Why are cars getting bigger and bigger ??

blun said:
I was discussing this with a friend the other day. People look at the old mini with rose-tinted glasses. It was a horrid, poverty spec, slow deathtrap. A ford ka is infinitely preferable!
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It had the benefits of being both cheap and quite good fun as well as mechanically simple so people could afford to buy it, run it and maintain it. Sure, it doesn't have many of the features that we take for standard now and it's nowhere near as safe as even pretty basic cars available now but it was good to drive.

ubersonic said:
*edit* What is it this forum software has against abbreviations... lol
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Quoted for truth, for the win and other abbreviations of that ilk were added to the word filter as they were becoming overused. It may be that this will be revisited in the future by the moderators but as phrases they seem a little redundant to me, it should be clear if you agree with a particular viewpoint anyway.
 
semi-pro waster said:
It had the benefits of being both cheap and quite good fun as well as mechanically simple so people could afford to buy it, run it and maintain it. Sure, it doesn't have many of the features that we take for standard now and it's nowhere near as safe as even pretty basic cars available now but it was good to drive.
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As a completely honest question, when did you last drive one? Is this rose tinted glasses or did you drive one last week and go "oh, this isn't too bad"? :p
 
blun said:
I was discussing this with a friend the other day. People look at the old mini with rose-tinted glasses. It was a horrid, poverty spec, slow deathtrap. A ford ka is infinitely preferable!
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Cuts deep man. :( :o

I'd would say spec wise my mini is far better than any corsa b or something else available at the time. Full leather and wood interior for starters. I drove mine all the way to the eurospec meet about 3 and 1/2 hours there and 4 hours back. And I didn't kill myself.
 
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It's human nature. To justify their purchase of the next generation of car the consumer expects "more". More space, more power, more feature etc. As a result you get this gradual increase. The car manufacturers just introduce a new model at the bottom end of the range once you get to the point where there is sufficient demand for smaller entry level car (eg Ford KA). The reverse often happens at the top end where the largest model disappears (scorpio/granada) as the model below it ends up occupying the same part of the market.
No doubt increasing safety standards have also played some part in the growth too.
 
Blackhawk47 said:
Yes, yes it is. Well done. ;)
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My point was that you have what I always assumed to be the highest model/spec best version of the Mini? so of course it will be better equipped than a base model Corsa, but a bog standard Mini wont be as well equipped. My '90 supra and the '96 Prelude I had before are/were much better than my neighbours '06 Hyundai coupé but that wasn't a surprise.
 
ubersonic said:
My point was that you have what I always assumed to be the highest model/spec best version of the Mini? so of course it will be better equipped than a base model Corsa, but a bog standard Mini wont be as well equipped. My '90 supra and the '96 Prelude I had before are/were much better than my neighbours '06 Hyundai coupé but that wasn't a surprise.
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Yeah but you have to take into account the fact that technology has improved in cars over the years. Think about it, air con/climate control is pretty much standard on new cars now, as well as power steering, abs, fuel injection and all the rest. I wouldn't cross reference the fact that technology is improving with cars getting bigger.

I suppose something like this would be a comparison to my car back in 1997. :)

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3042083.htm

EDIT: and this mini is very much like mine all be it 3 years younger.
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2243829.htm
 
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PMKeates said:
As a completely honest question, when did you last drive one? Is this rose tinted glasses or did you drive one last week and go "oh, this isn't too bad"? :p
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Slightly over a decade ago, maybe it was just fun in comparison to the other cars my parents had/have but it was small and relatively nippy with good direct steering. I wouldn't mind driving one again tomorrow, the only issues being that it might be difficult to find one in reasonable condition and I'm probably a bit too tall, I found it a bit of a problem even back then.
 
To be fair Blackhawk47 they were phasing out a model that had been going for 40 years. If they didn't specify it like they did it would not have sold at all.
 
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