Suicide doors generally refer to rear-hinged doors that open in the opposite direction compared to conventional doors. They are found today on certain cars, such as the Mazda RX-8, the Opel Meriva and, even more famously, the entire Rolls-Royce range. They’re more prevalent in concept cars than street-legal cars, but for a reason.
However, the question that remains in the minds of most car enthusiasts is why are they called suicide doors? Why are doors that are hinged at the back and open in a different direction associated with suicide, the act of ending life? How can something so seemingly innocent be associated with the worst form of self-harm? Let’s take a look at the history of the suicide door and why it’s not so innocent after all.
Story
The Mazda RX-8 with the clamshell doors open. (Source: Retro Rides)
The suicide door dates back to the first half of the 20th century, in the early years of the automobile. At the time, horse-drawn carriages were more common, as the car was still a luxury niche reserved for the wealthy. Car designers often look to architecture for inspiration, as well as other modes of transportation.
At this time, many large homes featured French doors where two connecting doors opened from the center with hinged doors at either end of the door frame. French doors were associated with the upper class, as many mansions and grand homes have such doors. As car designers wanted their designs to function as a status symbol, they built doors with a mechanism similar to a French door. The horse-drawn carriages used today to transport royal families still embody this design.
After the introduction of the internal combustion engine, cars in the early 20th century were called “horseless carriages” because their bodywork resembled a horse-drawn carriage, being powered solely by the internal combustion engine instead of being pulled by a horse . The French door design continued on cars built in the early 20th century still as a status symbol signifying wealth as the automobile was very expensive and still inaccessible to most of the general public, reserved mainly for the upper class .
french doors
French doors, or “Suicide Doors” found on a Lincoln Continental. (Source: Lincoln)
French doors gave old carriages, horse-drawn carriages, and carriages an elegant look while serving certain functions as they were easier to get in and out of, especially for upper-class women who wore long dresses and dresses for an event special. . They also gave occupants more room to get in, as early cars did not have a B-pillar.
However, the automobile slowly overtook the horse-drawn carriage in terms of practicality, power, reliability and popularity. As the internal combustion engine continues to evolve with larger displacements and horsepower, the average speed of cars has increased with it. Clearly, safety measures had to be implemented in response to the higher speeds to keep drivers and pedestrians safe and unharmed.
security risks
A Saturn Ion coupe with suicide doors. (Source: Consumer Guide)
It was the 1960s. The Horsepower Wars were in full swing in the United States, with car manufacturers competing with each other, trying to create the fastest and most powerful car on the road, powered by the engine the bigger and louder as possible. American cars were big and bulky, with powerful, high-capacity engines. Of course, as a result, they could accelerate very quickly and reach breakneck speeds.
However, one man, Ralph Nader, was concerned about road safety at that time. In response, he published a book, Unsafe at Any Speed: The Dangers of the American Automobile, challenging automakers for their reluctance to standardize safety features, such as seat belts, as well as their reluctance to spend money to improve security.
The U.S. government responded to Nader and his book by implementing new safety measures, making car regulations much stricter to force automakers to raise their safety standards. Nader’s book also pointed out many design aspects of cars encountered during his day that could seriously injure or even kill their occupant, one of them being rear-hinged doors.
Why they are called “suicide doors”
Porsche Mission E Concept with suicide doors. (Source: Porsche)
Rear-hinged doors have earned the nickname “suicide doors” for many of their design flaws that could injure or even kill the occupant. The doors, once opened, had a high chance of seriously injuring anyone exiting or entering through the outside of the car door if struck by a passing vehicle. Suicide doors were also very common in the days when seat belts were not so common, so the chances of falling when opening a rear-hinged door were higher.
If a rear-hinged door is struck by a vehicle, the door will strike the passenger, causing serious injury, unlike a front-hinged door, where the door swings forward, reducing the chance of injury to the passenger. Aerodynamic forces can also force a rear-hinged door open during travel if the door is not closed properly. The Subaru 360 had this problem in 1969, according to a Consumer Reports report.
People who open the rear suicide doors alone also run a great risk of hitting a pedestrian or bystander behind the door if the occupant is unaware of their surroundings. But hey, opening a door that opens outward in the rear direction is very inconvenient, and owners of cars with suicide doors have a driver to do it for them anyway.
Automakers have addressed these risks by implementing safety features, such as seat belts and locks, to reduce the chances of a car colliding with suicide doors. The chances of being hit by a suicide door by being hit by another car or hitting a pedestrian behind the door are still quite high.
Advantages of suicide doors
Suicide doors on a Lincoln Continental. (Source: inside hook)
Despite their name, suicide doors have some advantages over conventional doors. Rear-hinged doors provide easy access when entering and exiting the car, allowing the passenger to enter simply by turning to sit down and exit by stepping forward and out. Suicide doors allow drivers easier access to the tailgate. In the London cab, drivers grabbed the rear door handle through the window without needing to get out of the vehicle.
Rear-hinged suicide doors are also beneficial for parents with babies because it is easier to install an infant car seat in the back of a car with rear suicide doors. They are also cheaper to manufacture and have a simpler mechanism compared to the sliding doors commonly found on minivans. The Opel Meriva B is a van with suicide doors.
The combination of hinged doors on the edges of the door frame allows for a B-pillar design, increasing interior entry space and creating a large opening for vehicle entry and exit.
suicide doors today
The BMW i3 with clamshell doors. (Source: selectcarleasing.co.uk)
For a while, suicide doors were dead as many automakers decided not to follow them due to safety concerns. The last mass-produced car with suicide doors was the Ford Thunderbird. Suicide doors were also popular with vans, thanks to the advantage of a larger opening, allowing larger things to be carried. However, the trend of suicide doors on trucks has slowly waned, with the last truck sold with suicide doors being the 2002 Toyota Tundra.
In 2003, Rolls-Royce introduced the Phantom, with independent suicide doors. Suicide doors can be found in the current Rolls-Royce lineup, as well as many other luxury cars such as the Spyker D8 and the Lincoln Continental Coach Door Edition.
In recent years, rear-hinged rear doors that cannot be opened until the front doors are opened have appeared on a number of vehicles, such as extended cab pickup trucks, the Saturn Ion Quad Coupe, the Honda Element, the Toyota FJ Cruiser, the BMW i3 and the Mazda RX-8. They are more properly called claw doors.
Suicide doors are more prevalent in the world of concept cars and the custom car business. They are usually marketed under different names by car manufacturers, because the term “suicide doors” does not sound good. Mazda calls them “freestyle doors”, Opel calls them “FlexDoors” and luxury automakers like Rolls-Royce and Lincoln tend to call them by their original name, “Coach Doors”. The general technical term for suicide doors is “rear hinged doors”, but many people call them suicide doors because of their history.