really getting bigger. Very noticeable on the ford range for instance where, over the years, they've slid in two extra models at the small end of the range. By about 2030, the new Ka will be the same size as the current Mondeo!

Cheers,

Colin.

My wife had a Mitsubishi Clot (A reg) which was about the size of a Renault

1. The later versions were a lot larger although I think the latest latest version has shrunk a bit. Ditto the Micra, the latest version completely belies the name.

-- MAlc

Also sprach "Malc" :-

The new "Mini" is about the size of the old Maxi.

the new mini is about the same size a mk 1 renualt espace :)

The Mk2 Golf is smaller than a Mk4 Polo...

Bigger than a Mk2 Granada.. scary.

I tried to get a 6ft by 4ft sign in the back of my Sierra estate. Even with the back seats down it wouldn't go. In the back of a new Mondeo estate it could have brought its friends, or the building it was attached to.

Surely the Alfa 75 was a rival for the BMW 3 series? The E30 3 series. Not the older one which was a rival for the Mk2 Escort.

E30 was aimed at the 'Sierra' class of cars. Just shows how big the old 'Escort' class is these days.

Outside, maybe. Inside in the back it's a Mini.

Yeah I think a lot of it is safety. To make cars safer you need to make them bigger.

snip

Erm, eh? That's quite an old-fashioned view of things though there may be a grain of truth in it. Biggest isn't necessarily safest (the Range Rover is not "safer" than a Mondeo) but frontal bulk is controlled by crash restrictions. Just look at the height of new car bonnets - things were getting more svelt for a while, now we have tall bulbous front ends - see new Vectra side-on, Bora, Audi etc. There's some particularly clever styling going on to bely this trend.

There was a time, not long ago, when manufacturers were trying to get bonnet profiles lower! I guess you can break too many legs that way.

But I suspect that the real reason behind car model types getting bigger is to take advantage of type-loyalty. You can get buyers to migrate upwards with their favourite model type - adding cost and features as you go. At the same time you slip in new smaller models at the bottom while no-one's looking ;-)

In real terms, car prices may seem keener as earnings rise: it's all relative however. Ford would rather you carried on buying a Fiesta, than "downgrade" to a Ka - although the Ka is similar in size/intent to the old Mk1/2 Fiesta.

Another example of this is the Golf - now a fifth generation monstrosity, not the nippy light runabout it was designed to be. Below that we used to have just the Polo - but whoooops, what's this? A Lupo? My word - how dainty! Almost didn't see you there...

I've told you a million times - don't exaggerate

BMW got away with what Rover couldn't. There's a surprise.

An E30 is only about as big as a Ford Urinal.

--=20

I read that the new BMW 1 series is bigger than the "old" BMW 3 series = E30 style (best BM ever made........E30....)

Justin Case

Nah, that award has to go to the E28, IMHO.

Is that the pre-E34 5 series?

(Sorry, I'm lazy, I could google or look at John Burns' site, my bad)

Peter

-- "Diamonds are what I really need - think I'll rob a store, escape the law, and live in Italy. Lately, my luck has been so bad, you know the roulette wheel, it's a crooked deal, I'm losing all I had."

Yeah, that's the one.

I'd love an E28 M5 for weekend thrapping and a 525e for intercontinental touring :-)

I've never driven any 5-series, but my tastes lean towards a more civilised ride quality with decent cornering rather than out and out slide the back end round every corner go-kart-like handling, so I'm guessing I'd probably prefer the way the E34 drives. Plus I've always been a big fan of its looks.

I'm sure, that given the right inspiration (i.e. taken for a drive in an E28 by a real enthusiast) I'd probably prefer the E28 though.

Peter

-- "Diamonds are what I really need - think I'll rob a store, escape the law, and live in Italy. Lately, my luck has been so bad, you know the roulette wheel, it's a crooked deal, I'm losing all I had."