I'm curious when the industry went to the modern style of door hinges, where the leading edge "tips in" as opposed to the entire door swinging out from the body. I always had it in the back of my mind that the change was in the '50s sometime, but I got curious and I'm finding that the old style doors lasted a lot longer than I had thought. In fullsize Fords, it looks like they carried through 1964, at least, but the '65 Mustang had the tip-in doors. I'm not sure about other brands but I would assume that they all changed around the same time.....or not?
No wisdom here? FWIW, the reason I'm curious is that I'm a model builder and a favorite pet peeve has always been modern car models with incorrectly hinged doors, but now I'm wondering if I was not mistaken some of the time. I'd definitely like to get the door hinges right in the future. Any help?
You mean, where the hinge axis is in front of or behind the door cut line? I've noticed that model cars tend to have the axis ahead even if the original has the axis behind. Truth be told I never realized that some real cars might have the axis ahead; I've never noticed it myself. My Morris Minor, which first appeared in 1948, has the axis behind, i.e. in the door, like modern cars. I'd expect cars that have the same kind of extension of front fenders into the doors, e.g. '46-'48 GM cars, would have the same arrangement.
That's interesting that a '48 car would have the hinge mounted there. I guess another way of looking at it is whether the hinge itself is on the door or on the car. If it's on the door, the leading edge of the door tips inward behind the front fender, and if it's on the car (firewall) the entire door swings out. I've yet to see a model kit of a "tip in" door where the door opened prototypically. Certainly no model kit of an American car. I've made a couple in scale and it's pretty easy to come up with a working hinge for a barndoor type arrangement, but it's a whole nother ballgame making one for a door where the hinge attaches to the door.
The Jalopy Journal
