Door Poppers

EVEN THOUGH SHAVED DOOR HANDLES HAVE BEEN A THING SINCE AT LEAST THE ’40S, “HOW DO YOU OPEN YOUR DOORS?” is still a question we often hear.

There are manual methods, such as running a cable through to the wheel well to pull the door latch, but you might be surprised to learn that solenoids, or door poppers, have been around pretty much as long as shaved doors themselves. In the early days, it was common practice to use Volkswagen starter solenoids, and later, GM power door lock pulls were used to pop doors open. (The GM units tended to wear out rather quickly, however, there are now more robust versions available.) Eventually, purpose-made solenoids were created, and in some cases you can even get bolt-in kits for easy doorpoppin’ action. Most folks tend to use some sort of keyless remote to open their doors, but hidden buttons and even magnetic switches are also an option.