List of cars with non-standard door designs
This is a list of cars with non-standard door designs, sorted by door type. These car models use passenger door designs other than the standard design, which is hinged at the front edge of the door, and swings away from the car horizontally and towards the front of the car. Many cars have door designs which give them a unique look, or which affect their practicality one way or another.
The main types of non-standard door designs are:
- Butterfly - hinged at the top of the door; open up and outward.
- Canopy - roof & sides are one unit hinged at the front (usually); entire assembly opens vertically.
- Coach (suicide) - hinged on the back end of the doorframe; open horizontally toward the rear.
- Gullwing - hinged to the roof at the top of the door; open upward.
- Scissors - hinged at the top front corner of the door; open by rotating vertically upwards.
- Sliding - mounted or suspended from a track; open by sliding horizontally alongside or into the vehicle sidewall.
Road cars
Racing cars
A common door design on Group C, IMSA GTP cars of the 1980s and early 1990s and recently on Daytona Prototype and Le Mans Prototype cars, this list does not include cars categorized as such.
Concept cars
Production cars
Kit cars
- AMT Piranha
- Bradley GTII
- Dare DZ
- Eagle SS Mk1
- Fiberfab Aztec 7 (also known as Charger II)
- Foers Ibex
- GP Talon
- Innes Lee Scorpion K19
- RPB GT
- Replicar Cursor
- Sterling Sports Cars Sterling Car also known as Nova in UK
- Cimbria and Neria (US versions of same car, made in diff years - later became the Eagle SS in the UK)
- Manta Cars Mirage
- Manta Cars Montage
Racecars
Concept cars
Suicide doors
Models of automobile that featured suicide doors (i.e., doors hinged at the rear) include (but are not limited to):
A common door design on minivans and commercial vehicles, this list exclude all vehicles categorized as such.
- BMW Z1 (the Z1 used unhinged doors that lowered into the chassis)
- Kaiser Darrin (Used "pocket doors" that slide forward into the front fender.)
- Lincoln Mark VIII Concept (Doors "rolled" into underbody of frame and disappeared from view, much like a blind. Prototype)
- Mercedes-Benz NAFA Researchvehicle (A very small car similar to the Smart Fortwo with 2 doors sliding forwards.)
- Peugeot 1007
- Toyota Porte (Only left side.)
Other door types
- Aston Martin uses a "swan door" door on their DB9, Rapide, DBS, and Virage models, which opens outward like a conventional door, but hinges slightly upward as well.
- The Jaguar C-X75 also features swan doors
- Alfa Romeo Pandion - large rear-hinged scissor doors
- Ford GT and Ford GT40 - Panels extend from the top of the doors, which fill gaps on both sides of the roof
- Isetta - Single front-mounted door was hinged on one side
- Koenigsegg uses a "dihedral synchro-helix" system for their vehicles (named raptor doors by a company which makes a door conversion kit for regular cars) which are similar to scissor doors but are much more mechanically complex. This is used in their CC8S, CCR, CCX, and Agera (R).
- Mitsubishi Toppo - Single door on the driver's side and front and rear door on the passenger's.
- Peugeot EX1 Concept - Each of the two "suicide doors" is adjoined with a corresponding seat, so opening a door out moves the seat out for easier seating.
- Zündapp Janus - Front and rear mounted side-hinged doors
- BMW-Mini - Has a 3-door hardtop. The rear door is only available on the (N.A.) passenger side, has no exterior handle, and is less than half the width of the front door.