Hot Rods Ingress/Egress question for early cars

I agree with the chopped look of the roof line but when sitting in one they do seem to have more head room.
As I'm not a MOPAR guru I could have my facts mixed up. The 40s era cars would seem to fit that statement with the taller roof lines.

 

I've also been giving some thought to the ingress/egress problem, as I've never been exactly a contortionist and I still don't bend as well as I used to. On my DD I am increasingly experiencing trouble getting the chunky boots I favour through the tight angle between the sill and the bottom of the door, and then over the sill. And my DD is a '70s design, before the modern tendency for huge doors closing tiny openings.

For some reason I haven't really given serious consideration to suicide doors, but they have real advantages. They don't get in the way of your feet, and they allow a simple canted A-pillar line as on the '33-'34 Ford, which gives better foot clearance without simultaneously moving the A-pillar forwards. Claw-type door latches and the aftermarket safety latches which activate a dash light etc. improve the safety of the arrangement a lot. I've only now taken the trouble to read up on those latches: they are a simple, sensible solution.

But in all this I'm reminded of the radical industrial designer Victor Papanek, the soundness of whose systemic insights were often offset by his getting the detail stuff, the local-knowledge stuff, horribly wrong. For instance, he advocated kit-cars in the early '70s while simultaneously advocating the regulatory regime which would subsequently make the kit-car industry almost impossible. So too he advocated the universal adoption of suicide doors without any interlocks or additional measures as a safety feature! The language he uses in Design for the Real World (1971) suggests that he was wholly unfamiliar with the expression "suicide doors," possibly because he had no contact with the circles in which the expression is used. That just by the way.

Another advantage early cars have is very shallow sills, or even "negative sills," where the door opening drops lower than the level of the floor. That's huge, compared to modern cars.

 

Hello,

In a 2019 visit to an old car for possible purchase, a four door 40 Ford sedan, we found out that those suicide doors are much easier to use. Even for our newish family station wagons, if the taller person is wanting to get inside, in an easy manner, one has to sit down in the seat first. Then with the rest of the head and upper torso in the door way, sit and swing in the feet to the footwell. It made ingress easy and simple after swinging in the legs. Now the multiple adjusting seat can move forward or back to make it better yet.

When my Rubgy injured left knee was acting up again, it was seen by an orthopedic surgeon who suggested rest and no surgery to allow it to heal. It was awful trying to get into the bucket seats the way we were used to doing. So, I did the reversed butt first tactic and that made it easier to actually get inside. (those swiveling Chrysler seats from a long time ago would have made any car entry easier.) But, now, even when the knee was swollen and hard to bend, it made it inside without any problems. A stick shift would have been a big problem, if the left knee was injured.

Now, the knee is still shaky after yard work, daily walks and stairs/sloped driveways, etc. So, I continue to sit seat first and then swing everything else in later. When exiting, it is the total reverse. Swivel so the left leg goes outside first, then the rest of the body swivels and a short lift and I am outside.

We had to take my wife’s fairly frail dad to a doctor’s visit. He had to sit in the front passenger seat. So, the technique of butt first worked for him easily and then we moved his legs inside. The reverse was true to get out of the seat.

Jnaki

When we were teenagers, our friend’s 1934 5 window Ford Coupe had suicide doors and as nimble as we were, liked the seat/door combination, then. Now, with our older bodies, they still seem like a great way to enjoy old hot rods for style and comfort.
a newer access and look

The butt first technique works, but for hot rod guys/girls, a suicide door car would make it easier for all concerned. A two door is great, whereas a four door might have some depth problems reaching the inset rear seats. YRMV

We all chuckled at the swiveling Chrysler seats in the 60's and now many years later, Chrysler has made the swiveling seats an item, again. Technology has made it so much easier.

 

6'3 over 300 here, Model A coupes and sedans work, If you want a roadster that's fat boy/tall boy friendly, get a sports coupe and cut the doors down etc...
Coupes move Package tray out and seat back 6" and you will be stretched out driving.
Sedans, you can fab new seat mounts to move the seats back or put something else in.
Trucks are no go without major modifications.
Roadsters are no go without major modifications.