GOING VERTICAL; `Lambo doors' on everything from high-end to Hyundai.(news)(vertical doors)(Column)

Byline: MIKE SUTTON

Forget wheels, wings and flashy paint jobs. The leading-edge attention-getter among today's up-and-coming car fanatics is something called "Lambo doors.''

Also known as vertical doors or scissors doors, these forward-opening door conversions for cars, trucks and sport/utility vehicles are capturing the hearts, minds and wallets of an increasingly affluent youth segment.

Strong hinges are a big part of these kits and are engineered to swing outward a few inches and then pivot upward. The extra weight of the complex hinges and the vertical swinging motion of the doors require heavy-duty gas shocks to handle the brunt of the opening and closing motions. Installation time can vary from a few hours to a few days depending on the kit and the application. Most kits require the removal of the front bumper and fenders. Trimming the front inner fenders to clear the larger hinges is also necessary, which seems like a fairly big deal to us, but suppliers tell us the modifications don't compromise the panel's integrity, and that your paint job won't need a touch-up.

California-based Vertical Doors (verticaldoors.com) started sending doors skyward four years ago as one of the few companies that designs and fabricates kits completely in-house. The patented conversions cost between $1,300 and $3,000 and are covered by a lifetime warranty. Each kit is computer-designed for a specific application, allowing the new hardened steel hinges to simply bolt on in place of the car's old ones and the whole kit to be installed in a few hours. Applications include Lincoln Navigators and C5 Corvettes, and more kits will be released next year. Ironically, the Lamborghini Gallardo, which has standard horizontal-swinging ...