Or opinions on some now-rare styles:
For a while there was some noise that 4 door convertibles were to be reintroduced by Mercedes (Ocean Drive?) and Audi (A7 but the notices seem to be several years old, and I don’t recall any being introduced into the mass market (as opposed to customizers, of which there are a few - espcially for the Hummer line) - this is a style that I think is rather cool and used to be fairly common (until the 1940s it seems - I think in the 1950s they finally figured out how to fabricate a belt-line height B pillar so ‘Suicide Doors’ would not be required, but alas by then the style was really out of favor). Could 4 door convertibles make a comeback (in the rather small-to-begin with niche market that is convertibles)?
2 Door station wagons - the Wiki article seems to agree with my memory in that this style was mostly dead (for North America) by the 1980s (the station wagon itself seems rare nowaday, replaced by mini-vans and SUV/crossovers - and minivans in turn seem to have lost out to crossovers also). And yet, these seem cool (and lead to the Ranchero and El Caminos). Any thoughts why 2 door wagon were scarce even before the SUV fad (in the early 1980s you had 2 door Jimmys, and Broncos, and Jeeps - and lots of station wagons)?
Retro-design - is the current mass-market retro phase finally done (PT Cruiser going, Ford T-Bird gone, Plymouth Prowler never really there, don’t know about VW New Beetle sales, but Mini sales seem pretty good)? How long will we be stuck with the current 4-door rounded sedans & squashed Crossover looks (well, considering 4-door sedans have been pretty popular for decades, that won’t go away)?
Dang - I forgot the Dodge Challenger - hows that selling?
There were cars at one time that had doors that opened on the forward edge.
I don’t think anyone does this today, although I’m not sure about specialty cars like limos and airport transporters.
They always seemed absolutely nuts. A loose door, instead of producing a rattle would fly off and the passenger would fly out.
I liked the idea of the Scenicruiser stationwagon, where the people in the back got their own mini windshield.
The hard-top convertible was a fun concept, if not useful because it wasted the trunk.
Those were called Suicide Doors, and just for that reason - if they opened slightly at speed, the wind would catch them and swing them back - definitely not so safe, but that was the door design of those 4-door convertibles I was talking about until I think the manufacturers were able to make reliable half-height B pillars that they could mount the back doors on, and have them open by swinging forward like most modern 4 door sedans. Apparently (according to wiki again) some niche models still use suicide doors, interlocked so the back doors cannot open - don’t know why they use that design.
On preview, I see SCr4 mentioned pickups - I had forgotten, but yeah there are/were Pickups that didn’t have 4 doors, but did have an extended door opening with a regular door and a back-mounted …er, [Railroad terminology] plug door? to allow better back-seat access.
Did that have green plastic in the window, or was that an diffenent automobile model. I do remember an age in an old National Geographic, comparing those windows to those on a bus (Vista-Cruiser?)
The Ford Flex? Isn’t that classed as a Crossover, like the Scion or Honda Element? I know there’s a few Station Wagons around, but I think Crossovers own that category now.
And are any Fastbacks designs currently being made?
The wikipedia entry for Fastback lists a few current models. Though I’m not sure why some other coupes with sloping roofs aren’t listed, like the Nissan Z cars.
By the way, another example of a current car with pseudo-suicide doors is the Honda Element.
As for 2-door wagons and SUVs, I imagine they didn’t provide any major advantages over their 4-door counterparts. It’s a little different for cars; the 2-door model is often more compact and looks more sleek.
I saw a Chevy HHR in panel truck trim the other day, only two side doors, only two side windows. It looked really sharp. The owner said he just loved it.
Yes, but they won’t open unless the front-hinged doors are opened first. In the TV ad for the RX-8, a man ecstatically laid his arms over the roof, and the doors “hugged” him. Very funny.
The Scion xB is very, very square (though not as square as the first year.) Many people hate it. I love it, because it’s little on the outside and big on the inside. I’m 6’4", and my wife is a foot shorter. We are both comfy in the xB.
The Mustang is still kind of retro, and it’s still a best seller.
The Flex is classified as a crossover, not a wagon. It’s also substantially larger than the Scion and Element, as it’s meant as a family vehicle rather than a kiddie car.
I’d like to see some designs for a half-height B pillar. Obviously I’ve never worked with them, but I’d be curious how they’re designed to hold up, especially before the era of ultra high strength steels.
Why don’t they make any SMALL pick up trucks anymore? With 2 doors, a bench seat, 4 cylinder engine, front wheel drive, good mileage, and a small but usable bed? Anybody remember the VW Caddy, a Rabbit pick up? Or the original Subaru Baja? The Caddy even had a diesel engine!
I would buy a new one in a heartbeat. I guess for now I’ll keep using my 96 Escort wagon to haul things around. It’s even getting hard to find a useful new station wagon.
Station wagons pretty much only appealed to two groups: families hauling around kids and their stuff, or businesses that hauled passengers and their stuff. Either way, the convenience of having four doors vastly outweighed any style advantage of two doors.
The OP may not remember that the first generation of minivans had three doors (no 2nd door on the driver’s side) and were rapidly replaced by 4-door models.
