In the year of celebrations for the fiftieth anniversary of the XNUMX protests the portal DriveK, a site that deals with the choice and configuration of new cars, asked itself a question: how has the Italian car changed, a symbol of that era of economic boom and cultural revolution, in these fifty years? Fashions, colors and styles have conquered the market and run their course, some cars have passed without too many regrets, others are back in vogue in a new and nostalgic guise. Comparing the 20 most requested cars by Italians in 1968 and the 20 most searched for on the web in 2018, we discover that the 2018 one has come a long way: after 50 years the most sought-after car has become 11% longer, wider than the 18% and even heavier by 57%.
Over the years, Italians have focused on comfort and they fell in love with increasingly voluminous cars and, needless to say, that run faster: the maximum speed of the average car among the most requested has in fact increased by almost 32%, going from 132 km/h in 1968 to 174 km /h today. Thanks to technological innovation, consumption is decreasing: the average decrease was equal to 26%.
In fifty years, the range of models has increased fivefold
The 20 cars in the 68 ranking represented over 20% of the manufacturers' offer: in 1968, 89 models were on sale, against the current 501; by number of registrations, however, those 20 alone were 85% of the total number of new cars put on the road. The evident concentration of the offer has contributed to making the Fiat 500 or the Alfa Romeo Giulia GT Junior iconic, but perhaps it was not enough to make others pass the test of time: how many of the younger ones remember the panoramic Bianchina from Autobianchi?
In the sign of amarcord it turns out that the car that cost the least in the price list was the legendary Fiat 500, available for just 475 lire: this figure, revalued on the basis of the ISTAT consumer price index, amounts to just over 4.700 euros. We are really far from the amount needed to buy the cheapest of the most popular cars today, the Dacia Sandero, whose list price starts at 7.450 euros (a good 56% more).
If the Alfa Romeo 1750, with a list price of 1.865.000 lire, was the most expensive of those considered in the analysis, today the most expensive of the 20 most requested cars on the net is the Peugeot 3008, which has a price starting price list exceeding 26 thousand euros. The 1100 kilos of the Alfa Romeo 1750 also made it the heaviest car, but they were nothing compared to the 1.505 kilos of today's Jeep Compass. The Autobianchi 500 Giardiniera was the most ecological car of the time and had an average of 5,2 l/100km, while today, with 3,8 l/100km, the Renault Kadjar is the model that consumes the least.
Impossible not to notice that in 1968 Italians mostly chose Italian brands: the first five cars were FIAT and 8,5 out of 10 cars were produced by national manufacturers. The only foreigners in the standings were the NSU Prinz IV, the Simca 1000, the Opel Kadett, the Renault 4 and the Volkswagen 1200 – the legendary beetle.
«Given that in 50 years the number of vehicle models in circulation has increased fivefold, it is easy to understand the disorientation of those who, struggling with the purchase of a new car, do not know how to make their choice. This is why services such as those provided by DriveK are needed, which guide the user in his decision-making process in a transparent and super partes manner – declares Marco Marlia, CEO of MotorK, the company that owns the DriveK brand».
