A whopping 28 centimeters more in 70 years. These are the new measures of the car. In width, of course. From the data compared by the Quattroruote database starting from 1950, it is evident that today’s cars come out of treatments that have enlarged and improved them in terms of design and safety. Over the decades, in fact, the models have continued to focus on driver comfort, increasing dimensions by up to one fifth compared to the past. Weaknesses today? The visibility of those sitting behind the wheel and the difficulty in maneuvering and parking, more hindered than before. An evolution carried out by the manufacturers at the same time as the development of on-board technology.
More comfort
Interior comfort is the first reason for the enlargement of the cars. The data of the sedan bodies show that it has gone from 155 cm in width in 1950, up to 183.4 in 2020. A change, year after year that has occurred in virtue of comfort.
The story, however, does not end there. Already the upper segments are preparing for the most advanced levels of assisted driving, which will arrive at the totally autonomous one. What does this mean? The interiors of the cars are already liveable as relaxation environments. A trend that in a few years will also revise the external design. In the meantime, a few more centimeters more on the width is already safe from the start: the world legislation on passive safety requires the body to be strengthened even more.
Safety from 0 to 5 stars
After all, safety has already contributed to changing our cars a lot over the past decades. The filiform lines that recall the times of the economic boom have gradually given way to more planted bodywork, thicker bumpers and pillars, evolved sketches to accommodate everything concerning the driver’s “lifesavers”, from the airbag to to the driver assistance systems (ADAS), made of sensors, cameras and radars, inserted everywhere, for a 360 view from inside the passenger compartment.
The work became a continuous confrontation with technicians and engineers but in the end the cars, after having hosted huge quantities of chips to be more controlled, began to earn in safety (the confirmation comes from the 5 stars Euro NCAP, more and more numerous).
The visibility “question”
The visibility chapter remains. If the interiors have improved, with extra compartments cut out here and there for the benefit of those who spend hours in line, when it is time to park the extra centimeters gained in width today they can be heard, especially in plug-in car parks or in the car parks. , on the older access ramps. How to do? Sensors and cameras to facilitate maneuvers seem to be the most effective solution to solve the problem, although when you buy them, they are not provided in many starting outfittings. Here, there is good news. From 2024 all vehicles circulating in the European Union will have to have several standard elements including: automatic emergency braking, speed control system, driver fatigue monitoring and lane maintenance assistant. .
At that point, once in the dealership, having the desired options could be obvious or in any case less expensive than in the past.