Side impact bags (for your chest) usually mount in the seat or door. Side curtains (for your head) mount either in the door, or roof of the car.
The patent drawings suggest that the door goes into an enclosed compartment, so that isn’t a worry. (But how long before that compartment gets dented so badly that the door won’t go down anymore?)
Popular culture has it that it will stop going down right after the wedding.
Then Kaiser Darrin Roadster had the doors sliding into the front fenders: http://www.film.queensu.ca/CJ3B/Siblings/Kaiser.html
Yeah, but those were manually operated, and really clunky in practice.
Soooooey!
Another huge reason you won’t see this anytime soon is it would increase your collision insurance rates. A lot. Because if you have a minor fender-bender, or even so much as a light bump in the side, it will literally cost ten times as much to fix. That roll-down/up GM wagon someone mentioned suffered from this. Even a light rear-ending and the car was a write-off, too expensive to be worth fixing.
Big aftermarket modifications are rarely worth the expense, and they don’t get much bigger than this! Today, even adding something like a power sunroof costs way too much to be practical.
So what are the real benefits that can’t be addressed by other better ideas? I can’t really see anything compelling.
Alas, it’s true. Some even died without any crash damage. One day, the gate would dive down into its hole, never to be seen again. An otherwise very presentable station wagon, suddenly bound for the scrapyard. :eek:
At first, it would seem like a dream for some creative bodywork wrangler. Zip off most of the roof, a little of this, a little of that, and zam, you have a one-of-a-kind El Camino. However, the full-size GM “estate wagons” of those years looked absurd. If you imagine one without most of the roof and glass, even a finely crafted El Camino would draw giggles, not admiration. 
Surely, at least one exists somewhere. If you can find a picture somewhere, I’d like to see it.
OK to answer all your questions. I have been a consultant for the marketing of this and have personally seen the vehicle (of which there are 4) operate.
To dispel some assumptions;
1 This door is stronger, lighter, and safer than the original equipment and this has been proven by crash tests performed some years ago.
2. This door has an emergency release and egress is easier especially after an accident. Again this has been tested and proven
3. If the emergency release is activated the door is counterbalanced so that you may open it with one finger pushing down.
4. Furthermore the entire door may be pushed out after the emergency release has been activated
To summarize this concept gives the user a stronger, safer, lighter door that gives incredibly easy egress and ingress to the vehicle
Two and a half years later and four have been sold? That’s what I call a niche market.
I realized there were additional questions brought up and need to add some more information;
5. The door is fully contained in a box and does not subtract from ground clearance. Nor does it detract from interior clearance since the seats do not need to be raised.
6. The same opening is provided when you open a regular car door so in terms of inclement weather there is no true difference except you dont have to worry about the wind blowing your door open or a passing car removing it!
7. If the door is dented only the exterior skin would have to be replaced which would not be huge expense. And, to reiterate, safety officials have clearly stated that access to the passengers would be much easier in a crash.
8. As for tampering this door forms a solid seal with the roof and offers more security since the latching mechanism is not available to the thief.
9. In terms of cost once in full production you would look at about 3 times the cost of your current doors at production line costs and 5 times aftermarket. Figure it about par with a high end option package.
10. I have already stated several obvious benefits and so does the video but there is another. This door is a godsend for those who are handicapped or of limited mobility.
11 Lastly this door is just plain cool and as you can tell I love it!!
It is not into production and none have been sold. Unlike people who rush things into production without thought this product will be fully vetted and tested before release
Furthermore, due to the sheer scale of the demand a specific pattern for marketing will be followed of which I may not discuss at this time
Let’s see:
[ul]
[li]Video ad shot on a rented ‘fancy estate’ with models trying just a little too hard to project ‘class’ and wealth;[/li][li]When discussed on a message board, someone immediately joins the message board just to reveal that they have supposedly “been a consultant for the marketing of this” and the technology really works!1!!1 ;[/li][li]Said anonymous ‘consultant’ makes vague excuses for not selling any actual product (in 2 1/2 years!) by mentioning a super marketing plan which of course is too secret to reveal anything about;[/li][li]Product web site is funded by selling google ads;[/li][/ul]
I’m not saying the technology is impossible, or even that it doesn’t exist, but I wouldn’t place a whole lot of bets on it ever being commercially successful.
Ahem. Joined the thread two and a half years later.
Zombie reported.
Nah, probably found the reference on Google…
I just see it as others do - a neat idea, but probably not worth the cost and hassle. The first deformity, lightweight or not, and the track stops working. I’ve seen car doors roped close at times; something that is basically not able to close is not a great idea. I have images of someone drilling a hole so they lift the door up then stick a peg through it into the frame to keep it up once the motor and such fail. Ya, if it’s stuck under there, what do you reef on to pull it up? From inside the car?
The modification seems to involve also modifying the body to make it more “rounded” so the door does appear to rotate into the car underbody.
In a northern climate, how long before the rust and ice buildup make this stop working. Until I got an insulated garage, icing causing my windows to not roll down was a common winter occurence.
You are going to have to explain this one.
You say you made the floor thicker, by adding a box that the door fits into. And yet, you also seem to be saying that you did not raise the top of the floor (which would raise the seats) and you did not lower the bottom of the floor (which would affect the ground clearance.
So how do you make the floor bigger without making it bigger?
'Doh! Nothing like looking closely and skeptically at almost all the evidence.
Though doesn’t really change the conclusion to change that bullet point to
[ul]Two-year-old (and long dead) thread on discussion board questioning the product is revived and commented on by someone who joins the message board just for this purpose, revealing that they have supposedly “been a consultant for the marketing of this” and the technology really works!1!!1 ;[/ul]
My bet would be that the company supposedly developing the technology currently has a very special offer to invest in this sure-fire get-rich scheme.
- Gee when I represent my product I should use the poor ugly and homeless for more appeal, correct?
- I found this message board checking links and had to join in order to dispel myths and answer questions.
- Nothing vague about stating the size of the market and appeal. There are thousands of emails from across the globe inquiring when they may see this technology
- Google ads are everywhere lol
Looks like you struck out completely oh skeptical one. Care to try again?