Rental Car Choice

Rental cars come in sizes like:
Mini
Economy
Compact
Mid Size
Family Size
I'm about your size, and the Compact would suit you and your wife fine. There's quite a bit of price difference stepping up to Mid Size.
Remember that cars picked up at airports and sometimes rail stations often come with up charges for taxes and extra service fees. A center city location for pickup can sometimes be less expensive.
Why don't you look at AutoEurope.com which is a very popular consolidator of rental cars? I've had great service with them, and they're located in New England.

Thanks David,
I guess I did not get to the real point of my query.

Name a UK (or even French) rental car model that someone with my unique requirements might comfortably occupy , might be more to the point.

As I have never had the opportunity to sit (let alone drive) a Mercedes A class, or B or C or an Audi or a Peugeot, for that matter......I am lost. So if anyone out there has any good experiences with a particular "fit" I would appreciate your recommendations.

There's no guarantee you will get a specific model. Car hire is done through class size, so determine which category is big enough for the two of you and your luggage.

Likely a compact will be fine but you could go up a size if you wanted and its within budget. A ford focus or equivalent would be OK. That's the smallest I suggest.

What do you drive at home - then we could figure out comparisons (better not be a Hummer)

No, not a Hummer (but almost as strange), we drive a Honda Element (kind of looks like a toaster). When we were in the market for a car, I fit in two, the Honda Element or a Ford Crown Victoria......so the choice was a toaster or a cop car....we took the toaster. It has a tremendous amount of headroom (a good 5 " over my head) but it is sufficiently unique that it is unfortunately, not a good basis for comparison.
My safest default in the US rental fleet is a minivan. I have rented minivans and jeeps that fit, but have had less success with rentals cars from Volvo and Chrysler. A long time ago I could rent a "full size" American car....Crown Vic, Olds.....but no longer, and certainly not in Europe.
You can drive anything for a day or two, but I try to be careful with longer term rentals.

http://www.parkers.co.uk/car-reviews/ is one of the best sites for checking out potential cars that get listed by the rental firms.
www.travelsupermarket.com is quite good for finding car hire firms.

Don’t assume that a car with bigger overall dimensions will give you more leg room. What matters is how far the seat runner goes back from the pedals and what the headroom is. Someone mentioned Mercedes A Class. This tends to have lowish roofline. I would avoid French cars such as Peugeot, Citroen and Renault as they are especially poor on leg room.

I am 6ft 1inch and find that the Nissan Pulsar just about has enough legroom and is one of the best for headroom currently available in the UK. It also has excellent visibility though the suspension is not that brilliant. Go to Parkers site and check it out.

Ford Focus has just about enough legroom but nobody would want to sit behind a tall driver and the roofline is lower than the Pulsar.

Thank you James. I will look as soon as we get back from our visa appointment in Miami.

I was watching a new series Rick Steves England last night and realized I could watch it again just for the cars.....

We were in the UK for 23 days May & June 2016. We rented a vehicle from Enterprise in Bath and returned it in Edinburgh. We requested an automatic. What we were supplied with was a SUV the size of a Honda CRV or Nissan Rogue. It was a spanish made Seat Alhambra and it was wonderful, easy to drive, lots of room.

Have a wonderful trip.

I will look as soon as we get back from our visa appointment in Miami.

Visa? For 21 days in England?

This is one segment of a far longer trip....good catch, but no thread hijacking, Nigel.

I also found this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_size_class#Europe in an old thread.

MY problem is that I have no idea how I would fit in a Peugeot (insert model name here). I did realize that we will be in London for a month before we need the car so I can "refine my reservation" with a trip to the car hire firm....assuming they have stock and don't mind test sitting.

Ford Mondeo or VW Jetta should be comfortable for you ? I think these are common UK rental options.

If you are considering a Peugeot 308 - it has very poor driver leg room. (You will be driving with bent legs)!