Scissor doors (also called flap doors, wing doors, beetle-wing doors, turtle doors, switchblade doors, swing-up doors, upswing doors, Lamborghini doors, [1] and Lambo doors) are automobile doors that rotate vertically at a fixed hinge at the front of the door, [2] rather than outward as with a conventional door. [1]
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. This sports car was quite impractical for real life, as due to unusual design it was impossible to backup without doors open wide. So, such doors were originally offered as a practical measure that helped the driver. Besides, traditional swing-open doors would make it more difficult to get out of the vehicle due to high door sills. 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. [3] The Revuelto is the latest Lamborghini car to feature these doors. They are trademarked. [4] 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". [3]
Today many aftermarket companies are specialized in production of scissor door conversion kits for regular production cars that originally come with regular doors. A common scissor door conversion kit (also known as a "Lambo-door" kit) includes model specific redesigned door hinges and gas filled shocks. Such kits are usually bolt-on or weld on and require some modifications to front bumpers and door panels. Original door panels are not replaced, so a vehicle looks standard from the outside, when the doors are closed.
There are different types of scissor doors. The conventional type rotates to 90 degrees. [6] Scissor doors can be powered and they usually are.
Vertical lift system (VLS) doors have a scissor door configuration. The biggest difference is that they are designed to initially open slightly outward before opening upward to allow the top edge of the door to clear the door frame and A-pillar. [1] Although butterfly doors also move upwards and outwards, VLS doors are not the same as butterfly doors as VLS doors move outward only a small degree compared to butterfly doors.
Although conventional scissor doors rotate to 90 degrees, some can rotate up to 130 degrees; [7] these are commonly used for modified cars. Such scissor doors have the benefit of not obstructing the entrance or exit to the car as much as conventional scissor doors. VLS doors also can be made to rotate to 130 degrees.
Some aftermarket example scissor doors are also designed so they can open either vertically (scissor door) or horizontally (conventional door), as the user chooses. Such doors allow the user to gain the benefits of both types of door, choosing to open the doors in whichever style is best suited to the situation.[ citation needed ]
Scissor doors are widely noted as a status symbol in popular culture. In 2012, Migos released a track called "Lambo Doors," in the first line referring to an observer who has never seen such high-status doors. [8] In 2017, Rick Ross released a track called "Lamborghini Doors", in which he notes a number of objects that are rising up like the titular doors. [9] In the TV series Silicon Valley , the character Russ Hanneman remarks that he feels poor when he has regular car doors, rather than doors that go "like this" (gesturing as if his arms were gull-wing doors) or "like this" (gesturing as if his arms were scissor doors), leading to other commentators referring to scissor doors as "billionaire doors". [10]
Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of luxury sports cars and SUVs based in Sant'Agata Bolognese. The company is owned by the Volkswagen Group through its subsidiary Audi.
The Lamborghini Murciélago is a sports car produced by Italian automotive manufacturer Lamborghini between 2001 and 2010. The successor to the Diablo and flagship V12 of the automaker's lineup, the Murciélago was introduced as a coupé in 2001. The car was first available in North America for the 2002 model year. The Murciélago was Lamborghini's first new design in eleven years, and was also the brand's first new model under the ownership of German parent company Audi, which is owned by Volkswagen. The car is designed by Peruvian-born Belgian Luc Donckerwolke, Lamborghini's head of design from 1998 to 2005.
The Lamborghini Diablo is a high-performance mid-engine sports car built by Italian automobile manufacturer Lamborghini between 1990 and 2001. It is the first production Lamborghini capable of attaining a top speed in excess of 200 mph (320 km/h). After the end of its production run in 2001, the Diablo was replaced by the Lamborghini Murciélago. The name Diablo means "devil" in Spanish.
The Lamborghini Countach is a rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive sports car produced by the Italian automobile manufacturer Lamborghini from 1974 until 1990. It is one of the many exotic designs developed by Italian design house Bertone, which pioneered and popularized the sharply angled "Italian Wedge" shape.
Marcello Gandini was an Italian car designer, widely known for his work with the Italian car design house, Bertone, where his work included designing the Alfa Romeo Carabo and Montreal, Lancia Stratos Zero, Maserati Khamsin, Ferrari GT4, Fiat X1/9, and several Lamborghinis, including the Bravo, Miura, Marzal, Espada, Urraco, and Countach. Gandini himself said his design interests prioritised vehicle architecture, construction, assembly, and mechanisms over styling.
In the automotive industry, a gull-wing door, also known as a falcon-wing door or an up-door, is a car door that is hinged at the roof rather than the side, as pioneered by Mercedes-Benz 300 SL and was designed by a Maxwell James Harris, first as a race car in 1952 (W194), and then as a production sports car in 1954.
The Lamborghini V12 refers to the flagship V12 engine used by Lamborghini. Lamborghini has had two generations of V12 engines through their history, both of which were developed in-house. The first-generation Lamborghini V12 was a sixty degree (60°) V12 petrol engine designed by Lamborghini, and was the first internal combustion engine ever produced by the firm.
Butterfly doors are a type of car door sometimes seen on high-performance cars. They are slightly different from scissor doors. While scissor doors move straight up via hinge points at the bottom of a car's A-pillar, butterfly doors move up and out via hinges along the A-pillar. This makes for easier entry and exit, at the expense of requiring more side clearance than needed for scissor doors.
A glossary of terms relating to automotive design.
The Lamborghini Marzal is a concept car, first presented by Lamborghini at the 1967 Geneva Motor Show.
The Lamborghini Portofino is a concept car developed for Lamborghini by Kevin Verduyn, one of Chrysler's chief designers. Introduced at the 1987 Frankfurt Auto Show, it was a fully functional, four-door, four-seat sport sedan.
A car door is a type of door opening, typically hinged on its front edge, but sometimes attached by other mechanisms such as tracks, for entering and exiting a vehicle. Doors most often integrate side windows for visibility from inside the car and can be locked to secure the vehicle.
Reiter Engineering GmbH & Co Kg, commonly known simply as Reiter Engineering, is a German racing team and racing car manufacturer established in 2000 by motorsport engineer Hans Reiter.
The Alfa Romeo Carabo is a concept car first shown at the 1968 Paris Motor Show. It was designed by Marcello Gandini, working for the Bertone design studio. The Carabo name is derived from the Carabidae beetles, as evoked by the car's iridescent green and orange coloring.
A vehicle canopy is a rarely used type of door for cars. It has no official name so it is also known as an articulated canopy, bubble canopy, cockpit canopy, canopy door, or simply a canopy. A canopy is a type of door which sits on top of a car and lifts up in some way, to provide access for passengers. It is similar to an aircraft canopy. There are no established sub-types of canopies, so they can be hinged at the front, side, or back, although hinging at the front is most common. Canopy doors are rarely used on production cars, and are sometimes used on concept cars.
The Lamborghini Aventador is a mid-engine sports car that was produced by the Italian automotive manufacturer Lamborghini from 2011 until 2022. The Aventador’s namesake is a Spanish fighting bull that fought in Zaragoza, Aragón, in 1993. The Aventador was the successor to the Murciélago and was produced in Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy.
Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. is an Italian brand and manufacturer of luxury automobiles. Lamborghini's production facility and headquarters are located in Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy. Italian manufacturing magnate Ferruccio Lamborghini founded the company in 1963 with the objective of producing a refined grand touring car to compete with offerings from established marques such as Ferrari. The company's first models were introduced in the mid-1960s and were noted for their refinement, power and comfort. Lamborghini gained wide acclaim in 1966 for the Miura sports coupé, which established rear mid-engine, rear wheel drive as the standard layout for high-performance cars of the era.
Swan doors or swan-wing doors are a type of door on performance cars or concept cars. Swan doors operate in a similar way to conventional car doors, but they open at an upward angle.
The Lamborghini Sián FKP 37 is a limited production mid-engine hybrid sports car produced by the Italian automotive manufacturer Lamborghini. Unveiled online on 3 September 2019, the Sián is the first hybrid production vehicle produced by the company.
