Traditional swing car doors are fine, except when space becomes a premium such as a tight parking lot, a narrow garage or a high curb. I typically don’t have too much trouble since I’m not a big person, but there has got to be a better way….
My initial thought was a car with 4 sliding doors, similar to a minivan back door but with the front doors sliding forward and the back doors sliding back. No more having to squeeze out of a car door that doesn’t open very far, no more door dings and all that stuff.
I know I have some great ideas, but I figured someone has had to have thought of this before. Fortunately with a bit of research I found a concept car with just this setup, the Renault Scenic Concept from what I think is from 1991. You can catch a glimpse of the doors in the video, but the image which shows my point is above.
I also found a few a handful newer concept cars with different doors in this list of top 12 car door design video.
With a bit more research I found a whole variety of car door types, some of which ease my pain, others which would make it worse by taking up more space and making it more difficult to get out of the car.
Now that I have confirmed I’m not the first one to think of this, why have more cars not been designed with these different door types? One forum post felt that sliding doors remind people of minivans too much, get over yourself. I’m all about the functionality, if a new design will make life easier for me I’m all about it, independent of what others might think. Yes, I could have my car converted to change the way the doors open, but I’m not interested in spending that much money.
So at this point all I can do is hope and wait to see what car manufacturers will be coming out with in the future. Hopefully something emerges before parking lots get even tighter or the owner of the car next to me takes me to court for causing a door ding.