Gull-wing door

Common card · No. 249126

A gull-wing door, also known as a falcon-wing door or anhedral door, is a car door hinged at the roof rather than the side. It was pioneered by Mercedes-Benz 300 SL, first as a race car in 1952 (W194) and then as a production sports car in 1954. Opening upwards, the doors evoke the image of a seagull's wings. In French, they are called portes papillon ("butterfly doors"), although the term butterfly doors usually refers to a different design that opens both upward and forward. The papillon door was designed by Jean Bugatti for the 1939 Type 64, 13 years before Mercedes-Benz produced its similar, famous 300 SL gullwing door. The papillon door is a precursor to the gullwing door, and is slightly different in its architecture, but is often overlooked when discussing gull-wing design. Conventional car doors are typically hinged at the front-facing edge of the door, with the door swinging outward horizontally. Apart from the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL of the mid-1950s and the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG...

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