Cars have not just gotten larger on the outside, they are thicker and denser on the inside. The old Austin Healy "Bugeye" Sprite had an 80" wheelbase, length of 137.01", width of 52.99", and height of 47.2" with the top up.
Yet reasonably tall men--pushing 6 feet--could sit in it in relative comfort.
No way that would happen in a car that size today.
Was it CD who commented upthread about how today's Minis are much bigger than the original Minis?
The original 1959 Morris Mini-Minor--in "saloon" configuration--was even smaller in one dimension than the Bugeye Sprite--wheelbase of 80.2", length of 120.2", width of 55", height of 53". It weighed 1,279 pounds.
The smallest version of the BMW "Mini" has a 97" wheelbase, length of 142.8", width of 66.5", height of 55.9", and weighs 2,315 lbs.