Door opening caveats

[Ann & Ed Thompson <rapparivarat@xxxx>]

> "Christopher M. Hawes" wrote:
> 
> some of the fast food drive-in places in the UK have a low roof section 
> to shield the cars from the rain and an inexperienced DeLorean owner not
> knowing how much height clearance is needed would pull up flick the door
> open switch and hear the 'crack' of the door mirror and scrapping of 
> stainless steel as it is elevated into the roof of the drive-in 

Wow! Just how low are these "low roof sections"? The DeLorean door, when
fully opened, has an elevation of slightly less than 5'10" from grade (not
counting the mirror). This means that most any pickup truck or van would
not clear the roof. And many people (including myself) would bump their 
heads when walking by. I would not think the building code would allow
that low of a roof over a drive-thru.

As an aside, most people think that it is impossible to get out of a DeLorean
in a close quarters parking situation when in fact the door only extends about
11" from the car as it opens, and only about 6" when fully opened. This would
actually make it easier to get out of than a conventional door which would have
to open considerably more that 11" in order to get out. For example, the door
on my 4-door family sedan extends over 3 feet when fully opened. A 2-door
would extend even more.

Ed Thompson (#6419 since 1982)