Seems straight forward enough, so I must be missing something.
On a coupe, the doors could either way (but I'm not suggesting both ways). On a sedan, the front doors could slide forward; the rear doors backward.
Cramped parking spaces would no longer pose a challenge. Getting in and out would be easier as would activities like vacuuming the interior or getting children in and out of car seats.
The only downside I envision is the possibility of the channels for the slide rails ruining the lines of the car, so we'd want them to be inconspicuous.-- phoenix, Feb 20 2002 Partially baked on the new-style black taxis in the UK. And on those horrid people carrier things. But they are an excellent idea, as I'm sure the cyclists here will agree.-- calum, Feb 20 2002 Not more Minivans... please-- dag, Feb 20 2002 they would not need to go laterally, they could slide up into the roof space.-- po, Feb 20 2002 Kind of like the old roll away desks. hmm. There go my T-Tops and convertibles. Potential drawbacks are increased complexity and added weight, but the idea of no more dings from doors is good. I suppose they would just make the parking spaces smaller then.-- dag, Feb 20 2002 get rid of doors all together and replace them with beaded curtains.-- mihali, Feb 20 2002 This is an issue of implementation rather than invention, yes? So, I agree with [PS] in its bakedness.-- bristolz, Feb 20 2002 I agree the sliding door has been around for a while, but the implemetation [phoenix] suggested would be quite revolutionary in many ways beyond design and would probably lead to cascading changes in everyday life relating to auto transportation ... Which makes me wonder why it has not already been done.-- dag, Feb 20 2002 Beaded curtains... Hey! Cost save! (quiet, or Ford corporate purchasing will jump all over it)-- RayfordSteele, Feb 20 2002 love it Ray but the kids would all fall out!-- po, Feb 20 2002 oh and the dogs too and that would NEVER do!-- po, Feb 20 2002 {Beaded Curtuins} Wouldn't keep the water out but are a cool idea.
{roof sliding doors} - The channel in the roof for the doors to slide up would have a serious effect on the cars drag co-efficient and decrease efficiency unacceptably. I suspect they could be made to go vertically straight up though... but this might have problems in a strong sidewind as there would be a lot of stress on the mechanism.
{Sliding Doors} Are on many of this years new concept cars. There is an important safty issue... doors open as they do so that if you try to open them when the vehicle is moving, the air will blow the door shut. (Thus the ban on rearward opening doors... people used to open them a little and then the air would pull the door back and since they were holding the handle, them out of the car.)
Electronic central locking will now allow this as you could set it so the door wont open when the vehicle is in motion... a la black cabs.
Would be intered to see if doors could be made like roller-shutters, sliding down under the floot or up into the space between the roof and the lining. Works in theory, just not sure about visibility through the window-- CasaLoco, Feb 21 2002 I think the Dukes of Hazzard had it sorted. Who needs doors?-- pottedstu, Feb 21 2002 "...they could slide up into the roof space." Sorry [po], but glass doesn't bend all that well.
"...doors open as they do so that if you try to open them when the vehicle is moving, the air will blow the door shut. (Thus the ban on rearward opening doors..." Call me Hercules, but I can open my car door while the vehicle is moving. I'll grant that it's not easy, but... And there is no ban (at least in the U.S.) on suicide (reverse opening) doors.-- phoenix, Feb 21 2002 mosaic glass would. very pretty!-- po, Feb 21 2002 glass doesnt bend, but they do use it for back glass on convertibles, so why wouldnt it work with the idea of going up into the roof?-- BigAltheButcher, Mar 12 2003 Lambo doors, anyone?-- guitarguru102, Dec 28 2007 random, halfbakery