Gull-wing door

This article is about the type of car door. For the aircraft
wing shape, see Gull wing.
Gull-wing door is an automotive industry term de-

A DeLorean DMC-12 with its doors open

Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing Coup with its doors open

A Cessna 350 light aircraft with its gull-wing doors open

discussing Gull-wing design.[2] Conventional car doors

are typically hinged at the front-facing edge of the door
and the door swings outward in a horizontal plane.
Apart from the Mercedes-Benz 300SL of the mid-1950s
and the experimental Mercedes-Benz C111 of the early
A Bricklin SV-1 with its doors open
1970s, the best-known examples of road-cars with gullscribing car doors that are hinged at the roof rather than wing doors are the Bricklin SV-1 from the 1970s and
the side, as pioneered by the 1952 Mercedes-Benz 300SL the DeLorean DMC-12 from the 1980s. Gull-wing doors
fourrace car (W194) and its road-legal version (W198) intro- have also been used in aircraft designs, such as the [3]
Socata
TB
series
built
in
France.
seat
single-engine
duced in 1954.
Opening upwards, the doors evoke the image of a
seagull's wings. In French they are portes papillon (buttery doors). The papillon door, slightly dierent in 1 Practical considerations
its architecture from a gullwing door designed by
Jean Bugatti in 1939 Type 64,[1] fourteen years before Despite the common misconception that the gull-wing
Mercedes-Benz produced its similar, famous 300SL gull- doors are mere stylistic aectations, the design is a very
wing door is a precursor, but is often overlooked when practical one in a tight urban parking space. When
1

properly designed and counterbalanced, they require little side-clearance to open (about 27.5 cm, or 11 in the
DeLorean[4] ) and allow much better entrance/egress than
conventional doors. The most obvious downside to having gull-wing doors is that, should the car roll over and
come to rest on its roof, exit by the doors would be impossible, requiring a large windscreen opening to escape.
A Volvo concept car (Volvo YCC) that was designed by
and for women had gull-wing doors as part of a design
meant to be appealing from a womans perspective. Gullwing doors to make it easier to lift a bag to store it behind the drivers seat, increases visibility over the drivers
shoulder, and makes it easier to get in and out of the
vehicle.[5]

LIST OF AUTOMOBILES

no convertible version was ever planned.

It also makes sealing the car against water leaks more difcult because of the shape and movement path of the door
itself.

3 List of automobiles

The Tesla Model X, rst introduced in 2015, has gullwing doors (called falcon-wing doors by Tesla). The
Model X has several design considerations to make the
doors more practical. The doors are double hinged. This
allows them to open with less clearance (horizontal and
vertical) than would otherwise be required. The vehicle
also has sensors to determine ceiling height and the presence of potential obstacles. The vehicle then determines
how the hinges will operate to open the doors and avoid
the obstacles, if possible.[6]
Gumpert Apollo

Design challenges

Gull-wing doors have a somewhat questionable reputation because of early examples like the Mercedes and
the Bricklin.[7] The 300 SL needed the door design as its
tubular frame race car chassis design had a very high door
sill, which in combination with a low roof would make a
standard door opening very low and small. The Mercedes
engineers solved the problem by also opening a part of the
roof. The Bricklin was a more conventionally sized door
but the actuation system was problematic in day-to-day Melkus RS 1000
use and led to unreliable operation until an aftermarket
air-door upgrade was installed in all Bricklins.[8] In addition, there was some concern that in making the doors
as light as possible they wouldn't provide adequate protection in side-impact accidents. There was, however, no
indication that this concern was justied.
The DeLorean solved these problems by using a solidsteel torsion bar (supplied by Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation) to counterbalance a full-sized door
and then used simple pneumatic struts similar to those
found in hatchback cars to open the doors and damp their
movement.
Other disadvantages of the system were not so easy to address. For example, the gull-wing design makes creating a
convertible version of the car harder, as the hinges would
be removed with the roof, and standard doors would be Tesla Model X
needed for the convertible. Mercedes did so when replacing the gullwing coupe altogether with the 300SL road- The following is a (partial) list of production and kit auster in 1958. It was never a concern for DeLorean since tomobiles with gull-wing doors:

3.1

Production cars

Autozam AZ-1 (Suzuki Cara)

Bricklin SV-1
Bristol Fighter
DeLorean DMC-12
De Tomaso Mangusta (engine compartment)

4 Aircraft
Cessna 350
Socata TB

5 See also

Gumpert Apollo

List of cars with unusual door designs

Hofstetter Turbo

Suicide doors

Isdera Commendatore 112i

Scissor doors

Melkus RS 1000

Buttery doors

Melkus RS 2000
Mercedes-Benz 300SL
Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG
Pagani Huayra
(NSU) Thurner RS
Tesla Model X (rear passenger doors only)
Quant E
Quant F
Bugatti atlantic type 64

3.2

Kit cars

Gullwing doors are common in kit cars and many were

made that are not included on this list. They were almost
always one of the most mechanically problematic parts of
these vehicles.
AMT Piranha
Bradley GTII
Dare DZ
Eagle SS Mk1
Elite Enterprises Laser 917, inspired by the Porsche
917
Fiberfab Aztec 7, a loose replica of the Alfa Romeo
Carabo concept car (which has scissor doors).
Fiberfab Caribee/Banshee
Innes Lee Scorpion K19
Pelland Sports
Replicar Cursor
RPB GT
Burton Car Company hardtop
Siva S160 Spyder

Sliding doors
Canopy door
Car door

6 References
[1] http://www.bugatti.com/en/tradition/bugatti-models/
t64.html
[2] Papillon and gull-wing door
[3] Socata Trinidad GT: A beautiful little French retractable
with a certain je ne sais quoi, Plane & Pilot retrieved 3
August 2011
[4] Knut Grimsrud. DeLorean Frequently Asked Questions
- Technical Information. Dmcnews.com. Retrieved
2009-12-08.
[5] Volvo Concept Car. Volvo Car France. Retrieved
March 2, 2004.
[6] Inside Teslas freaky Falcon Wing doors.
[7] Why Don't More Cars Have Gullwing Doors?". Popular
Mechanics.
[8] Bricklin Specications.
trieved 2011-11-26.

7 External links

Saintjohn.nbcc.nb.ca.

Re-

8 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

8.1

Text

Gull-wing door Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gull-wing_door?oldid=716431054 Contributors: Liftarn, Gbleem, Anobo, Arteitle,

Furrykef, Aleph4, AlainV, Litefantastic, Niteowlneils, Matthead, Mateuszica, SamH, Andy Christ, Ericg, Twinxor, Milkmandan, Bobo192,
JonGwynne, Hooperbloob, Nsaa, A strolling player, Vuo, Klparrot, Kelly Martin, Vanished User 3388458, Mikebabb, Yrithinnd, Cleared
as led, Cadillac, Rwxrwxrwx, Pil56, Jason Vanderhill, Crystallina, SmackBot, DTM, Pedrose, Xaosux, Armeria, Chris the speller, Bluebot, BabuBhatt, OrphanBot, SpinyNorman, Morio, Jwplumley, Zero10one, Carnby, WikiABG~enwiki, Earthlyreason, Ntsimp, Peripitus,
SpeedyJ, EdJogg, Zchris87v, MrFlit, Y2kcrazyjoker4, Mdoc7, Clausewitz01, Soulbot, Randy G, Lihui912, CommonsDelinker, Aliazimi, 72Dino, Peppergrower, Prahanormal, Jimlanza, GTHO, Typ932, Cryonic07, SieBot, Swaq, Warren Whyte, Oxymoron83, Dino246,
Regushee, YSSYguy, Chump Manbear, Mariordo, Wraithful, Zach4636, DineshAdv, Rynoshark, Romaine, Private Pilot, Addbot, Ghettoblaster, , Luckas-bot, Yobot, Bunnyhop11, Amirobot, AnomieBOT, Snowrail, DSisyphBot, Mr.choppers, FrescoBot, Yamomwa3,
TGCP, John of Reading, Bravo Foxtrot, ZroBot, Wayne Slam, ClueBot NG, Elroygoh02, Matthiaspaul, BG19bot, Pvanhoesen, Matty.007,
Caeyw, Suzukiluke, Lemmons138, KH-1, Sandul666, Optrimes, Kitcarguy, Nigautam and Anonymous: 62

8.2

Images

File:1955_Mercedes-Benz_300SL_Gullwing_Coupe_34.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/1955_

Mercedes-Benz_300SL_Gullwing_Coupe_34.jpg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Bricklin_SV-1.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Bricklin_SV-1.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: public domain en:User talk:JonGwynne#Image source Original artist: User JonGwynne on en.wikipedia
File:Cessna350N2546W02.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Cessna350N2546W02.jpg License:
Public domain Contributors: Own work Original artist: Ahunt at English Wikipedia
File:Commons-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:DeLorean_DMC-12_with_doors_open.jpg
Source:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/DeLorean_
DMC-12_with_doors_open.jpg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: Wikipedia en Original artist: en:user:Grenex
File:Folder_Hexagonal_Icon.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/48/Folder_Hexagonal_Icon.svg License: Cc-bysa-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Gumpert_Apollo_Dubai.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Gumpert_Apollo_Dubai.jpg License:
CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: GUMPERT Sportwagenmanufaktur GmbH Original artist: GUMPERT Sportwagenmanufaktur GmbH
File:Melkus_RS1000.JPG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Melkus_RS1000.JPG License: CC-BY-SA3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Thomas doerfer
File:Model_X_vs._DeLorean.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Model_X_vs._DeLorean.jpg License: CC BY 2.0 Contributors: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/21916454200/ Original artist: Steve Jurvetson
File:Portal-puzzle.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fd/Portal-puzzle.svg License: Public domain Contributors: ?
Original artist: ?

8.3

Content license

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