Swan doors

Aston Martin V8 Vantage with swan doors

Jaguar C-X75 concept with right side swan door open

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.^[1]

Function

The design helps to clear curbs, especially on lower sports cars, by opening slightly upward and away from the curb.^[2] The name comes from their resemblance when open to a swan with its wings open. Although there is no formal definition, swan doors are generally considered to be different from butterfly or scissor doors as they are hinged below the A pillar, open both upward and outward, and do not tilt outward like butterfly doors.

Usage

The most well known usage of swan doors is by Aston Martin, and their sister company Lagonda, who have used the design on many of their models, starting with the DB9 in 2004.^[3] A number of cars from other manufacturers have also used the design, such as the Hennessey Venom GT and Vencer Sarthe.^[4] Some concept cars have used swan doors as well, including the Bentley EXP 10 Speed 6 and EXP 12 Speed 6e, Nissan URGE, Bertone Nuccio, and Lamborghini Asterion.

See also

• Canopy door
• Gull-wing door
• List of cars with non-standard door designs
• Sliding doors
• Suicide door

References

1. "Which unusual car door is most awesome?". Field Notes: The Turo blog. 2018-02-09. Retrieved 2019-01-20.
2. DeMuro, Doug. "Here Are All The Weird Quirks On My Aston Martin V8 Vantage". Jalopnik. Retrieved 2019-01-19.
3. "Aston Martin - Rapide S". me.astonmartin.com. Retrieved 2019-01-19.
4. Toma, Sebastian (2018-09-10). "Eccentric Doors - Your Guide to The Difference Between Butterfly And Dihedral". autoevolution. Retrieved 2019-01-19.