Scissor doors (also beetle-wing doors, jack-knife doors, switchblade doors, and Lamborghini doors) are automobile doors that rotate vertically at a fixed hinge at the front of the door, rather than outwardly as with a conventional door.HISTORY
The first vehicle to feature scissor doors was the 1968 Alfa Romeo Carabo concept car, designed by Bertone's Marcello Gandini. The door style was dictated by Gandini's desire for an innovative design, and by his concern over the car's extremely poor rear visibility. In order to reverse the car, the driver would be able to lift the door and lean his upper body out of the hatch in order to see behind the car. The first production car to feature the doors was a Lamborghini, Gandini's Countach; the sports car's wide chassis created similar problems to those found on the Carabo, calling for the unusual door configuration. The doors were used on the Countach's successor, the Diablo, on its replacement, the Murciélago, and on a low-production run derivative of the Murciélago called the Reventón. Having used the exotic door style for several of its cars, the Italian manufacturer has become synonymous with the implementation of scissor doors, which are sometimes colloquially referred to as "Lambo doors".
ADVANTAGES- Offers the possibility of operating the car with the door open, in a manner that would be difficult or impossible in a car with conventional doors.
- Because the doors stay within the car's track throughout their range of movement, they are useful when parking in tight spaces. A gullwing door style offers similar visibility, but the doors swing out from the car's area slightly.
- The hinge is placed in a similar location to a conventional door, so a convertible version of the car is possible with the same door style.
DISADVANTAGES- The door still impedes access/egress much more than a gullwing and, in some cases, more than a conventional door.
- The manufacture cost of the door hinge can be more than of a conventional door.
- If the height of the parking lot is not high enough, the door may make contact with the roof.
- In the event of a rollover, emergency egress may be more difficult than with conventional doors, if not impossible.