- Butterfly doors
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Butterfly doors or vertical doors are a type of door often seen on high-performance automobiles. They are similar to scissor doors, but while scissor doors move up, butterfly doors also move outwards, which makes for easier entry/exit at the expense of saving space.
The McLaren F1, Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale, Saleen S7, Enzo Ferrari, Toyota Sera - EXY-10, and the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, among others, use butterfly doors. It was also a common feature for Group C and IMSA GTP/Camel Lights prototype racers as they incorporate teardrop top which allows the driver to get in and out of the car more quickly than conventional and gullwing doors, especially in a cramped pitlane environment such as the pre-1991 Le Mans circuit. Since then, butterfly doors have been an adopted design of closed top sportscar racers, such as the Toyota GT-One, Bentley Speed 8 and more recently, the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP. The Toyota Sera, released in 1991, was a limited-release car designed exclusively for the Japanese market which used this design. The Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster was one of the few open top cars to use butterfly wing doors. This is made possible by having the doors hinged at the side of A-pillar instead of at top by the roof. The McLaren MP4-12C has a unique system where the butterfly doors do not use a top hinge meaning that the car can use frameless windows which allows for the cars upcoming convertible version to retain them.
The Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale was the first car to use butterfly doors
1996 McLaren F1 with butterfly doorsSee also
- List of cars with unusual door designs
- Suicide doors
- Scissor doors
- Gullwing doors
- Sliding doors
- Canopy door
- Car door
External links
Categories:- Car doors
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