Large family car
A mid-size car (occasionally referred to as an intermediate) is the North American/Australian standard for an automobile with a size equal to or greater than that of a compact. In Europe mid-sizers are referred to as D-segment or large family cars.
The automobile that defined this size in the United States was the Rambler Six that was introduced in 1956, although it was called "compact" car at that time. The mid-size class then grew out of the compacts of the early-1960s. For example, the Ford Fairlane was referred to at its introduction in 1962 as a compact intermediate because it was barely bigger than its close relative, the Falcon. General Motors' first entries in the class, such as the Oldsmobile F-85, Pontiac Tempest, and Buick Special were not mechanically related to the compact Chevrolet Corvair, but were similar in size.
At that time vehicle classes were defined more by their wheelbase than interior passenger space and cargo capacity. The class began to grow rapidly, and for the next ten years each expansion in size in the full-size field was followed by a proportionate growth in the mid-size models. By the mid-1960s, they were as big as the full-size cars of the mid-1950s. By the mid-1970s, they were nearly as big as the full-size cars of the mid-1960s.
During the 1970s, the intermediate class was generally defined as vehicles with wheelbases between 112 inches (2,845 mm) and 118 inches (2,997 mm). A turning point occurred in the late 1970s, when rising fuel costs and government fuel economy regulations caused all car classes to shrink, and in many cases to blur. Automakers moved previously "full-size" nameplates to smaller platforms. New "official" size designations in the U.S. were introduced by the EPA, which defined market segments by passenger and cargo space. Formerly mid-sized cars that were built on the same platform, like the AMC Matador sedan, had a combined passenger and cargo volume of 130 cubic feet (3.68 m3), and were now considered "full-size" automobiles.
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