Disappearring Car Door ???

[robs944]

Interesting, never seen this before.

http://www.disappearing-car-door.com/

[TerryH]

Cool. Many physical benefits of not have a door swing out, but I wonder how well it seals out water and wind.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Very cool, but I suspect any sort of minor side-impact would (1) total the car and (2) probably do serious injury to the occupants due to lack of side impact resistance.

[porsche930dude]

Id get them just on the fact that its so awesome to drive around with no doors

[Porsche-O-Phile]

You can accomplish the same thing by removing eight bolts - cost $0.

[porsche930dude]

I was just joking. I have a 46 jeep it came with no doors from the factory

[tcar]

Of course there's the BMW Z1. Late 80's that did this.
Door slides down into the sill.

Not like the pic, though, still have to lift your legs over the sill.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_Z1

[Spede]

That's so cool... but what's with the 1980s people/models?

[tchanson]

The Kaiser-Darrin already did that 50+ years ago, and the idea hasn't gotten any less goofy in the intervening half century.












Tim

[targa911S]

Originally Posted by tchanson

The Kaiser-Darrin already did that 50+ years ago, and the idea hasn't gotten any less goofy in the intervening half century.

Tim

That was my first thought.

[svandamme]

it's not practical in terms of safety at all
most modern car makers advertise that they designed their car with safety structures inside the door, and how the door is basically a buffer zone, and how much distance it puts between the driver/passenger and the initial point of impact

with this system, they can't make the doors thick/wide, which directly conflicts with that standoff design, required to get the good safety scores

and frankly, i don't like it much, makes your car interior a bloody viewing window, anybody can look inside
most folks view their car as their cocoon, their private space, never mind the fact that most cars aren't always as clean as we want it to be, do car owner like the idea of having the whole side open up if they need to get out at the fuel station? what about kids in the back seat? what about valuables on the back seat?

it's a dead in the water concept as far as i'm concerned

[Mo_Gearhead]

QUOTE: "..and frankly, i don't like it much, makes your car interior a bloody viewing window, anybody can look inside"
___________________
Photogs are now demanding that these should be MANDATORY on all cars driven/used by Hollywood/slut types (ala: Paris Hilton, etc) that run around sans panties! (better photo angles)

[VaSteve]

I think it would be good for handicapped people and the elderly....for the rest of us, it's really a non-starter.

Raises a million questions though:
- arm rests?
- speakers?
- how do the windows work?
- doesn't it bump into the underneath workings of the car (driveshafts, exhaust)?
- how does it not raise the seats (if it doesn't lower the bottom of the car)? (most cars I mess with have the seat bolted right to the floor)

[slakjaw]

We de doored a friends GEO once. Hooked up a tow strap from his door to my land cruiser.

He drove it around with no doors for weeks before we ran it off a cliff into the Missouri river.