Double door
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In cars, a wing door is a vehicle door that is opened upwards with a stop in the roof area. The door opens part of the vehicle roof at the same time to allow easy entry into the vehicle.
The technology was based on the German patent Nt. 844544 Hanns Trippels - used for the first time in 1952 in the 300 SL (W 194) sports car from Mercedes-Benz . Due to the tubular frame construction, the side sill was very high; a conventional door would have been too small due to the flat roof of the racing car. Both lattice frames and gull-wing doors were incorporated into series production in the 300 SL (W 198) in 1954 . In the test vehicles C 111 (from 1969) the principle was used again.
Gull-wing doors have never caught on in mass-produced vehicles, although it would be helpful in tight parking spaces. On the other hand, after a rollover, you couldn't leave a car lying on the roof. With the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG , this problem was solved by blowing off the doors after a rollover so that it is possible to leave the vehicle.
The DeLorean DMC-12 (1980–1983) became known through the Back to the Future film trilogy . In the 1980s, double doors were in vogue in the tuning scene . The Gumpert Apollo super sports car with gull-wing doors is now available in small series .
Often confused with gullwing doors are the front-opening scissor doors that Lamborghini has been using in the V12 models since the Countach , and that tuners offer for retrofitting as "Lambo style doors" for many cars. They have the stop in the area of the front fender and are lifted up and forward parallel to the direction of travel.
One variant are the so-called Falcon Wings of the Tesla Model X , in which there is another joint above the window, which reduces the space required when opening in tight parking spaces and in low garages.
Further examples of vehicles with wing doors
- Aston Martin Bulldog (prototype)
- Autozam AZ-1 Mazda AZ-1 / Suzuki Cara
- BMW Turbo X1 (prototype)
- Bricklin SV-1
- Bristol Fighter
- Isdera Commendatore 112i
- Isdera Erator GTE
- Isdera Imperator 108i
- Kodiak F1
- Pagani Huayra (Coupé)
- Lamborghini Marzal (prototype)
- Melkus RS1000
- Melkus RS2000
- Opel Astra OPC X-treme from 2001 (prototype)
- Porsche Tapiro (prototype)
- Renault Mégane Concept (prototype)
