When they first came out in 2007, I was very iffy on the concept. I was of the opinion that a four door Jeep was not a real “Jeep.” However, the market for these things has more than BOOMED! I have never owned a Jeep but do think about it time to time. The reality is that there are several, several other vehicles that I’d rather own than a Jeep. IF I did get a Jeep one day, it would be an older model and probably a WWII era one, but that’s beside the point! The boom in four door Jeep’s has made it to where the two door versions are quite rare these days. I get it the desire to have the rear doors because I have a young family myself. This is the reason in ended up with my Impala. WHAT THE…!? This ain’t no Jeep blog!
There has also been a BOOM in the four door light duty trucks like the F-150, Silverado, and Ram 1500. The second set of doors has been available in the heavy duty trucks and dually’s for many years. The move started with the extended cabs with no rear doors, then to extended cabs with a passenger side rear door, then extended cab with two rear doors, and lastly the true four door cab. Like the Jeep’s, the models with less than four doors have become rarer. In fact, I recently saw a brand new single or standard cab fullsize truck and had to do a double take because I was so surprised to see it! I know there are occasions where the single cab is plenty good because I actually have a coworker considering a new Silverado in the single cab configuration. For me, the four door is the only option because I need something that can haul my whole family. Wait a sec! This ain’t no truck blog!
The boom has carried over to modern four door cars as well. When introduced in 2006, the modern Charger was sort of a letdown being that it was a four door. I couldn’t believe they would reintroduce such an iconic muscle car as a SEDAN, and that it had zero styling features borrowed from the General Lee. It seemed to me, a well-known armchair auto designer, like Dodge could have really hit one out of the park if they had reintroduced the Charger as a modern take on the Duke boy’s pride and joy. That wasn’t the case and I was nearly offended. HOWEVER, the popularity of the modern Charger has really caught me by surprise. A couple of years later they reintroduced the Challenger which was a modern take on the vintage body style, but it seems the modern Charger is much more popular or at least I see more of them on a daily basis. My guess is because they are a tad more practical for the average folk AND have pretty good styling to boot. Plus, the introduction of the Hellcat engine in the Charger is just that much better.
The BOOM for four door trucks has even carried over into the classic truck scene. Now, not everyone can have one though because in nearly all cases you have to build one. The crew cabs or four door cabs were available for commercial applications but were on the heavier duty frames, long beds and usually with dually rearends. Probably the best way to make one is to locate one of these harder to find cabs, shorten the frame, and put a short bed on it. Putting the crew cab on and extending the half ton frame is not the best idea due to added weight and amount of fabrication. I am a C10 square Body fan and will always be. I have kicked around building a Square Body crew cab for my family cruiser, but it’s just not in the cards for me so I will just live vicariously through other people’s projects. But HEY, just because I am talking about classic trucks still doesn’t make it a truck blog!
Up until the moment I bought the Impala, I had little appreciation for four door collector type cars. This even carried over into my import interests during my college years. The 60’s Continental’s don’t count and the pre-WWII cars really don’t count either because they are cool by default. Since owning the Impala, surfing the internet, and paying more attention to four doors at car shows and cruise-in’s, I have built an appreciation for the classic four doors. That being said, I still feel like I need to clarify to people when they find out that I have a “1962 Impala” that it is a four door, ha. So, sometimes I think I am still working on my own appreciation for them. I have been on the car forums for many, many years and the general opinion toward the four doors is that they make good parts cars or derby cars. Did you know that people will actually convert their four door classic cars to two doors!? The one’s I’ve seen look pretty good but to each his own. I don’t have the time these days or the desire. The frame for my Dad’s ’36 Ford pickup has been on the rotisserie waiting to finish boxing it for about 4 to 5 years! This is what led me to wanting a RUNNING AND DRIVING car for my family that we could jump in and take off and a MoreDoor delivered! I have a real problem with wanting to create projects for myself and getting burned out due to lack of funds or time so the Impala was perfect for us. I guess what I am trying to get at with this blog post is that four doors have as much a place in the car culture as the two doors. Four door cars helped build this country and deserve to be more widely appreciated. They may never be worth as much as the two doors, but they ARE as fun and get as many looks, honks, and waves as the two doors.
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