What is Suicide Doors?
1.
Suicide doors refer to car doors that open in the opposite of the regular direction - hinges are at the back and the front of the door opens. Many cars before WWII had those and now it is a popular conversion on tuned trucks. Suicide doors are considered far more dangerous than normal doors because of the possiblity of opening during movement.
I am thinking of converting my truck to suicide doors
2.
Automotive doors that hinge from the rear edge of the door instead of the leading edge. They acquired the "suicide" nickname due to the fact that if the door was not fully closed and the occupant tried to open and reclose the door while the car was moving (which for some reason was once common practice), the rushing air would catch the door and pull it open violently, often pulling the person still holding the door handle out of the car.
Grandpa told us that Uncle Wilbur was run over after he tried to shut the suicide doors on his 33 coupe and was thrown out under a truck. He was never the same after that.
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3.
A four-door car with rear doors that are hinged in reverse.
The Lincoln Contintals of 1961 - 1970, the new Rolls-Royce Phantom, and the upcoming Lincoln Continental retro car (yes, you read that right).
4.
Doors such as those on pickups, the Honda Element, etc. that are double and open in opposite directions. So called because of the supposed danger of falling out while the vehicle is in motion.
I tried to open the suicide doors on my Element while it was on the Golden Gate Bridge.
5.
Car doors that open backwards. In the early 1900s most cars were sold to elderly because they were the only people who could afford them. The term suicide door originated before Drinking and Driving became illegal.
While the car was still moving, an intoxicated driver would open the door to vomit and would be pulled out of the vehicle.
Grandpa opened them suicide doors to throw up and he got runned over by his own car.
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6.
Doors that open the oposite way than they usually do. Used in the 1930's by gangsters because they could easily hang out of their car with their tommy guns and shoot at the vehicle that was following them.
In the movie Dick Tracy they use vehicles with suicide doors.
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7.
Suicide doors are automobile doors that are hinged on the edges closer to the back of the vehicle. The name refers to the danger of such a door being hit by another vehicle while parked at the curb--slamming an open door shut with enough force to kill.
The 1966 Lincoln Continental in <i>The Matrix</i> had Suicide Doors.
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