Have you ever been in a parking lot and seen someone getting in or out of one of those luxury cars with the butterfly doors?
Butterfly doors look really cool and they are available on a variety of high performance cars.
Want to know which cars feature these cool doors?
Keep reading for our guide on cars with butterfly doors.
1. Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale
One of the world’s first supercars, the Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale was produced from November 1967 through March 1969.
Despite that lengthy time period, only 18Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale units were ever produced.
Built in an attempt by Alfa to make some of its racing technology available to the public, theAlfa Romeo 33 Stradale was the most expensive automobile for sale to the public in 1968 at $17,000 when the average cost of a new car in 1968 was just $2,822.
As you can imagine, this is a rare collector’s item with a a rather high price tag.
At the 2015 Detroit auto show, Alfa’s Head of North America estimated the current market value of the 33 Stradale at “well over $10 million”.
2. BMW i8
The BMW i8 is one of my favorite luxury sports cars that I’ll never be able to afford.
This car is a plug-in hybrid sports car and it looks so freaking cool.
It was first was released to the public in Germany in June 2014, and later in the United States in August 2014.
A roadster variant was launched in May 2018, and the last production of this sweet car was in June 2020.
I find it interesting that they stopped making it since the BMW i8 the world’s top-selling plug-in electric sports car, by March 2020.
So, if you want one of these, your only option is a used model.
3. Ferrari Enzo Ferrari
A cool fact about the Ferrari Enzo Ferrari car is that it’s actually named after the founder of the company, Enzo Ferrari.
It was built in 2002 using Formula One technology, such as a carbon-fibre body, F1-style electro-hydraulic shift transmission, and carbon fibre-reinforced silicon carbide ceramic composite disc brakes.
The first of these units to be announced and sold was at the 2002 Paris Motor Show, with a limited production run of 399 units.
The Enzo’s F140 B V12 engine was the first of a new generation for Ferrari.
It is based on the design of the V8 found in Maserati’s Quattroporte, using the same basic design and 104 mm (4.1 in) bore spacing.
TheFerrari Enzo Ferrari was only produced through 2004, with the 400th unit donated to the Vatican for charity.
That car later sold at a Sotheby’s auction for $1.1 million.
TheFerrari Enzo Ferrari is one of the rarest luxury sports cars out there.
In August 2021, a rare 2003 Ferrari Enzo sold for $3.8 million in a private auction.
This recent sale at $3.8 million sets the tone as one of the most expensive Enzos ever sold from the original 399-unit production run.
4. Ferrari LaFerrari
This luxury sports car is a limited production hybrid sports car built by Italian automotive manufacturer Ferrari.
As you might expect, theFerrari LaFerrari is an incredibly expensive car not only because it is made by Ferrari, but because it was a limited edition vehicle.
The design of this car is really something that turns heads. It just looks crazy fast (and crazy expensive).
Just over 700 units of this model were ever made, making it an incredibly rare car with butterfly doors.
5. Ford GT
Another of my favorite high end sports cars that are out of my budget, the Ford GT is one sexy sports car – and recent models just happen to have butterfly doors.
Ford GT’s didn’t starting coming with butterfly doors until the 2017 models.
That’s right, you just get regular doors with the pre-2017 GT models.
I feel like this car looks like the Batmobile with these doors, right?
This is one of the few cars on this list that is still being manufactured today, but it will cost you a cool $500,000 to get a Ford GT with butterfly doors.
The Ford GT is actually one of the more affordable cars with butterfly doors, if half a million dollars is affordable to you.
6. McLaren F1
Regarded as one of the best sports cars ever made, the McLaren F1 is also one of the most in-demand and expensive sports cars with butterfly doors.
This is another one of those sports cars that is ultra rare and hard to find.
That’s because only 106McLaren F1 cars were made in a limited production run, making the F1 one of the most exclusive cars in the world today.
Those 106 cars were manufactured between 1992 and 1998, so only a few per year.
If you happen to hit the lottery, you may be able to afford one.
In August 2021, a McLaren F1 was auctioned at Pebble Beach in California for a whopping $20.5 million.
7. McLaren P1
The McLaren P1 is also a limited production luxury sports car with butterfly doors.
It is considered by the automotive press to be the successor to the McLaren F1, utilizing hybrid power and Formula One technology, but does not have the same three-seat layout.
Honestly, I think theMcLaren P1 is a better looking sports car than theMcLaren F1.
Units of theMcLaren P1 were made from October 2013 – December 2015, with the initial production run only being 375 cars.
Here’s a look at how the production numbers looked:
- 375 P1s produced
- 58 P1 GTRs produced (made from 2015–2016)
- 5 P1 LMs produced (made from 2016–2017)
- 1 P1 GT produced (made in 2018)
You should know that new models are still in the works.
In April 2020, Lanzante Motorsport revealed that it would do six more road legal conversions of the P1 GTR.
8. Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren
Another of the most affordable cars with butterfly doors is the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren.
The Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren was built as a joint project between McLaren Automotive and Mercedes-Benz, with a limited production of around 3,500 over a span of seven years.
But production ended early in 2009 with a total of 2,157Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren produced between 2003 and 2009.
The great thing about theMercedes-Benz SLR McLaren is that it combines the best of both of these luxury sports car brands.
SLR is an abbreviation for “Sport Leicht Rennsport” (Sport Light Racing), a homage to the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR which served as the car’s inspiration.
9. Toyota Sera
Would you believe that Toyota used to make an consumer friendly sports car with butterfly doors?
The Toyota Sera was produced from February 1990 to December 1995, with a total of 15,941 units during that period.
This 3-door coupe hatchback is unique in that unlike conventional hinged side-opening doors, the butterfly doors can be opened fully in a fairly confined space, requiring only 43 cm (17 in) of lateral clearance.
The Toyota Sera may be the most affordable car with butterfly doors ever made.
Here’s a cool fact about this car: the Toyota Sera inspired McLaren’s butterfly doors design.
While it was a cute little sports coupe, it definitely doesn’t have the appeal of the other sports cars in this list.
10. Volkswagen XL1
One of the cheaper cars with butterfly doors, the Volkswagen XL1 only saw a production run of 250 units.
Pricing for theVolkswagen XL1 started at just €111,000 and it was available in Europe only.
A diesel plug-in hybrid drive with a fuel consumption of just 0.9 l / 100 km, it’s the most eco-friendly car with butterfly doors ever made.
The Volkswagen XL1 was selected in February 2014 as one of the top five finalists for the 2014 World Car of the Year.
Butterfly Doors vs Scissor Doors
You sometimes hear people using butterfly doors and scissors doors interchangeably, but you shouldn’t do that.
Butterly doors are not the same as scissor doors.
Butterfly doors move up and out via hinges along the A-pillar, which makes exiting and entering the car pretty easy.
Though, butterfly doors do need more clearance to open than scissor doors.
Scissor doors move straight up via hinge points at the bottom of a car’s A-pillar, and they’re not quite as easy to get in and out of.