车门上的花样

    现代汽车（Hyundai）最近火得不得了。它旗下的车型大受欢迎，供不应求，经销商们甚至说道，现代的新车往往刚一到货就被抢购一空了。

    不过当我听说现代最近推出了一款名叫“飞思”（Veloster）的运动紧凑车时，我不禁想道：现代公司难道没有听说过“奇门诅咒”这回事儿吗（也就是说车门造得很奇怪的车型，销量往往都上不去）？

    现代飞思这款车型有三个车门，驾驶员侧有一个，另一侧有两个。这种不对称设计倒是考虑到了实用性和造型的灵活性，但很可能危及它的市场销量。

    在汽车史上，还有一些车型采取了非主流的车门造型。有的是后开门，有的是前开门，有的车门外面没有把手，有的甚至连门都省了。有些自认为在搞创新的设计人士就是不喜欢传统的后方车门设计，多年来一直想玩花样，结果还是没能搞出什么名堂。

    这显然有蛇足之嫌。早初的设计已经很不错了，还瞎折腾什么呢？消费者的眼睛是雪亮的，他们会惩罚汽车厂商那些做作的设计。

    以下谨为大家列出几款三门轿跑和其它几款车门造型奇特的轿车。

Staged doors

    Hyundai has been on a tear lately, with its cars so popular and in such short supply that dealers like to say they are selling them off the truck.

    But when I heard about the latest Hyundai, a sporty compact called the Veloster, I thought to myself, "Hasn't it heard about the curse of the strange doors?"

    You see, the Veloster has one door on the driver's side and two doors on the passenger side for a total of three. It is an asymmetrical exercise in utility and styling flexibility that is likely to be at risk in the marketplace.

    The same goes for extra doors that don't follow the natural order of things because they are hinged in the rear and open to the front, don't have outside handles, or are otherwise compromised. People who think of themselves as automotive innovators have been fiddling with the basic rear-opening door formula for years without improving it

    It's liker trying to build a better paper clip. The original works fine; why mess with it? Customers know the difference -- and they will punish automakers for their unnatural acts.

    Herewith, a gallery of three-door coupes and other automotive oddities:

现代飞思：2011年

    韩国现代非常擅长把大家熟悉的某个概念加以发挥，把它做得更好。比如现代出品的紧凑型轿车伊兰特（Elantra）和中型车索纳塔（Sonata）这两款车型，它们将中低端家用轿车提升到了前所未有的高度。

    不过飞思走的却是另一条路。这款三门车的理念，就是在不牺牲便捷性的前提下，塑造一款运动型轿跑的造型。这个设计虽然方便了驾驶员，但是由于出入后排座位不便，所以后排乘客还是要做出一些牺牲。飞思的销量究竟如何，不久之后消费者们就会告诉我们答案。

Hyundai Veloster: 2011

    The Korean automaker has a knack for taking a familiar concept and making it better. The compact Elantra and midsize Sonata raise the affordable family sedan to previously unattained levels.

    The Veloster drives off in a different direction, however. The idea behind its three-door concept is to provide sporty coupe styling without sacrificing convenience. But the design actually penalizes the driver at the expense of the passenger by not providing easy access to the rear seat. Customers will begin to cast their votes shortly.

土星离子：2003—2007年

    土星离子（Saturn Ion）是土星品牌的另一个创新失败之作。除了沉重昂贵的塑料车身之外，它的失败之处还在于它的“对开门”式设计。后方车门很窄，看起来就像衣柜的门，只有正常车门宽度的一半，而且不能单独打开，只有在前门打开之后才能开启。离子轿车2007年就淡出了市场，两年后，整个土星产品线也随之湮灭。此后，通用（General Motors）和其他美国厂商再也没搞过“对开门”的轿车设计。

Saturn Ion: 2003-2007

    Along with heavy, expensive plastic skin, the Ion "quad coupe" with two small hatch-like rear doors represents another failed innovation by Saturn. The rear half-size apertures couldn't be operated independently; they could only be opened after the front doors. The Ion disappeared in 2007, and the entire Saturn line followed it into oblivion two years later. Not General Motors nor any other American manufacturer has seen fit to revive the quad coupe since then.

本田元素：2002—2011年

    本田元素（Honda Element）的设计目的是希望能在一个较小的载物平台上承载较多的货物。这款车型的设计脱胎于本田的CRV，不过与CRV不同的是，它的尾部有两个掀式车门，而且是上下对开的。这款车型取消了前后车门之间的柱子，因此增大了储物空间。但是为了弥补车身的稳定性，还是加入了一些额外的结构部件。本田元素是专为美国市场设计的，本田公司对这款SUV寄予了厚望，但事实证明它的市场吸引力非常有限。而采取了完整车门设计的CRV却大放异彩，成为本田车系的一根顶梁柱。

Honda Element: 2002-2011

    The four-seat Element was designed to carry large loads on a relatively small platform. Unlike the CRV sport utility on which it is based, it has two rear hatch doors instead of full-size ones. Since the pillars that normally separate the front and rear doors have been eliminated, the load space is enlarged, but extra structural members were added to compensate for the loss of stiffness. Honda had high hopes for the Element, which was designed specifically for the U.S. market, but its appeal proved limited. The more fully-doored CRV, on the other hand, became a huge hit and a staple of Honda's lineup.

福特稳达：1995—2003年

    世界上第一台MPV是克莱斯勒（Chrysler）生产的普利茅斯—捷龙（Plymouth Voyage），一开始它的后方只安装了一个滑动车门，不过克莱斯勒很快意识到了这个设计的不足，于是又给它安装了第二个滑动门。十年后福特也推出了自己的MPV——福特稳达（Windstar），但是福特并没有吸取教训，第一代稳达只安装了一个滑动式的后方车门。后来福特CEO艾利克斯•特罗特曼开玩笑地说道，这台MPV的第四个车门在设计室里弄丢了。后知后觉的福特直到1999年才弥补了这个缺陷，不过为时已晚。这款笨重的MPV遭遇了一系列可靠性问题，虽然2004年福特将“稳达”的名字改为“福达”（Freestar），但还是没能避免它在2007年过早退市。

Ford Windstar: 1995-2003

    Although the original Chrysler minivan came with only one rear sliding door, Chrysler quickly realized its shortcomings and added a second one. Ford, which came along with its van a decade later, didn't get the message and launched the original Windstar as a lopsided imitation with one rear door. CEO Alex Trotman later joked that the van's fourth door had been lost at the design studio. Ford belatedly rectified the shortcoming in 1999, but it was too late. The ponderous Windstar suffered a variety of reliability problems, and a name change to Freestar in 2004 couldn't prevent the van from a premature extinction in 2007.

宝马Mini-Clubman S：2008年至今

    宝马Mini Clubman S是宝马Mini的旅行版，它的特点是右侧后部加了一个反向开启的小门，尾部的后备厢门则是左右对开的。这扇右侧的小门在英国颇受争议，因为英国的驾驶员也是坐在右侧的，也就是说右侧正对着车流。宝马公司解释称，如果要将这扇小门装在车身左边，就得让汽车的加油系统搬家，耗资必将十分巨大。同样，要给左右两侧都安上这样一个小门也是不可能的。

Mini Clubman S: 2008-

    A station-wagon version of the original Mini, the Clubman features a small rear-hinged "club door" on the right side of the vehicle in addition to two split barn doors in the rear. The club door proved controversial in Great Britain, where it opened on the driver's side, exposed to traffic. Mini explained that to have mounted the door on the left-hand side would have required an expensive relocation of the fuel filler system. A club door on both sides of the car was equally out of the question.

马自达RX—8：2003—2011年

    马自达（Mazda）RX—8是采用了转子发动机的RX—7轿跑的后续车型。大多数运动型轿跑的后座都存在先天不足，对于任何人来说用处都不大。所以马自达在研发RX—8时，给它加上了一对向后开启的小门，好让它成为一款货真价实的四座轿车，而不是一款有局限性的2+2轿跑。这两扇额外的小门对RX—8的外观来说没什么好处，RX—8看起来很不协调，完全不能和经典比例的马自达MX—5 Miata跑车相媲美，可能也让消费者感到莫名其妙。

Mazda RX-8: 2003-2011

    The vestigial rear seats of most sports cars are of little use to anyone, so Mazda added a pair of rear-hinged mini-doors when it designed this successor to the rotary-powered RX-7. The idea was to make the car a genuine four-seater instead of a more limited 2 2. The addition didn't help the appearance of the RX-8, which looks ungainly next to the classically proportioned MX-5 Miata, and probably confused customers as well.

宝马伊赛塔：1955—1962年

    宝马伊赛塔（BMW Isetta）基于意大利式设计，通体只有一个车门，它也是有史以来单车门车型中销量最大的。据维基百科的描述，整个车的前端部分，包括方向盘和中控台都可以向外掀起，可容纳一名驾驶员和一名乘客进出。不过如果车子不幸追尾，他们就得从轿车的敞篷部分爬出去。宝马从1959年开始生产主流轿车，伊赛塔也于三年后淡出历史舞台。这款轿车共生产了161,728辆。

    译者：朴成奎

BMW Isetta: 1955-1962

    Based on an Italian design, the BMW Isetta was the largest selling car to ever sport just a single door. As described by Wikipedia, the entire front of the car, including the steering wheel and instrument panel, was hinged to swing outward to provide access for the driver and a passenger. In the event of an accident, they were to climb through the canvas sunroof. BMW started building conventional cars in 1959, and the Isetta was consigned to history three years later after 161,728 had been built.