Suicide Door - History

History

Suicide doors were common on cars manufactured in the first half of the 20th century. In the era before safety/seat belts, the accidental opening of passenger doors, especially the front ones where the passenger's body was adjacent to the door, meant that there was a greater risk of falling out of the vehicle, than with front hinged doors where the airflow pushed the doors closed rather than opening them further. They were especially popular in the gangster era of the 1930s – supposedly because "It's a lot easier to shove somebody out with the wind holding the door open", as Dave Brownell, the former editor of Hemmings Motor News stated.

After World War II, this design was applied almost exclusively for the rear doors of four-door sedans, if it was used at all. The best-known use of suicide doors on post-World War II automobiles was the Lincoln Continental sedan from 1961 through 1969, and on the unique Lincoln Continental four-door convertible from 1961 through 1967 (the last four-door convertible built in the United States prior to the introduction of the 4-door Jeep Wrangler in 2007.) Many people are familiar with a modified version of the 1961 Lincoln model 74A convertible, known as SS-100-X, because it was the vehicle in which President Kennedy was riding when he was assassinated. Another example of this vehicle can frequently be seen in episodes of the TV show Green Acres, as one was owned by the main character, Oliver Douglas. Since the four-door Lincoln convertible did not have a center "B" pillar, the rear door glass was designed to electrically retract a few inches when the rear doors were opened in order for the weather-stripping to clear the front door glass. This meant that, if the battery was dead, the only way out of the back seat was to crawl over the front seat.

However, in 1956, the Italian automaker Fiat introduced the Fiat 600 Multipla mini MPV and later, in 1963, the Spanish automaker SEAT launched the SEAT 800 city car, which were both four-door cars featuring front suicide doors and rear doors with a conventional opening. This meant that all four doors were attached to the B-pillars.