Car Sizes

It seems to me much of the problems with have with car transport don't stem just from the numbers of cars on the road, but also from the changes that have taken place in car design, and car usage.

Size of cars

	1960s	1970s	1980s	1990s	2000s
Model	Cortina Mk1a (1200cc)	Vauxhall Viva (1256cc)	Ford Sierra (1242cc)	Ford Mondeo (1796cc)	Ford Focus (1596cc)
Width	62.5"	64.75"	67.8"	76.4"	72.4"
Length	168.5"	163"	155"	179.4"	170.7"
Wheelbase	98"	97"	98"	106.5"	103.9

Physically cars have tended to become much wider over the last 5o years, about 18% wider. Other dimensions have not tended to increase as much. Although engine size has tended to increase, engine efficiency is much higher, and fuel consumption has probably decreased. Width however is a problem on UK roads. Increased car ownership and use also means increasing on road parking, further narrowing roads. Wing mirrors (an excellent safety feature) also add to vehicle width.

We have seen that the number of cars operated with one person inside is currently high, 60-70% of vehicles, each of these cars in effect takes up four times more space than a car carrying passengers. Cyclists and other road users become more of a problem for drivers because the increasing width of cars make roads increasingly narrow.