Top 10 Alternative Types of Car Doors (PDF)

Cars have become a popular means of transportation. They come in different colors, designs, and sizes, with plenty to choose from. Cars are a necessity for long distances that would take hours by foot or animal. They’ve allowed humans to travel vast distances in the span of minutes.

Car doors play a major role in the way a car looks, and car manufacturers have been able to anticipate this fact, which is why they make different types of doors. Which type of door you decide to go with can be the center of attention, especially if it’s eccentric in some way. We’ll talk about many different car door designs below, so keep reading!

1. Conventional Door

A regular or conventional door is made of a metal plate shaped like a rectangle. It’s used to get in and out of an automobile. Most people have this type of door on their car so they can enter and exit the vehicle easily. They’re considered generally safe because they’re less likely to open while driving–wind resistance tends to keep the door shut.

2. Dihedral door

There are several types of doors, but one is called the dihedral door. They’re similar to scissors and butterfly doors, but they open both outwards and up at a 90-degree angle. If they scrape a high curb, they can be damaged.

3. Sliding Door

You might be wondering what “slide-out” doors are and how they work. These doors pop out of a vehicle along the side, providing an easy-to-open option that doesn’t require any clearance at all.

Having a narrow tolerance means these doors are more expensive than conventional door options, but they’re worth it if you have little ones. With sliding doors in a crowded parking lot, you just pull them open and your little one is free to go play!

4. Gull-Wing Doors

One of the most distinctive features of a gull-wing door is that it hinges on the roof instead of the sides. This allows passengers easy and complete access to the front seats.

The doors open up upwards and resemble the wings of a bird. They stay at eye-level with the floor during use, and there are hinges that keep them fixed to the ceiling. The way the doors stretch out is like the wingspan on an actual bird’s wing.

5. Swan Door

Some of the biggest names in high-performing vehicles, such as Aston Martins and Jaguars, use this modified door. The hinges are positioned higher on the frame and open at an upward angle; a conventional door does not do this. This may be annoying to close in cramped spaces, but it does make accessing and exiting the vehicle easier.

6. Butterfly Doors

The difference between a butterfly door and a scissor door is the way they open. A scissor door opens up straight like a book, with hinges at the bottom of the A-pillar. However, a butterfly door swings out by hinges fixed along the pillar. This one also has practical opening mechanisms, which means more space for entering and exiting the car than a scissor door allows.

7. Canopy Doors

This odd door looks like something you’d see on a jet fighter. The top, side windows, and windshield are all one piece, and the entire canopy can have a single continuous window that provides lots of visibility and a gorgeous style, but unfortunately, they also have the potential for a greenhouse effect which could get uncomfortable to enter and exit.

8. Front-Hinged Doors

Seen on the BMW Isetta 600, this design meant that the entire front of the car is on a hinge. As a result, the steering, dash, and front open out with the driver and passenger able to get in through a single door.

9. Suicide Doors

When was the last time you saw something like this? Suicide doors are hinged at the back of a vehicle, as opposed to the front (the traditional way). They were originally used on horse-drawn carriages, but they’re rare in modern cars. That’s because they’re considered less safe – after all, if you can’t see where you’re going while stepping out, it would be hard to avoid crashing into things in front of you.

10. Pocket Door

The type of sliding door that is typically used on delivery trucks and not cars is much more commonly seen in old houses. These doors slide into a cavity on the truck instead of opening outward, much as old houses do.