i was in a former life very fit and active serving in the army for 20 years playing every sport possible whenever i could. following an explosion in northern ireland it was found that i had osteo arthiritis in my knees hips upper and lower spine. along with ligament and tendon damage in the knees it meant that the last 3 years in the army became a nightmare of pain rehab and surgery eventually i took redundancy and left. gradually the pain etc got worse and worse and the level of disability increased until the war pension was increased to the level of qualifying for the mobility supplement and then it all went pear shaped when the wife died aged 44 suddenly in dec 03 and subsequently i was diagnosed with ptsd.
even so i managed to maintain a resonable level of flexibility and movement in the joints so the only adaptation i needed rearly is an automatic gearbox so almost any car will suffice in a sense. so this last time i went for a 3dr mini cooper auto seven. its a great car and all was going well for 6 months and then i had a heart attack out of the blue, apparently the anti inflamatories i had been taking for years can in a very small number of cases clog the arteries i just happen to be one of that small number. then during rehab and physio for the heart attack it was discovered i had a slipped disc that is pressing on the sciatic nerve and because of the heart attack they cant operate for at least a year so they have done a spinal injection instead and that is helping at the moment but it may wear off.
so now i struggle getting in and out of the mini and may have to change mid lease if the physio doesnt keep things under control. but to get something easy to get in and out of you end up in something over 4m long huge in my eyes for just not so little me. i have no need for huge boots or lots of passengers but the cars with higher driving positions seem to be getting bigger and bigger. suzuki have the ignis on the scheme and the jimny not yet on that are reasonable after that the smallest ive found is the bmw i3 at just 4m.
all that said it could all change in a heart beat (pun intended) if the spine and knees deteriorate further i will need a wheelchair/scooter so it looks like i may need a crystal ball soon do i go for something that is useful now or anticipate the worst and get something that will cope with what might be. i spent ages testing the mini to make sure i could live with it the way i was at that time and it seemed the right decision at that time what a difference 6 months makes.
the other disabilities dont affect the type or size of car really just the reason i am typing this at silly oclock because i woke up sweating at 3am.