We've been through this before, haven't we?
06/11/2020
If you ask SUV buyers why they would buy a car in this category, you often hear that it is easier to get in (thanks to the height), that you have a good overview (from above) and that there is plenty of space.
And then we came across a test report by Werner Oswald in the magazine "auto motor und sport" from 1957. The new Ford V8, model 1957, was driven and Oswald complained with the following words: "... the car has also effectively become a few centimeters lower. It seems to us that the acceptable limit has now been reached, because the entrance is nowhere near as comfortable as one would actually expect in a large car, and the headroom above the seats can no longer tolerate any further reduction if it is not to become impossible to keep your hat on in the car. ..."
So even over 60 years ago, people appreciated a certain height in the vehicle in order to be able to get in and out easily. And at 152.5 cm high, the 1956 Ford offered this better than its successor, which was "only" 150 cm high. In terms of width, however, at 1.955 meters, the 57 was a few centimeters wider than the 56 version at 1.928 meters.
Do the dimensions look familiar? The standard version of a Porsche Macan (pictured above) measures 1.624 meters in height and 1.923 meters in width. The difference to the Ford of the fifties is almost negligible. But the Macan is a popular SUV today, the Ford was simply a huge sedan by local standards.
But what we actually want to say is this: Height is not dependent on a vehicle category and the silhouette that comes with it, but on the criteria applied in the design. Ford saloons became flatter and flatter over the years because that's what customers wanted in terms of elegance. Even before the war, almost all cars were taller than they were wide ...
