Re: More on the Facel-Packard . . .

Posted by JWL On 2013/6/9 12:52:04

Howard make a good point about those wonderful and beautifully styled 60s Lincoln Continentals and their rear hinged, rear doors. I refuse to use the common term for rear hinged doors.

The stigma about rear hinged doors being dangerous comes from the pre-war time when bodies had some wood framing in them and had a lot of flex. Going over a railroad track, hitting a bump, or going into a pothole many times would cause the body to flex enough for a door to spring open. When this happened the air flow would catch the sprung door as if it were a sail and fling it wide open. If passengers were caught unawares, which was usually the case, they could be thrown from the bounding car through the open door space. This problem diminished as bodied got stronger and the flex eliminated; however, manufactures chose to go with front hinged doors.

Anyway, that is my take on it.

(o{}o)