Top Gear’s Top 9: door handles edition

For those who are as sad as us, the Barchetta was probably the first car that sprang to mind when you saw the above headline. Just look at that thin slither of metal. Tasteful, classy, aerodynamic. Oooft. 

Please don’t die, door handles.

Never let it be said that we don’t celebrate the ordinary on TopGear.com. First the Barchetta, and now the sorely-missed second-gen Renault Twingo. This style of handle was actually carried over from the Renault 5 – instead of having to pull it with four fingers, you flick it with two. Less is more and all that…

Ah yes, erm... ordinary.

Anyway, the Lamborghini Miura. Look at that gorgeous door handle masquerading as one of the fins in front of that iconic vent. It’s almost as though Marcello Gandini knew a thing or two about car design. Who’d have thought it?

Lots of manufacturers have done the black plastic hidden door handle thing in this kind of position, but has anyone done it as successfully as Mazda with the RX-7?

Feel free to disagree in the comments below.

From a time where badges meant something – Ferrari’s Dino 206 featured a 2.0-litre V6 at its heart. What a time it was for design too. The Dino’s door handles may look simple and elegant from the outside, but have a search on the internet to see just how much metal is attached under the skin.

Nope, this is not a massive American fridge-freezer, it’s a modern Rolls-Royce with giant rear-hinged doors for a more elegant exit. You don’t flash your pants to the paps, and your chauffeur gets to operate some heavy machinery – everyone’s a winner.

Technically we’re going against our own philosophy here, because the MP4-12C did away with door handles just as the new Mustang Mach-E has. 

In the 12C you needed to rub your hand under that there ridge to trigger a sensor, whilst conjuring up dark magic and enlisting the help of a genie to add to the sense of occasion.

Nissan clearly decided that it definitely didn’t want to hide the door handles on the 350Z. Loud, no-nonsense and industrial… just like the car on which it lives.

It’s a well-known fact that TVR owners have two favourite games to play with their cars. 

The first, of course, is ‘will my car start this morning?’ The second is the now classic ‘how long will it take for my passenger to find the door release nipple'.