Auto Trends

While perhaps not the first time it has been unveiled, but it was an interesting idea back in 1986 when the BMW Z1 introduced it, and it still is today.

The Disappearing Door by Jatech is basically a new way to enter and exit a vehicle. Instead of the traditional hinge doors that most of us have become accustomed to, it is a lot more like sliding mini-van doors, except instead of sliding to the side, they slide underneath the vehicle. You may be wondering how the typical vehicle could have enough height clearance.

The Disappearing door rolls down an enclosed system that is placed within the body frame. The door in effect is not actually rolling underneath the vehicle as it appears, but rather inside the lower frame. The whole purpose of this system is to make it both easier and safer for passengers to enter and exit their vehicle.

While similar to the infamous “lambo” doors that opened upwards as seen on the Lamborghini and the DMC DeLorean,

these doors prove even less cumbersome because they fall completely out of the way from all angles.

The doors are also safer, as they allow a driver to pull up tightly against a curb away from traffic without having to worry about getting the doors open. Since there is no door that swing outwards, there is no way for an oncoming car to hit the door, and you can also keep an eye of the traffic through the side mirror which will not move with the door as in most hinged designs.

Using similar technology as the minivan, these doors would not prove to raise the cost of the typical vehicle all that much, so why don’t we see more cars like this? Well, as mentioned earlier, the BMW Z1 tried this design back in 1986, and while these cars have become collector items now, the idea never really took off.

As the famous grandpa saying goes, “they would just be another thing to break”. And if they would break, all the safety of the design would be thrown out the window, because you would be out in the street manually cranking the doors down similarly to a convertible top that has stopped working.

Jatech is hoping that this idea will catch on some 20 years later now that technology has improved substantially. But are consumers ready for such an odd innovative car door that may prove to be more trouble than its worth?

Probably not, but the idea is still cool to talk about anyway!