Lots of space in a compact car

Some of the great series in advertising were developed to prove to the customer that buying a small car wouldn’t make a difference in transport space. Off course it did but that would be a bad selling point. Because of the oil crisis in the early seventies average people couldn’t afford to be seen in large cars burning gallons of fuel. So enter the Volkswagen Golf or the Rabbit as it was called in the US. A popular ad showed this ‘5-door’ wonder as a giant car that would offer ample space to five people ‘and their luggage’. Another ad in the series suggested that the car could contain 16 crates of beer (384 bottles) easily. The Renault 4 or 5, the Fiat Panda, the Citroën 2CV or Visa, the Opel Corsa and a lot of other legendary cars promised to do the same and the advertising agencies made up dozens of fairy tales to win this space contest. In the end a lot of people went for the compact car. Obviously it was cheaper, more practical in the city and easier to drive. I wonder though if any Golf owner ever tried to put 16 crates of beer in his precious car.