New car news

22 February 2008 - 14:00

Backwards thinking

Vauxhall is to bring this Meriva concept to the Geneva show next month, and it features a technological innovation to rival Mr Hovis's Automatic Bread-Slicing Machine or the McFlurry.

Ready for this? The Meriva concept features rear doors... that open backwards! Backwards! The wrong way! Vauxhall calls the groundbreaking technology FlexDoor, and asserts that the rear-hinging mechanism allows for greater functionality, safety and style.

Yes, they're suicide doors. Like we've seen on the Mazda RX-8. And the Rolls-Royce Phantom. And a whole bunch of cars all the way back to the beginning of time.

In fairness, Vauxhall asserts that the FlexDoors differ from conventional suicide doors because they sit behind a B-pillar, allowing the rear doors to be opened independently of the front doors. We're fairly sure you can do that in the Phantom, too.

Although you'd struggle to tell from this shadowy sketch, Vauxhall says that the Meriva concept features styling cues that will grace future GM monocabs, including that wavy window line behind the B-pillar and 'blade' profile created by the deep side strake.

We'll get a closer look at the suicide-tastic Meriva in Geneva. We may bring along a beaver with a lever solely for the purpose of creating an amusing rhyme.