The spark plug gap that a particular model of car will tolerate is related to the capacity if the car's ignition system.

You need a certain voltage to jump a particular gap.

An old car that has a reccomended gap of .025 might never fire a gap of .040, many old cars would misfire if the gap opened a few thousandths.

When electronic ignitions became common, some manufacturers enlarged the gaps to .080 or so. I think that they got away from larger gaps because the voltages were dangerous and hard on components. Todays engine management systems allow more reasonable plug gaps to perform well. (Lower voltage components are probably cheaper to manufacture also.)
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2 8s & 2 7s 600,000 miles total