On rainy days you come with your umbrella up to car, press the remote "Raise" button and the car is raised on four accordion stilts until it is over you. A sliding trap door opens up. You walk under the car now sheltered from the rain, close your [unbrella] and press the button to lower the car (of course an automatic safety device checks that you are in the correct location so no one gets crushed in the process) and you comfortably sit down and drive off.
The underdoor can also be used for emergencies if the car flipped over on an icy road.-- pashute, Oct 14 2014 Inspired by... Rain Blaster [pashute, Oct 14 2014] The alternative use for this feature Integral_20Side_20A..._20Window_20Breaker [normzone, Oct 15 2014] It would be much easier if the car simply had an oversized umbrella that popped up from its roof.-- RayfordSteele, Oct 14 2014 Thought it said "Cat Underdoor"
How to let a wet cat into the dry car without getting out in the rain yourself.
Sigh. Time to see the eye doc. Hope I don't misread that sign.-- popbottle, Oct 14 2014 Some models of long wheelbase Land Rover up to Series III have a removable panel under the driver's seat through which ingress and egress* is possible for an adult of average dimensions and slightly above average potholing experience.
*Not recommended when the vehicle is in motion.-- 8th of 7, Oct 15 2014 Speaking of which, I seem to recall you were in training for such an exercise a few years ago, regarding a tank inspection or some such thing. How'd that turn out?-- normzone, Oct 15 2014 Painfully. They seem to make the damn hatches smaller every year.-- 8th of 7, Oct 15 2014 Gullwing doors-- afinehowdoyoudo, Oct 15 2014 Gullwing cars.-- FlyingToaster, Oct 15 2014 Gullwing sandwiches.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Oct 15 2014 What's a Gullwing?-- blissmiss, Oct 15 2014 Like a Goldwing, only more expansive.-- normzone, Oct 16 2014 I once had an old chev with so much rust in the cab that one could have readily stepped through. It was about as appealing as a gullwing sandwich.-- afinehowdoyoudo, Oct 16 2014 Sorry for your friend, norm.
Was your question about tanks to me? There is an emergency exit "trapdoor" at the bottom of American made tanks. I may have told here about getting reprimand for saying at a military investigation that it was possible that some tools were stolen from our tank while I was on guard. I said that anything was possible, except that it was implausible. Someone may have dug underground and found a way to open the trapdoor from the outside, then climb out through the tank reach the exterior toolbox and steal it.
I was found guilty, and received reprimand. Learned to keep my mouth shut with commanders. It was a good lesson, before leaving for commanding training. When on cleaning duty in that room later that week, I found the official investigation paper crumpled up in the garbage bin.-- pashute, Oct 19 2014 It depends on the terrain. Given the propensity of tankies to park over a hollow and kip underneath in warm or rainy weather, and the fact that on anything other than a parade ground the belly is often well clear of the surface, access isn't that difficult. It's a bit of a squeeze, though - anything more than crew overalls tend to catch.
The main motive for gaining surreptitious access to the interior of tanks is normally not theft, but the perpetration of practical jokes ...-- 8th of 7, Oct 19 2014 I'd always thought the solution to this problem was a more complicated umbrella. A more complicated car is admirable. [+]-- pertinax, Oct 20 2014 // I lived in Seattle //
No, you didn't. You can exist in Seattle, but if you want to truly live, you have to move somewhere else.
Even Vancouver's better than Seattle ...-- 8th of 7, Oct 22 2014 Seattle is a bad example for this. In Seattle it drizzles continuously. There's no point in an umbrella or this invention. Gore-Tex is your best bet. Seattle is actually below the median for annual rainfall in inches among major US cities, but it's right near the top with 155 days of rain a year. This invention would be more useful in one of the may locations that get more rain and get it in discrete rain showers.-- scad mientist, Oct 22 2014 Russel, thanks for the detailed review. Our engineers will have to rethink this over.-- pashute, Oct 23 2014 random, halfbakery