Climbing into your car through the driver’s side window may look cool if you’re a Duke boy or a NASCAR driver, but most of us really need opening doors. (Yes, I see you Jeep guys, “Or no doors!” we get it, it’s fun to take the doors off). And for most cars, this taken-for-granted feature is largely taken for granted engineering-wise. You put hinges at the front of the door, install a latch at the back, presto: a car door.
But there are other ways, as we all know. Specifically, billionaire doors (see below). You know, your gullwings, your scissors, your butterflies. They’re all pretty cool, and if I’m choosing, I think gullwings just slightly edge out scissors, because they really impart a “closing the hatch on a spaceship” vibe.
So, gullwings are the coolest for me, of those three. But are any of them THEE coolest? I say no!
My jam is sliding doors, like the BMW-Z1 getting DeMuro’d below. Doors that snick up and down like on Star Trek, but turned 90 degrees? Yes please. But the Z1 doesn’t have my favorite sliders. For them, we must go farther back in auto history, into an era and vehicle category one likely does not associate with cool doors.
I give you the GM clamshell tailgate and glass of 1971-1976, a truly fantastic bit of engineering that combines needless complexity with dubious utility, which is always a great combo.
How about you? What are your favorite doors? Maybe Dutch? See you in the comments!
Top graphic image: DepositPhotos.com
Aston Martin as their doors go slightly up, just enough to notice.
And Koenigsegg Gemera.
Also old Mercedes and Porsche for the sound of closing a vault.
You wanna know what I have? A car whose doors open like this, not like this, not like this. These are not the doors of a billionaire, Richard!
El Camino doors. Especially 5th-generation ones.
The window glass is tapered front and rear, and the glass is frameless.
https://www.elcaminocentral.com/attachments/img_6575-jpg.172842/?auto=webp&fit=bounds&format=pjgp&height=1920&optimize=high&width=1920
The sliding drivers door of the Estafette by Renault. You could let it open will driving which made the perfect delivery van…
I’m going to be boring. My first 3 cars were all small cars with long doors. An 85 Pontiac Sunbird Hatchback/Liftback, a 95 Honda Civic Coupe, and a 96 Civic Hatchback. After 13+ years of that, getting a 2007 Honda Fit was a revelation. A small car with narrow-ish but tall-ish doors is just the stuff. It’s SOOOO much easier to open up wider in a parking lot next to another car, making it much easier to get in and out. My 2016 HR-V, being based on a 3rd Gen Fit, is the same. I’m forever a 5-door guy now. At least on smaller cars. A case could also be made for sliding doors on larger vehicles.
Also, as some others have said. Doors with mechanical latches and handles as well. I need to be able to open the door if the battery is dead/disconnected.
Billionaire doors? Oh, you mean jerkoff douchbag doors?
Those GM Clamshells are awesome!
Not picky about doors, but one of my favorites would have to be any huge land yacht door like on the Lincoln Mark V, Chrysler New Yorker, etc
I hurts to admit it, but the falcon doors on the Model X are pretty fucking cool. When they work.
Double-hinged doors – such as those on the 1st Gen Lexus SC and Mercedes-Benz CL (C215) – which enabled the long doors to pivot forward as they swung open.
Also Rolls-Royce coach doors which one can close from within the vehicle by pushing a button.
I am all for three bears doors. Look looped in another story.
They don’t open to wide
They don’t close back to close.
They aren’t too heavy
They aren’t too light
They don’t have 100 features on them
They have the features you need
The armrest is too high
The armrest actually exists
The window is not too large
The window has proper viewing.
The Jayech door system was brilliant, and it disappeared completely.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAtkoje4-eM&t=180s
There is a whole You Tube Channnel devoted to them disappearingcardoor.
This was my first thought. I remember watching parts of this video a long time ago and I’ve never forgotten it. I wonder if these cars still exist? I guess I need to check out the youtube channel.
The Corvette Moray is delightfully absurd. It has regular doors but the windows are hinged seperately as gullwings. The A-pillars sweep backwards until they meet and form a central spine, and the side windows curve back as well, so they double as a split rear window. It’s basically a 3-piece bubbletop. It’s terribly impractical and you’d be roasted during the summer, but it looks AWESOME.
https://static0.topspeedimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/jpg/200704/2003-ital-design-chevrole-5.jpg
Ones that open mechanically with an easy to operate handle on both sides.
To actually use? Ones with a nice obvious easy to use mechanical handle both on the outside and inside and ones that won’t refuse to work if the battery craps out.
To look at? Gullwings are very pretty. Though that Z1 looks really cool too.
Minivan style sliding doors. Large openings and easy to get in and out in tight parking spots.
Gullwings. DeLorean flavored.
No votes for the GT40 horizontal guillotine doors?
Totally. They’re the door equivalent of running straight pipes. Doug De Muro’s description of trying to get in and out of his ’05 in his own garage is hilarious.
The Sebring Sterling/Nova kit car.
My dad had the ’72 Olds wagon with the clamshell tailgate. That thing was a tank.
I’ve always been keen on mid-60s Lincolns for the suicide doors in back.
I could see that clamshell tailgate being pretty useful in that there would be no door or window in the way of loading stuff or having to worry about having enough elbow room in the parking space for the door and window to swing out.
Did you like that tank?
It was great.
The rear door on my LTD wagon swings both ways.
Caprice wagons, at least my mom’s 88, had the as well
I never knew that.
I also had a van with a single rear door, so it had one long window across the back.
For looks gull wing for practicality sliding. I also admire the quad coupe / ext cabs. With the half suicide doors. Nice blend of looks and practical.
I was watching “F is for Family”, which is a cartoon series set in the 70s. They were shopping a GM wagon with the clamshell tail gate. One of the children proclaims, “This must be what the astronauts drive!” Gullwings are the best looking but normal doors are normal for a reason.
Gullwing doors are the best. Wildly unpractical and cool,doesn’t get much better than that.
Renault Avantime
I prefer doors that double as code brown handles. Nice and strong to hold onto when you’re a passenger for spirited drives.
What about the pocket doors on a Kaiser Darrin?
Copper Howard’s roadster in the Fallout series has forward sliding pocket doors that disappear into the front fender. Awesome design.
beat me by seconds!