Car size perspective in pictures

In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :

Nope, not lowered. I know the Ford was a SD but I was so struck at the difference when I parked that I had to take the picture. 
 

I mean, blow up the picture and look at the mirrors. 
 

3rd gen Camaro next to 5th gen Holden.

RacetruckRon said:

33 year old truck vs 10 year old Titan, just need a new 2500 truck to compare how ridiculously large trucks are now

I have a 1966 Ford F-100.  It looks large parked by itself, but next to a late model F-150 it's positively tiny.  I think a truck bed should be at a height where two farmers can lean on the side while staring off across the fields.

glueguy (Forum Supporter) said:

I know the Ford was a SD but I was so struck at the difference when I parked that I had to take the picture. 

I mean, blow up the picture and look at the mirrors.

Yes, probably still notably grown. But even more so than the trucks themselves, standard vs towing mirrors exaggerates the difference. GMT800 tow mirrors size perspective:

2010 Polaris Ranger parked next to a 1988 Suzuki Samurai. 

In reply to pinchvalve (Forum Supporter) :

The one thing that chart doesn't show is how tall they are nowadays.

preach said:

If you know what size a 914 is, check it out next to a 917:

Well, that's a shock and a half!!

In reply to Toyman! :

That is funny!

All the 50's racers from Europe were small. My 550 looks like a toy in real life. 

I find that pulling a car into your garage space is a pretty good way to judge relative size.  The CX-9 is big.  I have to take reasonable care to split the left/right evenly or I might scrape a mirror.  Wife's Camry fits easier.  Something like an '08 VW Rabbit feels tiny, but leaves lots of room around it if you happen to be changing the oil and doing some repairs.

On those rare occasions when I back the '85 Chevy Dooley in to use as a mobile platform on which to set a stepladder to change out fluorescent tubes, I have to fold the mirrors in.  The rear fenders over the duals just do fit my 9' wide doors, which is about right since it fills the lane on most roads from center stripe to edge.

Forgot I had this one:  Bugeye Sprite, Porsche 906, Triumph Bonneville, Ford Gran Torino:

In fairness, the 906 body was removed from the chassis in this pic, so it probably sits ~ 8" higher normally.

Every time I saw this thread come up I thought, I have the perfect pic on my computer at home. Of course, but the time I got home I forgot. Well, I remembered.

Peabody said:

Every time I saw this thread come up I thought, I have the perfect pic on my computer at home. Of course, but the time I got home I forgot. Well, I remembered.

Meanwhile.

(From the "why does the Europa have that big hump" thread.  Answer: because that is where the engine is.  "Why is the engine that high up?"  Cue dozens of photos showing how tiny Europas are)

I have heard from some people my height that they can drive Europas.  Then I found a really clean Twin Cam being sold cheap, by someone who bought it before he tried it on... and he was about 6" shorter than me 

I'll have some fun ones for this thread after Sunday. Taking my bugeye to an autocross. 

In the meantime, my primary racecar. 

I have a picture of a friend standing beside an Alpine A110. It looks like a normal car...until I point out she's 4'10". I'll have to dig that print out, it's with the one of me beside a Ferrari 250 GTO. Hell of a museum that was...

But I'll just put this one here for now.

I've posted this one before... the Kia Soul on the right being the 'small' modern car...

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

I want to see a photo of a human being inside of a Europa. I'm not really claustrophobic but I started to freak out a little that one time I tried to replace the clutch master cylinder on my son's Honda Prelude without removing the driver's seat.

Edit: I just searched Bing.com: Lotus Europe with people inside with the door open and not one photo showed up of a human sitting inside a Europa.

In reply to VolvoHeretic :

I searched for a photo of a Europa actually being driven and only found one.  I've seen more photographic proof that Bigfoot exists than I have that a functional Lotus Europa is anything more than a fairy tale meant to beguile overly optimistic car enthusiasts. It's a cryptomechanicid.

In reply to Apis Mellifera :

Way way back in the 80's when I was autocrossing my hotrod 510 I saw a Europa get driven through the cones, by a person, in the car, and not in the paddock with a remote, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it! Of course that person may possibly have been a 4 ft 2' contortionist. I don't recall....

In reply to Apis Mellifera :

I've seen 2 Europas being driven in the last few years, one at the GRM Challenge and one at the Picton Autoslalom. Mind you at least one of them had a full powertrain swap...

In reply to GameboyRMH :

Sure thing, buddy.  Right after you saw Nessie drag racing a Maserati Bi-Turbo.

Nowhere else for this story I guess but this year at solo nats I had a chance to chat with the owner of th EMod Lotus Europa.  A gentleman in his 70's and only had his left arm (the right ended at the elbow).

He managed to crawl in and out of this particularly tiny machine and perform at an amazing level!  I tried it, thinking I'm a fit and trim 53 year old with two functioning arms how hard can it be?  Dudes, it's a challenge.  It's tight to get in and out of and it's cramped inside.   My hat is off to Chuck Sieber, a genuine rock star in the autocross world.