Swan doors, or swan-wing doors, are a name given to a type of door sometimes seen on high performance or
concept
Concepts are defined as abstract ideas. They are understood to be the fundamental building blocks of the concept behind principles, thoughts and beliefs.
They play an important role in all aspects of cognition. As such, concepts are studied by s ...
cars. Swan doors operate in a similar way to
conventional car doors, but they open at an upward angle. This design helps to clear
curbs
A curb (North American English), or kerb (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English except Canada; American and British English spelling differences, see spelling differences), is the edge where a raised sidewalk or road m ...
, especially on lower sports cars, by opening slightly upward and away from the curb. The name comes from their resemblance when open to a
swan
Swans are birds of the family (biology), family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form t ...
with its wings open. Although there is no formal definition, swan doors are generally considered to be different from
butterfly
Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...
or
scissor doors
Scissor doors (also called flap doors, wing doors, beetle-wing doors, turtle doors, switchblade doors, swing-up doors, upswing doors, Lamborghini doors, and Lambo doors) are automobile Vehicle door, doors that rotate vertically at a fixed hinge ...
as they are hinged below the
A pillar
A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes' ...
, open both upward and outward, and do not tilt outward like butterfly doors.
The most well known usage of swan doors is by
Aston Martin
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC is an English manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Steered from 1947 by David Brown, it became associated with ...
, and their sister company
Lagonda
Lagonda is a British luxury car brand established in 1906, which has been owned by Aston Martin since 1947. The trade-name has not had a continuous commercial existence, being dormant several times, most recently from 1995 to 2008 and 2010 to 2 ...
, who have used the design on many of their models, starting with the
DB9 in 2004. A number of cars from other manufacturers have also used the design, such as the
Hennessey Venom GT
The Hennessey Venom GT is a high performance sports car manufactured by US manufacturer Hennessey Performance Engineering. The Venom GT is based on the Lotus Elise/Exige.
Speed records
On January 21, 2013, the Venom GT set a Guinness World Reco ...
and
Vencer Sarthe
The Vencer Sarthe is a Dutch sports car produced by Vencer. It is the first automobile to be produced by Vencer.
History
A prototype of the Sarthe was unveiled in 2013 by Prince Albert II of Monaco at the Top Marques auto show in Monaco. In ...
.
Some concept cars have used swan doors as well, including the
Bentley EXP 10 Speed 6
The Bentley EXP 10 Speed 6 is a hybrid concept car by Bentley launched in 2015 at the Geneva Motor Show.
Overview
The Bentley EXP 10 is two seat coupe that was smaller than the Bentley Continental GT at the time. It takes its name from the ...
and
EXP 12 Speed 6e,
Nissan URGE
The Nissan URGE is a concept targa top sports car that debuted at the 2006 North American International Auto Show. Referred to as a "design exercise," many of the car's design elements were influenced by an internet survey aimed towards young au ...
,
Bertone Nuccio
The Bertone Nuccio is a concept car designed and developed by the Italian design house Bertone to celebrate the company's 100th anniversary. It was first shown to the public at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show and was the last car designed by Bertone ...
, and
Lamborghini Asterion
The Lamborghini Asterion LPI 910-4 (LPI being an abbreviation for ''Longitudinale Posteriore Ibrido'') is a concept hybrid car manufactured by Italian automobile manufacturer Lamborghini, which was unveiled at the 2014 Paris Motor Show. The car i ...
.
File:Aston Martin V8 Vantage - Flickr - Alexandre Prévot (62).jpg, alt=, Aston Martin V8 Vantage with swan doors
File:Jaguar c-x75 concept1.jpg, alt=, Jaguar C-X75
The Jaguar C-X75 is a hybrid-electric, 2-seat, concept car produced by British automobile manufacturer Jaguar Cars in partnership with the derivative of the Formula One team, Williams Advanced Engineering which debuted at the 2010 Paris Motor ...
concept with passenger side swan door open
See also
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Butterfly doors
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 ...
*
Canopy door
*
Car door
A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods.
The year 1886 is regarded as t ...
*
Gull-wing door
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, first as a race car in 1952 ( W194), and then a ...
s
*
List of cars with non-standard door designs
This is a list of cars with non-standard door designs, sorted by door type. These car models use passenger door designs other than the standard design, which is hinged at the front edge of the door, and swings away from the car horizontally and ...
*
Scissor doors
Scissor doors (also called flap doors, wing doors, beetle-wing doors, turtle doors, switchblade doors, swing-up doors, upswing doors, Lamborghini doors, and Lambo doors) are automobile Vehicle door, doors that rotate vertically at a fixed hinge ...
*
Sliding doors
A sliding door is a type of door which opens horizontally by sliding, usually horizontal to a wall. Sliding doors can be mounted either on top of a track below or be suspended from a track above. Some types slide into a space in the parallel ...
*
Suicide door
A suicide door is an automobile door hinged at its rear rather than the front. Such doors were originally used on horse-drawn carriages, but are rarely found on modern vehicles, primarily because they are perceived as being less safe than a fron ...
s
References
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Car doors