Cars with fewer doors are just better | Axon’s Automotive Anorak

The Mini, Honda Civic, Range Rover, Fiat Panda, Volkswagen Polo, Opel Corsa, Suzuki Swift, BMW 3 Series, Toyota Corolla, Land Rover Discovery, Renault 5, Vauxhall Viva, Audi A3, Ford Ka, and very recently, the Ford Fiesta.

The final model on this far-from-definitive list should be a strong clue to the answer. That being that, originally, all of these cars listed were initially introduced as two- or three-door models. Now, each of these in their current form are only available with at least four doors or more, supposedly to meet ‘modern tastes’.

Last week, Ford announced that after a 46-year production run (with the original Fiesta only being offered as a three-door hatch for the first 13-years of its career), it is finally stopping the production of its sportier-looking three-door models. A move intended to streamline the current range to make way for the introduction of the all-electric next-generation Fiesta.  

By dropping its three-door Fiesta range, Ford of Europe will follow the common pattern of recent years ­– deleting its more affordable models and higher-margin sports-orientated derivatives (where price premiums, and thus profits, can be higher), in-line with a number of other rival vehicle manufacturers.

Yes, I get it that four or five doors add convenience and practicality to a car’s model range. But that’s often at the sacrifice of side-impact safety and overall tensile structural body strength, never mind style and a more aerodynamic, sportier coupe style.

I struggle to think of a single car that looks better in either four- or door-door form than it does as a two- or three-door. Take Land Rover’s original Range Rover Evoque, for example. It was first launched as a sporty-looking three-door ‘coupe’ with a large (and appealing) rear side window. For an SUV, it was uncommonly smooth and rakish, with three-door used examples now fetching a premium over the ‘regular’ five-door versions.

The same applies to the BMW Mini, too. Originally introduced exclusively as a three-door, eventually, a visually less appealing five-door version was added to expand the Mini range. The five-door’s oddly-placed door handles (why are the rear one’s placed so far forward?!) emphasise the ill-conceived extra doors that appear to be an afterthought, and do not fit in with the Mini’s nice, clean design very harmoniously.

Four- or five-door derivatives of cars used to appear some time after the original two- or three-door versions were launched. Prime examples include the first-generation Honda Civic, Renault 5, Austin Metro, Fiat 127, Opel Corsa, and Land Rover’s Discovery and Range Rover – the latter taking almost a dozen years to be ‘officially’ launched after the introduction of the 1970 three-door classic.

Occasionally, the opposite would also happen, with two- or three-door versions being launched to create more affordable entry models and more desirable sporting models. In this case, the likes of the Fiat Tipo MK1 (including the rare and sought Sedicivalvole hot hatch), Seat Leon, Hillman Avenger, and special coach built models such as the Mulliner Park Ward, James Young’s Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow-derived Corniche FHC, plus bespoke rarities such as Boneschi’s two-door Lancia Thema ‘coupe’ and Automobile Amos’ inspired but costly three-door Lancia Delta Integrale conversion.

In countries where larger families tend to be the norm, some unusual locally-developed four-door derivatives of two-door cars used to be quite commonplace. There was the Seat created four-door production versions of the Fiat 600 (the Seat 800), 850 and 127 for copious Spanish clans, with four-door versions of the VW Variant/Brasilia also being adapted and built in Africa.

Given the lack of most four-door cars winning beauty contests over their two-door siblings, a handful of manufacturers have disguised their four-door models to mascarade as a more stylish two-door model. These include the Mazda RX-8 and recent MX-30, the funky BMW i3, Saturn SC, new Fiat 500 3+1 and so on. All of these help to prove the point that two-door cars generally look better than four-door body styles.

Some of you reading this might disagree with my view, and the sadness of two- or three-door cars now becoming an endangered species, but for me, maybe it’s a childhood thing, because I grew up with more stylish but less practical two-door cars. My father always chased a two-door version over its more traditional four-door saloon derivative – a rotary 1974 Mazda RX-4 Coupe (when he could’ve had the four-door Saloon version for less money) being a typical example – a probable case of style over substance, as getting in and out of the back, even as a tiny young kid, was never easy. The car looked cool though, with my school friends thinking my dad drove a car like Starsky and Hutch’s Ford Torino Coupe (despite his American-inspired Mazda being painted metallic gold rather than red).

By the time I was grown up and old enough to drive and choose my own car, I always selected a two- or three-door version if possible. My many black Saab 900 T16S Combi Coupes looked so much sharper than the slightly frumpy five-door versions.

If ever a sportier two-door version of a car simply didn’t exist, I had to argue against myself, swallow my pride and hand over my hard-earned cash for my Citroen CX Turbo, DS, 2CV and Fiat Panda 100hp. Imagine just how much cooler these would have been as two-door derivatives. Ah, if only… In the meantime, if you want to buy a new Fiesta with just three-doors, you’d best form an orderly queue now at your local Ford dealer before it’s too late. Just don’t expect to see me in the cue with you though, because it’s not quite me (despite having the right number of doors).