It’s hard to think of three cars that seem to have less in common with one another than these three: a 1947 Cisitalia 202, a 1967-1970 Pontiac Grand Prix, and a 2017-present Tesla Model 3. And yet these three cars, as wildly divergent as they are, have one interesting similarity, and I don’t mean obvious bullshit like four wheels or clear-glass windows. It’s an interesting, stylistic detail — something that an owner of these cars would interact with on each and every drive, and its something that is otherwise quite rare in the automotive world. It’s their shared door handle design philosophy.
Yes, door handles! One of the most crucial points of human-machine contact on a car, the literal first thing you need to interact with if you want to drive a car, or even just get inside one. Door handles have always been places for carmakers to have some fun with novel designs and clever mechanisms, and the type of design used on these three cars certainly lends itself to a particular sleek aesthetic, though I’m not convinced the layperson really likes the mechanism or method of operation.
According to a classification of door handles I made while I worked for the automotive website/sex cult known as Jalopnik, this particular type of door handle I classified as a Class 8, or “pop-out” style of handle, as you can see on the chart to the right here.
Know the kind I’m talking about? It’s the kind of door handle that actually takes two steps to operate: first, you have to push on one part, and that part could be a separate button, or a section of the handle itself. These are, I should clarify, unpowered, as well.
The act of pushing will then force the rest of the handle to pop out from the car, either by being released via some spring-loaded method, or via simple lever action.
Then, once the handle is freed from its little, usually flush-mounted nook, the handle is pulled, which releases the latch and opens the door.
Honestly, it’s often kind of a clunky motion that requires two steps, where most good door handles manage the task in one. I suppose you can kind of flow the steps into one another, so it’s an easy push-in-then-grab-from-below kind of motion, though every time I’ve used these sorts of handles they never work quite as smoothly as I’d like.
A number of cars use this handle design, but not a large number. Off the top of my head, I can only think of four: the three I mentioned before and the Lexus LC500, which I didn’t make as big a deal of because I just liked the Cisitalia-Pontiac-Tesla triumvirate more.
Here’s a couple of these in action. First, here’s Tesla’s take on these, as seen on the Model 3:
The Tesla design, being the most recent, seems to improve a bit on the usual operation of these, since the act of pushing in the larger part to lever out the handle also releases the door latch. It also does sit extremely flush with the car, which looks great and has aero advantages, but if you have to deal with ice, this design could be a nightmare. Tesla actually has a whole section of their owner’s manual just to try to deal with this.
They also have this fun little animation showing how to strategically punch your door to get in when it’s icy:
For comparison, let’s check out how this type of door handle works on a 1970 Pontiac Grand Prix:
GM’s design of this type of door handle uses a protruding, textured section for the push part, and that ejects the handle, which, when pulled, releases the door latch–the opposite of Tesla’s method. This one likely wouldn’t have been great in icy conditions, either, but, as it’s less flush, it’d probably be a bit easier.
The originator (I’m pretty sure–at least this is the earliest, best known example of the Class 8 handle) is the 1947 Cisitalia 202.
If you’re not aware of the Cisitalia 202, you should be. This was an early Pinin Farina design, and can be considered the template of all sports coupés to follow, defining the long hood/short rear deck proportions, and also defining the look of Italian sports cars for at least two decades to come.
Built by hand in limited numbers and using modified Fiat mechanicals, the Cisitalia can really be considered the start of all those incredibly lovely, elegant, and fast Italian sports cars that followed. They’re stunning.
and that car used a button that released the spring-loaded handle, which was shaped with a recessed area in the middle for optimal grabability:
I think you could operate this one-handed with no problem: thumb hits button, fingers grab handle, which is pulled to release the latch. It’s like the other ones, but see how the grab handle swings out from the far end of the door handle, the opposite way of the others?
That’s because in the GM and Tesla versions, the handle and the push-in part are one lever, hinged at the fulcrum–you push in the short end, and it see-saws up the other end, the handle. The Cisitalia uses a button to release the handle, so we get this other approach.
It’s worth noting that GM never went back to this door handle design after the 1969-1972 Grand Prix, even though they had several cars that could likely have conceptually worked with such a door handle, like the Corvette. Instead, they developed the also-odd but I think easier to use Class 12 (go on, look at the chart) push-down handles for Corvettes.
I think these handles are worth discussing because they’re one of those automotive designs that is seductive in the ways it looks and feels (and of course there are the aerodynamic advantages), but in actual, everyday use, dealing with everyday factors like weather, gloves, full hands, etc. they usually fall short.
Also, the fact they made a comeback on a car with as much popular attention as a Tesla is significant, too.
So, I encourage all of you to really think how you feel about these Class 8 door handles. Are their sleek looks and aero benefits worth the drawbacks?
I’m not certain, but I encourage an animated discussion about this in the comments, perhaps even leading up to actual threats and maybe some tears because, you know, this is a big deal.
(Thanks to Hans, our Bishop of Automotive Ephemera, for the topic!)
The best implementation was in VH Aston Martins (around ’06 onwards).
Very easy to do one handed, and the bit you had to press illuminated to make it easier to find when you unlocked the cars.
I believe the Fiat Barchetta also used that type or “class” of door handles.
was happy to see the Class 10 designation.
as a child of the, er – 80s? my folks decided to buy an AMC Concord not just once, but twice.
other than it reminding me of airline belt buckle latches, and I faint memory of some fine metal detailing (really fine lines maybe?).
and that’s about all that’s say-able about the Concord; seems the British French had a nice one.
:ps:
Lovely comparison, but what about trunk/hatchback handles?
My Rabbit hatch has the round emblem that you push in at the top and pull from the bottom, can you help me?
So where would a teeny tiny Ferrari Daytona handle be categorized?
oh the old man has a 69 grand prix. i always liked the door handles. I got a class 9 Fiat spider, class 3 truck and a couple class 7s and 11s. Got a fair little door handle collection i never noticed
CLASS 9 REPRESENT!
I both wish more cars used this type of handle, it just feels sweet, but I also like the fact that you just ~know~ it’s from an MX-5 when you see them.
Fiat 850 Spider is an elegant example of Class 5. It shares its parts with the Iso Grifo, also designed by Giugiaro at Bertone.
*stares forlornly at the ground because no door handles*
Class 0? Classless?
The very first Land Rovers had no external door handles, just a canvas flap that allowed you to reach in and grab the interior handle.
That Cisitalia is a lovely little car. Found this about it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWjtbncpMNI
Aston Martins, or at least the last generation of cars (mine is a 2010) use the same type of push/pull door handle. 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Nissan GTR, Land Rover Velar as well. Probably a bunch more that cant be recalled off memory
Class 10 was also favored by British Leyland and their various spin-offs, affiliates, and later incarnations, which is probably how they wound up on Lotuses. After American Motors, BL were the next most dedicated acolytes for the type.
That’s exactly how they ended up one Lotus’ – parts bin specials.
The door handles on a Tesla 3 are kind of dumb. I mean they are not deal-breaker dumb, but are really are the tip of the iceberg of questionable ergonomic choices in that car.
No sir, I don’t like ’em.
Yes. They are. If you want the litany of other issues go to the Tesla Motor Club disucussions on the V.11 user interface.
Oh there are a ton of deal breakers with Tesla 3, I only meant to imply that the dumb door handles in and of themselves would be okay if that were the only issue.
I think I missed that Jalopnik article the first time around, but I can think of two distinct designs that you missed: the vertical B-pillar lever, as seen on GM W-body coupes and Chevy Berettas (and something else – Ferrari 308 maybe?), and the rear-door edge-flap, popularized by the Nissan Pathfinder and now seen on a couple other 4 door crossovers.
The Alfa Romeo 156 had ‘hidden’ handles for the rear doors like that. Might even have been the first?
Class 11 should be broken into two categories also, or sub-categories at least:
– pull handle straight out (tons of examples but one I owned was an F10 5-series)
– pull handle up and out in a sort of rotational motion (again, tons of examples but our current B9 SQ5 and Giulia use this style)
It sounds like a small difference but it takes a while to adapt long-term muscle memory to the the change in motion.
And Dave Kindig patented some that he puts on all of the cars in his shop.
I think you’re missing some Class 8s. Off the top of my head:
Mercedes-Benz 300SL
Aston Martin DB9
Kia EV6 (lower models)
Hyundai Ioniq 5 (lower models)
Nissan GT-R
Also, should there be a category for power pop-out?
Jaguar F-Type too, add that to the list.
This was the first one that popped into my noggin. Also, I can’t get my grubby mitts on one yet, but the Lotus Emira will also have a pivot Class 8.
Once battery tech improves enough to provide huge range without having to remove every un-aerodynamic body part, I think we’ll see a resurgence in Class 11s. There’s a reason they took over in the past few decades, they’re simply the most ergonomic solution.
There’s no reason they can’t be pretty dang aerodynamic, either. Just set them deeper in the door so that the actual handle doesn’t protrude. It’s not completely flush, but it’s almost as good.
My Outback has Class 7s, and they work so well I had to go google a picture of what its door looks like because I couldn’t remember how the handles work off the top of my head. Now *that’s* good design. Also, they’re essentially flush-mounted except for the scoop your fingers go into.
I think what it really comes down to, at least for mass-market cars, is how easy the handles are for kids, disabled people, and the elderly. Your typical able-bodied, mentally-capable adult is not going to have any real trouble with basically any handle design. If you’re confused and/or not very strong and coordinated and/or have some kind of issue with your hands though, a big obvious handle with lots of space around it, that you can get a good grip on but which doesn’t actually require much strength to use, is probably best. Something that you could operate in the dark, wearing ski gloves, while recovering from the flu. Sounds like Class 11 to me.
You make a sound point about usability. As regards aerodynamics, I’ve always had a soft spot for the Mercedes 560SEC’s door handle’s aero bump at the front. It made it distinct from the handle on the equivalent S-Class, but, despite liking it as a design flourish, I do wonder how much of a difference it actually makes.
Sadly most able-bodied, mentally-capable adults cannot get into my Model Y first time (same handle as the 3). I personally really like the handle, it’s a very fluid motion: thumb presses in, fingers drop OVER the handle as it swings out (video above is using the wrong hand!). But intuitive it is not – people stare blankly at it, perhaps expecting the door to spring open on its own (like a Model X…). I have to explain (badly – “Press on the big bit…”), or walk round and show them.
Also, side note on the interior release mechanism – occasionally people miss the button (which is obvious, but they’re not looking for a button) and yank on the emergency manual release instead, which is not for regular use.