It is my feeling that in older cars generally the seat was positioned lower. Nowadays driving a modern sedan or hatchback feels like driving a minivan.
Does my feeling have any basis in reality? Are there any hard numbers?
Cars have been getting bigger and higher, some of this may be a over-correction from the sit on the floor small cars that were a result of the 70’s oil shock (before this the seat was high). IIRC Ford advertized the high drivers seating position on one of their cars, something like command seating. Also more seats are power everything and need room for motors.
I know more cars nowdays have adjustable seat height. Older models had no such thing, just sliding forward or back. Designers had to balance between giving taller drivers the headroom they wanted and shorter drivers the field of view they wanted.
Nowdays grandma can raise that seat all the way up to see over the steering wheel while her 6’5" grandson can lower it down so he doesn’t have to crouch over.
It is definitely a thing and what’s mostly driving it is that new car buyers (in the US at least) have been getting older and older over the last few decades. These days the average new car buyer is in their early 50’s, so building a car with a low seating position that makes it hard for old folks to get in and out excludes a very large portion of the market.