Re: [DML] Door opening caveats

["Christopher M. Hawes" <chris@xxxx>]

A thread on my food-crunch door vision was not expected.

At time of writing I forgot about the maximum height being less than 6 feet
when open. It just goes to show how well designed the DMC gullwings really
are.

Knowing this you can let your door shoot upwards at speed (assuming you have
healthy gas-struts) knowing that providing nothing is nearer than 12-14
inches and less than 5' 10" from above the door, it will reach its final
destination intact.

The low section of roof seemed very low but as a van would be wrecked if
attempting to 'aquire some grub' it must have been an illusion and therefore
be at a height suitable for all vehicles.


Christopher M. Hawes


----- Original Message -----

> "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