As you know, there are a lot of types of car doors. Some hinge at the front, some at the rear, some even swing upwards. The way a car door opens and closes is an important design element that car design engineers have been able to do remarkable things with for over 100 years. Let’s take a look at some of the types that have been made.
Standard doors – Standard means your basic car door that is hinged at the front and swings out from the car when opened. Most vehicles sold these days have doors like this.
Sliding doors – And, of course, for you minivan owners, there are sliding doors. People tend to like how these doors are easy to open and slide shut, making a vehicle an excellent family hauler.
Scissor doors – These are also known as Lambo doors. These doors rotate vertically at a fixed hinge on the doors front, rather than outward as with most car doors. These doors rotate up to 90 degrees, usually, but sometimes up to 130 degrees. Our Lambo friends at Lamborghini of Broward (FL) said Lambo Doors are not just cool to look at, they actually allow a driver to operate the car with the door open!
Gull wing doors – As the name suggests, these types of doors, when opened, make the car look similar to a gull with its wings up in the air as if in flight. These doors are hinged on the car’s roof, rather than on its side. Picture the Delorean in the Back to the Future movies and you’ve got the picture. And talk about, showy. These are cool looking doors.
Canopy doors – This is a wild one. Canopy doors are only seen on exotic cars. Not really a door, the entire canopy, or top section, of car opens so passengers can enter and exit. Picture a pilot getting into a fighter jet; this is a canopy. People get a car with the capability of having a canopy door because they want their car to really stand out.
Swan doors – Swan doors open up and out. Sort of like a combination of a standard door and a butterfly door. They are built primarily for wow factor and they certainly provide it.
If you look around, you will probably find some other door types but these are the major ones and we hope you found this quick guide a good primer on the subject.