Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) Trends in Car Design

On RubyMog's photo thread, several members posted that they preferred the look of the narrow bodied cars; as I do.

In a recent Autocar, Steve Cropley published the following comment in his weekly diary:
"A couple of years ago the big concern about trends in car design was burgeoning weight, but car engineers have since focused on the problem and are working to make cars lighter. Now, I believe we should worry about width. Successive new models' manoeuvrability is being seriously harmed in our towns by sideways growth of an inch or two at every model change. Where two MGB's used to be able to pass at a combined speed of 60 mph in an ancient street, two Porsche Boxsters don't stand a prayer. Yet designers still stand beside new creations and proudly talk about 'pushing the wheels out further'. It has to stop, chaps.

It sometimes strikes me that - dimensionally speaking - cars are designed to oppose, rather than fit, the practical requirements of their environment. If new models still fitted down streets and weighed what they did even 5 to 10-years ago, I'll bet the efficiency boost would be worth all the high-efficiency fuel injectors you can eat."

This is particularly relevant to those of us based in the UK and certainly a hoon through narrow country lanes in a current trad, or Aero (more of a GT than a pure sportscar) confirms that the fact that it is not only in 'ancient streets' that this width is an issue. Living in Eton, with traffic calming all down the High Street - ground clearance is also an issue, and these two factors are why we sold the Maserati Granturismo after only a very short ownership.

Anybody else got any views on this issue, other than the 4x4 brigade, who also add weight and height to the unnecessary list!

Best
Brian

P.S. Our next daily driver will address the width issue.

All true. We're in Salcombe quite soon and there are two gated entries on the coastal road there, which would have restricted 4x4 use, but the council have lost their resolve, because only one bollard survives at each gate, and the kerb has been rounded at the other side. Car size could be managed by width restrictions, or height restrictions in car parks and around schools, but it would be very unpopular. Freedom of choice blah blah.

Funny thing about width, speaking as an ex MGB owner - on narrow Devon lanes I was often squeezed really hard, by oncoming drivers not slowing at all due to the narrowness of the MGB, whereas in a more normal width car, the other driver has to slow down.

My drive is narrow so I'm limited to what I can get down anyway, which is no bad thing.

I totally agree that the growing car width has to stop.

Increasing width makes parking and ferry-crossing a more and more dangerous activity. Wider cars, wider doors and fatter people makes it more and more difficult to avoid shopping centre dents and scratches.

Harald

Brian, some thoughts on your topic!

Manufactuers build to make a profit, hence employing folks...Europe most cetaintly is a different market
than the states, different roads, with narrower widths...
That said many manufactuers look to the states for the lion
share of their cars to be imported then sold. Manufactuers
like Fiat...did not do well in the states because of size,
reliabilty,dealer network...although Chrysler sure needs them to sell well in the near future...

Without the states, some(not all) manufactuers might struggle
with the bottom line, so the states do dictate to some extent what some manufactuers build...Porsche might be an example
here as I think the Panamera was built first for the US market, not neccessarily the European market because of size and width.

I agree cars are to big, to much weight...width for manufactuers
with performance in mind becomes an entirely different criteria,
as width can be the deciding factor in whether a car handles well or not.

My guess would be if China becomes a major import partner for auto manufactuers small cars from a design standpoint
benefit and manufactuers will build more if they can help the balance sheet... In yesterdays manufacturing world small cars
were not money makers...but in a new retooled manufacturing world, who knows startups like Telsa, Fisker...could thrive although a
point to make is these startups today are driven by what propels them, not their size!

To throw another though into the mix, many car makers do seem to allow their car models to grow over time (the Volkswagen Golf being an excellent example); however, there also seems to be a trend, by the same companies, to introduce smaller cars to fill the gap left by their established range getting porky. Nissan have back-filled the space left by the Micra, as it puts on middle-aged spread, with the Pixo. Are they increasing the size of their cars just to create space for more model lines, in hope of casting a larger customer fishing net?

As for small cars (including narrow ones), they are fine for city driving but awful on the open road and motorways. I am still waiting for a company to build a small car that doesn't get buffeted like a kite on the motorway and make you feel like a squashed tin can waiting to happen when you drive it on A and Fast-B roads.

Car ownership for many people, imho, follows the MAD doctrine. If there was a size limited placed on all cars and commercial vehicles - capping the height, width and length, many people would be motivated to choose smaller transport; however, as a daily driver (and someone who does 20,000+ miles a year in all weathers and in various countries), I wouldn't be motivated to drive a micro car until all the lorries and other behemoths (SUVS, vans, large sedans, etc) are off the roads.

Interesting input guys, but I'm really with you mmm. Whilst the American market has obviously unduly influenced the type of cars that we drive in Europe, the Asia Pacific markets are becoming increasingly relevant and according to J.D.Power Asia Pacific: "Apart from the U.S., these two (China and India) are the defining markets for global success".

Obviously the market in this region will be for smaller cars and whilst cars like the Fiesta, for example, have been regarded as cheap and cheerful in the developed world, it has to come loaded with extras for the Chinese/Indian markets as the Chinese car buyer in particular wants their small cars to be really neat.

In India, Ford has just launched the Ford Figo a smaller trendy car (see the peach-coloured dashboard) designed for a hypothetical Indian named Sandeep. He works in IT, finance or other service industry (call-centre ) and tools around on a motorcycle. This will be his first car costing roughly $8,400 and 70% of the cars sold in India are in the same size and price range. Chevy have the new Beat which is slightly cheaper ($7,600) and it is also quite loaded and stylish, especially considering the price point.

Both cars are also due to be launched in China and the Asia Pacific markets now account for some 25% of GM's total sales. VW, the market leader in China, intends investing $5.4 billion there in the next 3-years and launch seven locally-produced models this year alone.

Going forward therefore and in the age of the GBP6.00 gallon in Europe, these two disparate influences will no doubt have an effect on the cars that we drive, the downward pressure on car size from the models produced in large numbers in the Far East and the increasing use of hybrids and advanced aerodynamics to maximise fuel consumption in the 1st World.

Luckily Morgan seem to have a strategy in place for this going forward, as the LifeCar showed that they can produce cars incorporating cutting edge technology; and it's much narrower than any Morgan currently in production.