Car doorsButterfly doors, also called vertical doors or dihedral doors, are a type of door often seen on high-performance automobiles. Butterfly doors Butterfly doors, also called vertical doors or dihedral doors, are a type of door often seen on high-performance automobiles. They are similar to scissor doors, but while scissor doors merely tilt forward and up, butterfly doors also rotate as they move forward. The McLaren F1, Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale, Saleen S7, and the Mercedes-Benz SLR use butterfly doors. The Toyota Sera was a limited-release car designed exclusively for the Japanese market which used this design. Due to its unusual design, some enthusiasts in Australia, New Zealand and England have privately imported the cars. It is only available in right-hand drive configuration. Gull-wing door The term gull-wing door is used to describe automobile doors which are hinged at the roof. They are so named because, when opened, the doors evoke the image of a seagull's wings. Conventional car doors are typically hinged at the front-facing edge of the door and allow the door to swing outward from the body of the car. Scissor doors Scissor doors, also called Jackknife doors or Lambo doors, are automobile doors that rotate up and forward on a hinge near the front of the door. This design combines some of the advantages of a conventional door and the traditional gullwing door. The door can open upward rather than outward, which is important in wide cars. The hinge is in a similar location as a conventional door, so a convertible version of the car is not prevented by the door design.The disadvantage is that the door still impedes access/egress much more than a gullwing and, in some cases, more than a conventional door. Suicide door Suicide doors are automobile doors that are hinged on the trailing edge, the edge closer to the rear of the vehicle. The term reflects a perceived increased danger of the door falling open if it becomes unlatched while the car is moving. Because of the obviously negative connotations, the term is avoided in major automobile manufacturers' promotional literature, although it is familiar to many English-speakers and often used openly in the custom-car trade.In addition, the door arrangement instills other negative perceptions. While the vehicle is parked, such a door would hide an entering or exiting passenger from the view of passing cars. Furthermore, the result of the door actually being hit would likely be more catastrophic, since the door would be slammed shut onto the passenger even if merely nicked at the outside edge. A door hinged at the front, in contrast, would be pushed away from the passenger and possibly torn off entirely.An arrangement where only the rear doors on a four door vehicle open in this fashion is sometimes called "kidnapping doors", presumably because it would make it easier to drag a victim into the car. All text of this article available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License (see Copyrights for details).
Butterfly doors Butterfly doors, also called vertical doors or dihedral doors, are a type of door often seen on high-performance automobiles. They are similar to scissor doors, but while scissor doors merely tilt forward and up, butterfly doors also rotate as they move forward. The McLaren F1, Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale, Saleen S7, and the Mercedes-Benz SLR use butterfly doors. The Toyota Sera was a limited-release car designed exclusively for the Japanese market which used this design. Due to its unusual design, some enthusiasts in Australia, New Zealand and England have privately imported the cars. It is only available in right-hand drive configuration. Gull-wing door
Butterfly doors
Butterfly doors, also called vertical doors or dihedral doors, are a type of door often seen on high-performance automobiles. They are similar to scissor doors, but while scissor doors merely tilt forward and up, butterfly doors also rotate as they move forward.
The McLaren F1, Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale, Saleen S7, and the Mercedes-Benz SLR use butterfly doors. The Toyota Sera was a limited-release car designed exclusively for the Japanese market which used this design. Due to its unusual design, some enthusiasts in Australia, New Zealand and England have privately imported the cars. It is only available in right-hand drive configuration.
The term gull-wing door is used to describe automobile doors which are hinged at the roof. They are so named because, when opened, the doors evoke the image of a seagull's wings.
Conventional car doors are typically hinged at the front-facing edge of the door and allow the door to swing outward from the body of the car.
Scissor doors, also called Jackknife doors or Lambo doors, are automobile doors that rotate up and forward on a hinge near the front of the door. This design combines some of the advantages of a conventional door and the traditional gullwing door. The door can open upward rather than outward, which is important in wide cars. The hinge is in a similar location as a conventional door, so a convertible version of the car is not prevented by the door design.The disadvantage is that the door still impedes access/egress much more than a gullwing and, in some cases, more than a conventional door.
Suicide doors are automobile doors that are hinged on the trailing edge, the edge closer to the rear of the vehicle. The term reflects a perceived increased danger of the door falling open if it becomes unlatched while the car is moving. Because of the obviously negative connotations, the term is avoided in major automobile manufacturers' promotional literature, although it is familiar to many English-speakers and often used openly in the custom-car trade.In addition, the door arrangement instills other negative perceptions. While the vehicle is parked, such a door would hide an entering or exiting passenger from the view of passing cars. Furthermore, the result of the door actually being hit would likely be more catastrophic, since the door would be slammed shut onto the passenger even if merely nicked at the outside edge. A door hinged at the front, in contrast, would be pushed away from the passenger and possibly torn off entirely.An arrangement where only the rear doors on a four door vehicle open in this fashion is sometimes called "kidnapping doors", presumably because it would make it easier to drag a victim into the car.
All text of this article available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License (see Copyrights for details).