ARE CARS GETTING TOO BIG?

The increasing popularity of SUVs has prompted concern over the concept of 'carspreading'. We explore why cars are getting bigger and heavier, plus the effect this has on motorists and other road users.

- Tom Jervis [e-mail]

SIXTY years ago, the most popular car in the UK was the Austin/Morris 1100: a small family model that measured roughly 3.7 metres long, 1.6 metres wide and weighed around 830kg. Today, the UK's bestseller is the Ford Puma SUV: once again a small family car, but measuring 4.2 metres long, 1.8 metres wide and weighing in at a comparatively portly 1,300kg - and even more in fully electric Gen-E guise.

The recent expansion of cars' size and weight – often referred to as 'carspreading' – has become a contentious topic in recent years, with many questioning whether we've prioritised kerb appeal above the likes of safety and the environment.

As a case study of how much cars have grown over the past six decades, we brought together a lovingly restored original Fiat 600 hatchback and the new Fiat 600e, both small family models in their respective era, despite the newer EV's fashionable SUV form. However, as we slowly found out, today's definition of a 'small' car varies wildly from that of 60 years ago.

WHY ARE CARS GETTING BIGGER?

To understand whether larger cars do have a tangible impact - and to what extent - it helps to first look at how we got here. There's a multitude of reasons why cars have gradually grown in size, yet the biggest influences can be summed up by what we'll refer to as the three Ps: 'Protection', 'Pride' and 'Profitability'.

We'll come back to the first 'P' in a moment because it's important to highlight how the other two feed into one another. For years, large 4x4s were typically viewed as work vehicles and not typically a symbol of status. This changed in 1970 with the introduction of the original Range Rover; boasting incredible luxury and uncompromising off-road capability, the British icon kickstarted the idea that cars of this kind could be desirable.