A current gen BMW 3 series is pretty much the same length as a 90’s 5 series E34 (4709mm vs 4720)
A current gen Skoda Octavia (budget alternative to an A3) is longer than even late 2000’s A4 (B7) and is slowly approaching the length of 90’s A6.
Early 2000’s Passat B5.5, both wagon and sedan, is shorter than the current gen Golf 8 wagon.
These are all European cars and Europe isn’t known for having wide streets and parking spaces, so what is the reason for doing this? An E46 is 4470mm, which is pretty much the perfect size for a car of that segment, but instead they inflated it to a 5 series length. Same thing with width, cars are also getting far bulkier and making finding parking spots even harder.
Car models in general keep increasing in size, and smaller models are created to fill in the smaller sizes. You can see this in most manufacturer lineups. Take a look at the progression in size for the Honda Civic and Accord; the current Civics are bigger than the original Accords. The same is true of Toyota (Corolla and Camry).
This was true even with Oldsmobiles. My parents gifted me their Olds in 1968 when I was in high school – it was a medium-smallish car, IIRC. Years later, Oldsmobiles became behemoth cars.
One reason for this is that people generate an attachment to a particular model as a brand, but as people get older, their ideal car size often increases.
At some point cars were a lot bigger than they are now, at least sedans, right? My first car was a '73 Ford Gran Torino, which was considered a mid-size when it debuted (IIRC), but when I drove it in the 90s it was as big or bigger than a 90s Crown Victoria.
So this phenomenon must have changed directions at some point, if my recollection is right.
I once read that a modern civic has more amenities than an accord did a few decades ago, possibly a more powerful engine too. I guess its just constant upsizing of what benefits a car offers to make it competitive on the market.
It’s possible for two phenomena to be taking place simultaneously, as @Telemark suggests, right? Each specific model progressively gets larger, while the size of the average car gets smaller because new small models are introduced.
But I’m find it difficult to understand why this would be the case, and I don’t think OP is talking about specific models getting longer, they are claiming cars on average are getting longer.
But my point is that the 73 mid-size model is the same size as a 90s full size model, so some time between the 70s and the 90s mid-size and full-size cars (as a category, at least for Ford) got smaller.
EDIT: I googled to verify this – the wheelbase of my '73 Ford Gran Torino (mid-size) is 114"; the wheelbase of a '95 Crown Victoria (full size) is also 114".
Before asking “why” I think we need to find some reliable data on what has actually happened over time. I found this for Europe, but I cannot find anything similar for the U.S.
My WAG would be that we’d see a general overall tendency toward larger average car size with overall increase in standard of living; with reversals in an oil price shock that might explain the historical drop in the size of U.S. cars that @iiandyiiii notes.
One thing I’ve noticed in looking at old cars is that most American cars were behemoths in the 1960s and 70s, then they shrunk in the late 70s/early 80s in response fuel shortages of the 70s, then they grew again as fuel prices stabilized. Whereas the Japanese cars started out small, and got bigger with each generation.
The oil shock and EPA standards of the 70’s made the US car manufacturers downsize. Imported cars from Europe and Japan were smaller, more fuel efficient, and better made.
IIRC, those categories are defined by interior volume, not the car’s external dimensions. When most cars switched to front wheel drive that allowed for much more efficient use of space, allowing for full-sized interior space in a smaller overall package. Also note that much of the girth of those old full-sized American cars was in the hood and trunk; not the actual passenger space.
Out of curiosity, I looked at the Chevrolet Impala, supposedly the best selling full-size car of all time in the US. This is just assembled from the Wikipedia entry. If somebody else wants to fill in the missing lengths, feel free.
The car grows longer through each generation from introduction to leaving the line-up in 1996. Then it comes back for the 2000 model year as a front wheel drive car, and is shorter, but the starts getting longer again.
generation
year
length
1
1958
5310 mm
2
1959
3
1961-1964
5315 mm
4
1964-1970
5
1970-1976
6
1976-1985
5387 mm
7
1994-1996
5438 mm
8
1999-2005
5080 mm
9
2005-2013
5090 mm
10
2013-2020
5110 mm
Much more difficult to look at, but still undeniable is the increase in size of light duty trucks. It’s hard to look at because they come in so many forms, cab size, bed length, etc.
Something like the Chevrolet Suburban grew from 5067mm in 1960 to 5733mm in it’s current form. Other than some slight shrinkage during the GMT400 years, it’s grown at every iteration.
Sorry, none of that answers the OP, just acknowledges that in some picked examples, cars are getting bigger, even from when they were huge in the 60s.
One of the lesser expensive ways to make a car larger is to make it longer, stretch the trunk and engine compartment, etc. Look at the trunk length in some of those 1960’s models - such as the Mercury Park Lane.
Crush space for deceleration in the event of an accident. Trying to get that five-star rating.
There are very few automotive reviews that say "Gee, if this vehicle had a little LESS legroom it would be perfect. (On a different subject: If it had a little LESS powerful engine it would be perfect.)
Cars are larger because more people want more space, especially in the US. It’s why the best sellers are trucks and SUVs. To me it seems somewhat similar to books - as the price has gone up, people demand more content, regardless of whether it fits the product.
There are still small options - I’ve owned a Fiat 500, Mini Cooper S, and Smart Fortwo. Hilariously, as small as all of those are/were, the common complaint about them and the New Beetle was they were too big (compared to earlier versions).
That’s an interesting chart. It looks like there was a step up in vehicle mass that started in 1989, and venicle length took a sharp turn upwards around 1998.
My first guess without looking is that this is a response to regulations. Regulations that impact mass would be increased safety standards requiring stronger vehicles, more standard equipment, etc. Changes that might affect length include pedestrian impact standards, bumper regs, crumple zones, emissions controls needing more engine compartment space and perhaps occupant accessability.
Another possibility is that the population is aging, and older people want more interior space.
Yet another is the move to ‘platforms’ rather than bespoke ground-up design per model. This tends to make cars heavier, and might make them longer on average. Lost of cars now share platforms with mid-size and compact SUVs. The new Ford Maverick truck runs on the same platform as the Escape.