Earlier today, our own Daydreaming Designer The Bishop wrote about a way to refine the look of Jeep’s new off-road-targeted battery electric vehicle, which they’re calling the Recon, which is short for reconstituted onions, the food of choice for the Jeep Recon design team. At least that’s what I heard. Anyway, the specifics of what The Bishop was trying to do was related to the look of the Recon without its doors. Because like a number of other off-road-friendly vehicles, you can legally drive the Recon without doors.
And I don’t mean drive it off-road, where there are no laws and life is cheap, I mean you can drive it legally, on American roads! Well, in most states, at least, and it looks like in at least a decent number of other countries (United Kingdom, Japan, India, but not Germany or China) you can drive a car with no doors pretty much anywhere you can legally drive a car, and, if you think about it, that’s an incredible thing, worthy of celebration.
I mean, just think about it, especially in the context of modern car safety requirements and standards. We currently live in an era where cars are absolutely crammed full of airbags like how Sam Rothstein wanted blueberries to be crammed into muffins at the Tangiers hotel. Or how cars now beep at you, relentlessly, if seatbelts aren’t fastened for rear seat passengers and they remind you to check the back seat for forgotten children every time you leave and they have automatic braking and rear-view cameras or even 360° cameras and ultrasonic sensors in bumpers and on and on and on. They’re wildly safe in every possible way, thanks to vast arrays of legal requirements. And yet, at the same time, it’s completely legal to drive on any highway like this:
Look at that. That’s what we call freedom, people.
It’s just part of the beautiful madness of how we view safety here in America. We’re kind of all or none when it comes to this stuff. We have incredibly stringent safety requirements and carmakers build remarkably safe cars with doors that have many regulations and restrictions on things like door handles or impact intrusion bars and side curtain air bags or we say, well, if you don’t want all that, how about nothing at all? How does that sound to you? Nothing?
It’s even noted right there in the official Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) Title 49 Subtitle B Chapter V Part 571 Subpart B § 571.214, among a number of other places (emphasis mine):
(c) Exclusions from S9 (vehicle-to-pole test). The following vehicles are excluded from S9 (vehicle-to-pole test) (wholly or in limited part, as set forth below):
(1) Motor homes;
(2) Ambulances and other emergency rescue/medical vehicles (including vehicles with fire-fighting equipment) except police cars;
(3) Vehicles with a lowered floor or raised or modified roof and vehicles that have had the original roof rails removed and not replaced;
(4) Vehicles in which the seat for the driver or any front outboard passenger has been removed and wheelchair restraints installed in place of the seat are excluded from meeting the vehicle-to-pole test at that position; and
(5) Vehicles that have no doors, or exclusively have doors that are designed to be easily attached or removed so that the vehicle can be operated without doors.
That phrasing, talking about vehicles without doors or having “doors that are designed to be easily attached or removed so that the vehicle can be operated without doors,” shows up in a number of places in the FMVSS documents, and gives some clarity to the permission of doorlessness: it’s only for cars that were designed to have removable doors. Just yanking the doors off your grandma’s old Delta 88 isn’t going to cut it.
But if your vehicle was designed with doors that are easy to yank off? Have at it!
Well, almost have at it – there is one thing to consider, and that’s mirrors. Some states require side-view mirrors on both sides of the vehicle, some only require a driver’s side mirror, and some just require an “inside” rear-view mirror. There’s a full breakdown of mirror laws by state here, but essentially it’s like this:
All three mirrors (both sides and inside): Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania
Two mirrors (driver’s side and one other, inside or passenger side): Alaska, California, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia, Washington, Wyoming
One driver’s side mirror: Connecticut, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah
At least one mirror, somewhere: every other state
… so if you can pull that off, you can drive with doorless abandon.
Some vehicles, like the new Ford Bronco, have provisions to mount mirrors on the front cowl below the windshield, where Jeep Wranglers don’t have a straightforward, ready-to-go solution, though there are aftermarket options.
But I’m kind of getting away from my main point here: it’s objectively bonkers – wonderful, yet bonkers – that driving without doors of any kind is still legal. Our culture can seem so safety-obsessed at times that it feels stifling, but then you remember things like this. I mean, I suppose as long as motorcycles exist, this isn’t really all that big a deal, comparatively, but in the automotive space, it does seem like a really novel exception.
In Japan, there are requirements to have some sort of restraining device, like a chain or simple bar like on that Honda Vamos up there, just to keep you from flopping out, but here in America, we don’t even bother with that. Well, I suppose we have seat belt laws, so that likely fulfills the anti-flop role.
Driving without doors feels like an improbable joy; it’s not especially convenient or maybe even pleasant at highway speeds, but for just richarding around town on a summer day? It’s oddly fantastic.
I’m just happy we still have the ability to legally do this; it feels like a privilege that is in constant, if mild, peril of being rescinded, so I think it’s important to take a moment and reflect on doorless driving as a nice little perk of life here on Earth.
That’s all. I just wanted us to take a moment to appreciate this.
Top graphic image: Volkswagen
It’s the best. The absolute BEST. Top down, doors off, and a backroad trip on a hot summer day is just one of those driving experiences that nobody “gets” until they do it.
And as far as everyone going on about safety, 1) you’re still probably safer getting t boned in a doorless jeep or bronco than in any 80s or 90s era car and 2) It’s like they’ve completely forgotten that motorcycles, slingshots, little British roadsters, and bicyclists are also on the road and completely legal.
I have, and I would take a motorbike or british roadster over that particular experience since they’re designed for roads. Offroading would be a different story but I do that infrequently enough that I have yet to take the doors or top off of my 4Runner.
Yeah, this country’s messed up bigly.
You whaaaaaat?
Damnit. Now I need a Honda Vamos in my life,
This comment is to appease my avatar.
To be clear, FMVSS regs are about what is required to SELL a new car in the US. Once you buy it, they have no real meaning. Emissions related stuff is regulated by the EPA. Once you buy the thing, whether what you do to it is legal is between you and the state you are driving it in, and/or where it is registered, not the Feds.
In theory, if something is legal in the state the car is registered in, it should be legal in the rest. But good luck with that fight if you get a ticket for, as an example, excessive window tint. They know full well that the expense of fighting an out-of-state ticket isn’t worth it most of the time so it’s a nice little revenue generator.
I have a friend who is a big Wrangler nut. I absolutely HATE riding on those things doorless, and would never do it given the choice.
Under Biden, the federal government was aggressively going after private owners that had modified engines, using EPA laws.
They halted sales and have crushed vehicles.
This seems related to the anti kei car nonsense, among others.
Even in Tennessee we have had extremely odd and illegal actions from the state DMV.
Local offices have no idea what is happening.
Correct – but that is a completely different set of laws from the FMVSS regulations. I have no problem with that at all – I like breathable air.
Though the Kei car BS is idiotic as long as *motorcycles* are still legal. But ultimately, it is within a state’s purview to decide what they will and will not allow on public roads in that state.
My new tags were blocked without explanation. That’s the state refusing to accept money.
Friend that bought a Taurus minivan was flagged years after he had scrapped it.
They claimed he lied about what he paid, which wasn’t even possible since a bank was involved.
In his case, they threatened his security clearance, job and career, over something that never happened.
There must be many more cases, and Tennessee is very laissez faire compared to many states in most DMV areas.
The DMV was excused from ALL due process a long time ago though.
As for crushing cars over unproven dirty exhaust and unmeasurable damage, I don’t buy any of it.
Extracting performance ultimately always results from efficiency.
German green party testing showed that supercars at speed traded one type of pollution for another under load, but were still at least as clean as the average car, as they were on each mile for a much shorter time.
Testing on high performance race engines often shows they are cleaner than production engines.
EPA rules are designed for neglected, abused worst case scenarios.
This is about cosplaying environmentalism to hide fascism. It’s war on cars and people.
Again, state vs. Federal. You can always move somewhere more car-friendly. And be careful who you vote for.
That whole interference with interstate trade thing will likely come to a head soon enough.
It appears to be federal activity driving the anti car thing, through the state DMVs when possible.
I’m very careful voting, not like there are options these days.
Oh there are options- Facists, or not-Facists. The Democrats are far from perfect, and I only grudgingly put a D next to my name (lifelong very Independent), but they do actually TRY to keep the needs of the little guys in mind. The Republicans don’t even pretend to care about anyone with less than $100M anymore, and actively piss on their voter base and call it “trickle down economics”.
The states largely do as they please once cars are sold. I don’t get who is driving the anti-Kei car thing though. That one is baffling. Why does anybody care in the slightest about a tiny handful of oddball Japanese whackadoodle wrong-side drive cars that are too small for the average ‘Murican to give the first shit about? I am actually shocked that insurance companies are willing to insure them – I would think THAT would be the real kiss of death for the things. Mind you I do think they are cool.
My comment glitched and erased.
The federal group orchestrating all this is governmental or a pseudo govt group.
It’s hilarious to hear politicians complain when the Democrats forced voters to vote for trump and are still willfully oblivious that every action costs ten of millions more votes. Look at what the Democrats actually do. I was a lifelong democratic voter and activist and I can’t even picture a way the “Democrats” could reform themselves at this point.
The Democratic party is openly at war against most honest citizens and human rights and democracy.
Most political failures breakdown to multiple choice, corruption or incompetence. The Democrats click both boxes now.
Shockingly, Sanders seems to be the only politician with a grasp of the crash and burn strategy the Democrats cling to.
He keeps spelling it out, leaving sleepyhead politicians oblivious that dismissing voters may not win them votes.
Pay attention to their actual actions and vote against fascism with me.
I’m not happy with trump, but the “democrats” are like a paroled bank robber that robs a bank as soon as they get the chance.
If the gop drops their failed agendas, now that there are as many Democratic party refugees as original supporters voting GOP, the “democratic” party will fade like mist.
but not as fun as riding in a helicopter with the doors off
Or a Citabria. We used to rent one , take the door off, and check the fields.
Also it took me a long time to recognize the allusion in the topshot text 🙂
It’s a really good one and subtle enough to easily miss.
But what, exactly, are they implying about door-less drivers?
The funny thing about my gladiator and presumably wranglers, you can remove the doors even had a tool kit to do it. However if you try to back up with the door open it won’t let you, auto shifts to park. Doors off no problem but doors on apparently not an option.
My son is a Dodge/Jeep mechanic and says positioning cars on a lift is a pain because they won’t let you reverse with the door open. I’ll have to mention to him he should just take off the doors!
If the seat belt is fastened they will back up with the door open just fine.
When the car detects that there’s an ass in the seat, but said ass is not securely strapped in, that’s when you get the auto parking brake.
Yep, thankfully I discovered this because backing my boat into it’s garage is a pain unless you open the door and look backwards along the side. I have a long piece of tubing I know to align with that you can’t see through the rear view mirror or rear camera because of the giant boat in the way.
Have you thought of using those wheel skates for final locating?
They go under tires and allow them to move any direction.
Seem especially useful for boats that hibernate part of the year.
Jacking up the trailer would be a lot more effort. Plus my boat + trailer weighs 7k lbs and it’s a 2 axle trailer. The real problem is I’m normally backing it in when it’s daylight, while the garage (actually a 40×40 building with a 12′ door) is dark inside, so the bright light outside washes out the detail inside – especially with the factory tint dimming things even more. Lastly, it has about a 1 foot wiggle room in side to side placement, so not much need to move it side to side because if it goes into the garage it’s in the correct position. Front to back placement is easy, because there is a ridge in the concrete just before the door, I stop when the rear tires of the truck hit the ridge and everything is perfect.
Your approach makes sense in your case then, since you’ve maxed usage already.
I’ve seen people that needed more space to work around, so shoved boats or trailers against a wall, and even turned boats sideways in the back of a deep garage.
I have a lot of open space now, but my active parking space is limited, on the top of a hill.
My newest trailer is a tiny but rugged bike trailer, and I can barely move it by hand on flat ground.
An old towing trick is using soap or sand under tires to jink a car or trailer sideways.
I’ve done this too.
I put the boat in the garage first, and work around it for everything else Also, the 12′ door is just for the boat. I have another 10′ door for everything else. I live really close to the boat ramp, so I use it a lot in the summer. Having to do a bunch of moving around every time would be a hassle.
I had to check this before responding because i was certain it didn’t make a difference, but you are right. At least in mine, you can drive with the door open so long as buckled, or vice versa. The only time I would do this is backing into my garage to check clearance, presumably I hadn’t bothered to buckle the belt when it happened.
They needed to throw some Summer fun into the mix as cold weather operation was not so much of a consideration. Way back in time I was conscripted ( as the only hourly tech) to go on a dealer trade for the VW dealer I was working for at the time. Drove a new ’74 Standard Beetle downstate to bring back a new Thing. It was a bitterly cold Winter day, and the two sources of heat that came standard ( gas heater and exhaust heat exchangers) offered little comfort. The upside was looking at the payment check that was sent with me. There was a great big $300-some dollars of profit to the dealer on that vehicle… which told me that all the real profit was made by the service department. This after the general manager had informed all us techs that “We’re carrying you guy back here”.
If you have an impact gun, aren’t most doors easy to attach and remove?
Anything is easy to remove if you have enough rust.
So side-door protection beams are required, but doors themselves are not? How does that work, exactly?
Safety Third
It’s funny, because it’s true.
“…the permission of doorlessness: it’s only for cars that were designed to have removable doors.”
I only read that as a carveout to make easily-removable doors possible. FMVSS doesn’t generally concern itself with what individual owners do to cars after first sale, that’s usually in states’ purview. EPA is another matter since exhaust emissions A) Directly affect everyone in the vicinity, not just the car’s occupants, and B)Can drift across state lines.
Federal rules are interesting sometimes.
If you use a commercial truck for personal use, most federal requirements and penalties do not apply.
Also, as part of the same rule, semi trailers transporting bodies are also exempt.
I do not have an explanation for the second part.
State laws are more tenuous, so it’s advisable to carry a copy of this section with you when it applies.
This only became technically legal in Pennsylvania fairly recently (last few years, I think?), albeit I doubt it was ever actually punished beforehand.
The legislation until the recent change basically said “You can drive with no doors as long as the vehicle was purchased that way. You can’t drive on public roads with no doors if it came with them.”
Anyway, I imagine it’s not actually easy to buy a Jeep and be like “yeah, I’d like to select the door delete option”
Near as I can tell, doors were *not* standard equipment on the CJ-5, CJ-6, or CJ-7. Therefore, no delete option was necessary. If you wanted doors, they were an option or could be obtained from the aftermarket.
Okay, fair; I more intended to mean “this century”.
That’s on me. I’m an old guy. When I think “Jeep”, I think “CJ”.
Cars began without doors. Since there is a precedent set there better be a damn good reason to take that freedom away. “increased Healthcare costs from accidents” doesn’t count either.
Because you, your friends, your family, and to a lesser degree, the economy do better as long as you stay alive, giving strong incentives to try to keep you that way?
Because it’s such an incredibly rare thing the costs in steps taken to make it illegal and the loss of human happiness from the few people that actually do it outweigh the tiny risk of injury/death.
People begin without clothes. Since there is a precedent set there better be a damn good reason to take that freedom away.
Chainsaws began without chain clutches and hand guards and kickback bars. Since there is a precedent set there better be a damn good reason to take that freedom away.
Airplanes began without mandatory inspections and traceability. Since there is a precedent set there better be a damn good reason to take that freedom away.
Precedent by itself is rarely, and possibly never, a justification for anything.
You kind of proved my point,
You can make your own chainsaw without those things and it would be perfectly Legal.
You can fly an ultralight without inspection and traceability but any bigger and you need them. which there Is a damn good reason, planes can crash and kill other people!
AAMVA says “Now that you brought it up…”
I used to drive my Jeep around Vancouver all the time with the doors off, and often with the windshield down. Of course, Vancouver is in many ways a small town so there was seldom a need to jump on the freeway and get bugs (or road grit) in your teeth at 60 miles an hour. Even on surface roads, driving with the doors off and windshield down in a vehicle with the aerodynamics of a cinderblock made the air flow of glass-free driving feel more like leaning face-first out an airplane window, but I still loved it. I’ve got a two door Bronco now, and while I haven’t had a chance to drive with the doors off yet, I have a feeling it’s going to be a different experience here in LA on the 405.
I have never really like the windshield down driving experience. Top off, doors off is great.
To door coup?
Great! Now do windshields.
Is it true that in Idaho you can drive without a windshield, but you still have to have windshield wipers? What about other state-specific windshield laws? International too!
My step father build a dune buggy. A really weird looking one, too. For instance he used square tubing instead of round. I had to drive it to school too (well, unless I wanted to walk.) The state (NC) we live in started cracking down on inspections, and one reason some stations would fail it was no windshield. So he finally chose to put a plexiglass windscreen in it. That worked a couple of years and then they started complaining about it not having windshield wipers. I was gone from the house and didn’t drive it anymore, so I stopped caring by that point.
Door free is a Wunderful way to drive.
Door free as free
as the wind blows
As free as long as the gas flows
Door free to follow your heart.
Nice!
No Mini-moke reference?
If I have to drive without doors then I will have to wear pants
Depends on the county.
That’s an interesting point. Say you got into your car pantsless, in the privacy of your garage, then drove off and got pulled over. What happens if the cop tells you to get out of the car?
Many states recognize the right to drive naked, even in vehicles that aren’t too private, like motorcycles.
Amazing.
It really is, considering how arbitrary so. many rules are!
I even remember one Andrew Pterodactyl Collins on The Old Site writing an article about cruising his JK with the doors off and windshield down.
Is doorless an option with the 2CV?
Would assume so, as every part of that car is “designed to be easily attached or removed”?
The doors come off an early 2CV with no tools, just open them and slide them up. The hood just slides off to either side too.
Later cars have a couple of hinges at the front edge of the front doors to unbolt.
*looks at that*
Freedom to drive on the wrong side of the road? 😀
But how do they shift gears?