I was making this with 3d plastics bars all this time, and this simple trick does the work 10x better 
HOW TO PLACE PUSHBUTTON DOOR HANDLES CORRECTLY
Pushbutton door handles were the most common type of handles from the early 50s to the early 70s, and even though they went out of fashion some cars used them well into the 90s, as well as some more recent retro cars like the Chrysler PT Cruiser. So, chances are that you are going to use them sooner or later, at least if your brand has a lore that harks back to the 70s or earlier. And I have seen one thing that many people are doing wrong when putting them on.
Here, we have three examples of cars using them. Do you notice one thing they do have in common? Yes, the pushbuttons on all of them are facing towards the rear, and there is a good reason behind that too.
But what about this Lincoln then? The pushbuttons on the rear door handles are facing towards the front, and ONLY in the rear, why? When they had the chance to put on the handles symmetrical and nice, it would have looked better and made more sense, right?
Truth is, pushbutton door handles are ALWAYS mounted with the pushbutton in the opposite direction from the hinges. Most cars have doors that is hinged up front, and that means that the pushbuttons on the door handles are facing towards the rear. But when the doors are rear hinged (“suicide” doors), like the rear doors of that Lincoln, the pushbuttons are facing towards the front.
The reason for that is very simple. Lets say that the car have front hinged doors, like most cars have. Then the natural thing will be to open the left door with your left hand, and the right door with your right hand, because you then will open the door away from you instead of towards you. And, since you only have one thumb, that means that the pushbutton has to be placed in the spot where your thumb will be. All other placements will be ergonomically awkward.
It is a small detail that is easy to forget (especially if one rarely gets into a car with pushbutton handles, which are getting more and more rare), but that breaks the realism, and since I have seen this being done wrong on more than one Automation car, I thought that an advice could be helpful.
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This post may or may not be related to the weird design choices made by MTA during the early years lol.
Great guide to such a simple thing that is a door handle
No, absolutely not your fault, it was only that I saw multiple examples when browsing through the site today, since your example was quite fresh I mentioned it to you because you probably still had the chance to fix it. After that, I thought that why not put that little tip in here.
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Crypt’s guide to…
Opaque interior materials!
We’ve all been there. You are making a complex 3D interior, but the windows and soft top are all see-through, and it messes with the aesthetics. Well, I have a solution!
Step one: Place a patchwork mesh fixture on your window/softtop
Step Two: Drag the depth slider until it just “pops” out of existence.
Step three: You now have a fixture visible from the inside, which will mostly follow the contours of your window/windshield/roof. Change it to a suitable glass material.
This technique can be used for any parts of the body which are transparent from inside but not outside. It is important not to scale the depth too much - this will make the patches float in midair and be visible outside your vehicle. -0.01 is the ideal, and you can just type this in on the gizmo too. Particularly curved sections of windows may require multiple fixtures or some tweaking to look good, but this is an improvement over having nothing at all.
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Did you knew that on the old days of NFSU and U2, the cars had a flat mesh that started at the base of the windows with only the top of the seats and the steering wheel modeled, and with dark windows and environment, it was really hard to notice?
Did you knew you can do the same in 3 min. tops on cars you’ll not add a full interior?
Did you knew it will look better than black windows with a low photo angle and darkened windows?
Now you know.
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Virtual version of what is done in many toy cars. I might do it on the few cars i will crank out before the update. Making full interiors in something that will be wiped out soon feels pointless.
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What’s getting wiped out? 
The next update will make all existing cars incompatible with the current version. Then again, it could be the perfect opportunity for you to remake them, but with an even greater level of detail than previously.
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That SUCKS!!! I’ve got some new designs brewing RIGHT NOW lol.
But, I’m finally starting to understand how fixtures can lap over each other and what-not, and how to use PATCH which for me were HUGE breakthroughs.
Still can’t figure out how to erase original body lines or if that’s even possible 
.
I seem to remember (but being of an old age it could have been my squirrel…erm imagination!!) that the next update will be the last time that the cars will be wiped.
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That’s what I’ve heard too.
Same. Stopped putting actual effort on my cars as soon as the announcement came out. Just making simple stuff from now on.
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Nice idea!
This is how to put good looking headlights on fussy bodies!
Step 1:
Just a normal face.
You first must delet headlight panels themselves.
Oh no there’s a hole.
Step 2:
3d headlights!
Put the headlights in like so-
but now there’s clipping and other problems. Nooo!
Step 2
Ugh messy.
Here’s our problem, so let’s fix it! Morph the fixture to cover everything so there are no mysterious gaps
We could probably move it forward to end the weird flushing of the front chin, but it’s okay here.
Step 3
Changing fixture material to match bodycolor fixes most things, but not everything. What if you still think this is too messy, or want chrome bezels? Next you must make all other fixture materials transparent-
Step 4
Now you must make some choices: what do you want your headlight to look like? The 402/CFS is a 60s german 911 ripoff sportscar, so I want a classic look.
Now 3d in some headlights (I will show how to do this with modern-looking LEDs later this week). Put them in the holes, configure how you want, and BOOM-headlights.
If you want, you can go to 2d if the other work was a bit to messy-
Hope this was helpful!
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aight imma use all this stuff to design a modern minivan
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update: I did and ill post it later
A PROBABLY NOT COMPLETE GUIDE TO CAR DOOR HANDLES
Ah. So you have made a beautiful classic from the 50s. Era correct, swooping lines, lots of chrome, a real beauty. Now there is only one thing missing to make this car complete, right?
So. That’s better, right? But why do you feel deep inside that something after all might be…just wrong?
Door handles are a small detail that can make or break realism, actually. I have already been anal by putting up a guide how one certain type should be placed, and for some reason I am kind of a door handle nerd. @Arn38fr releasing a bunch of new handles, in combination with some people mentioning that they have a hard time choosing them, I will briefly go through the most common types and show some variants. Note that they are probably called different things in a car designer’s language, so don’t take what I call them as some official names, and yes, I probably will be missing one handle or another, but I hope this can give an overview.
THE “TWIST” TYPE
The oldest type of them all. Predates the car, and needs no further explanation. You already have them on all the doors in your house, either as conventional handles, or as knobs. And speaking of knobs…
… the Volvo Venus Bilo concept car actually used them!
This is mainly a pre-war design. Cars using them after WW2 were often carryovers from before the war. But they survived on some more simple, utilitarian cars for longer amounts of time. The last passenger car released that used them that I can think of was the early Mini, which however adopted pushbutton handles on later facelifts. Also, it survived for a bit longer on…
…sliding doors for vans and…
…tailgates on some station wagons.
Today they are extinct unless you are Morgan. They were quite natural on early cars since it was what a door handle was to most people, and since the door latches on early cars actually was more or less similar in construction to the ones on house doors (even used the same standard size on the square end so fact is that if you have a car with twist type handles, you can put regular handles from the hardware store in their place, lol). The handle in itself is also sturdy and reliable, being just one chunk of metal.
But they do have their drawbacks. Pedestrian safety was hardly a priority back then, but fact is that protruding door handles with sharp points that could snatch on clothes etc. was one of the earliest objects for criticism. They are not really stellar from an aerodynamic standpoint either, and with more modern, safer, secure door latch types replacing the traditional “house door” type, their days were numbered. Also, it is of course easy to imagine that a car with those looked “old” when there was more modern and fancy types available.
So, to sum it up, this is the natural choice on pre-war cars, more uncommon after WW2, ancient in the 60s and should only be used on really simple and utilitarian vehicles after that. Could be used for a little longer on sliding doors on vans, tailgates etc.
THE “PULL” TYPE
Here shown on an early VW Beetle, the pull type is another style of handles that is very old, starting to emerge already before WW2. And one could say that they are still going strong - because there is no doubt that they are the most common type of door handle on cars of today. But the operation has actually changed a bit. The old pull type handles were hinged at the back, and had more or less the same drawbacks as the twist type handles. While being somewhat popular in the early postwar era, they more or less got replaced by mainly pushbutton handles, until Mercedes “reinvented” the handle on the 1971 107-series SL/SLC.
The new thing was that the handle now was hinged at the front, not leaving an exposed edge that could snatch on things and maybe even unlatch the door. That meant that the handle now had almost no major drawbacks at all. Sure, protruding from the body they still wasn’t the most aerodynamic choice and they could still be something of a pedestrian hazard but…
…the W126 S-class some years later made the handle more “flat” and instead had a recess behind it, and here we more or less has the “modern” pull type handle finished, like it is used on cars today, spare for that styling can be a bit different. Also notice that the handle is made of plastic. Mercedes introduced that on the 1976 W123, I don’t know if that was the first car with plastic handles, but at least an early adopter, so try to keep in mind that before the mid 70s, regardless of handle type, they should generally be metal.
Rumours says that Mercedes had patented this type of pull out handle, and that may be correct since competitors were not really catching up in the 70s. The earliest non-Mercedes I can think of that used the same style of handles was the 1985 Saab 9000 (there is probably other examples but still). Today, though, it is probably the most common type of door handle, maybe not too strange since it is a good compromise between styling, ergonomy, practicality and safety.
To sum it up, appearing in the pre-war era, somewhat common immediately after the war, but going out of popularity a bit in favour of pushbutton handles. “Reinvented” in the early 70s, becoming more and more common since the mid 80s, and is the dominating type today.
THE “PUSHBUTTON” TYPE
One of the earliest adopters of the pushbutton type door handle was the early 40s Lincoln Continental. Where it was - just a pushbutton and nothing more.
Stylish but not very practical. A variant could be found on some cars, for example the Renault 5.
Here, you still had only a button and no traditional handle, but at least a recess for your hand to open the door.
However, in the late 40s, they started to appear in their most common form, with a fixed “handle” either incorporating a pushbutton, or being placed close to one. And this was probably the most common type of handles in the 50s, 60s and first part of the 70s. Then they were maybe falling a bit out of favour, but never really gone away (for example, I think that the Fiat Tipo, arriving in 1989, has them, and so do a lot of late 80s/ early 90s american GM cars).
From the 90s and onwards, they have mostly appeared on cars having a “retro” inspired design, though, like the Chrysler PT Cruiser (shown), Jeep Wrangler or Mercedes G-class.
This type of handle is often sturdy and reliable, but it has some drawbacks. Once again, we have the aerodynamic drawbacks of a protruding handle, as well as the pedestrian safety even if it at least lacks snag points unlike the twist and some of the pull type handles. However, both of them can of course be cured by making the handle more “flat” and put a recess behind it. They can also be really awkward in cold weather since the pushbuttons may freeze (I am living in northern Sweden and as a child my father were mostly driving Mercedes W115s with pushbutton handles so…I know the struggle). Also, they are questionable from a rollover/side impact standpoint, since if something strikes the button, it might unlatch the door.
To sum it up, appearing in the 40s, becoming commonplace in the 50s and probably the most common type of handles in that century, as well as the 60s and early 70s. Used on regular cars throughout the 80s. Never completely went out of fashion but since the 90s mostly used on “retro” designs. Also, very important to put them on the right way, see guide above.
THE “FLAP” TYPE
One early adopter of this type was the fin era Mopars. Traditional door handles were probably not stylish enough in the jet age. In the 60s they were gaining in popularity more and more, and in the 70s they started to take over from the pushbutton handles as the most popular type.
And as this Dodge Challenger shows, they are still used, in a not too different form other than maybe styling wise. However, they seemed to be on their way out in the early 00s, getting replaced by pull style handles. It seems like with the recent EV craze, though, that they are coming back, maybe because less wind resistance means more range. Because that is of course something they have in their favour, due to the “flush” design. Also, many people seems to find them to be “stylish” because of that. They do have drawbacks, though. Often, they are rather “flimsy” and not as reliable as other types of handles. Ergonomy is not optimal since you have to reach them from one side unlike a pull handle that can be reached from two sides. They have sometimes been questioned from a safety standpoint, since it is harder to open a jammed door than with pull handles, however, since the emergency crew seems to be cutting the roof if they are the slightest in doubt nowadays, I don’t know if that is very much of a problem.
Some manufacturers flipped them over, here AMC, but the action is the same…
…and then of course we have the Miata.
Sometimes they are hidden in the pillars for the rear doors, I think that the WD21 Nissan Pathfinder was something of a pioneer there.
To sum it all up: Started to appear in the late 50s, became more commonplace in the late 60s. Probably the most popular type of handle in the 90s, 80s and at least later part of the 70s. Went a little bit out of fashion in the 00s in favour of pull type handles but never really disappeared. Might even be getting a revival now. Since it is a type of handle used for a long period of time, watch out. What fits on a car from the 60s might not do it on a modern car and there is numerous fixtures of this type to choose between.
THE “TRIGGER” TYPE
Appeared on Volkswagens in 1968, was used by numerous VW, Audi and Porsche products well into the 90s, as well as the original Saab 900 (and later model Saab 99s), and the Volvo 700-900 series. For more modern implementations, I think that the mid 00s euro Civic might have used them. The idea was to eliminate the risk of the door unlatching in, for example, a rollover accident by removing the external pushbutton and placing a “trigger” on the inside of the handle instead. I don’t know if they have any major drawbacks, though I remember that as a kid I hated opening Volvo 740 doors because the trigger was so heavy to operate, so maybe they aren’t really good if you have reduced strength in your hands. Also, the handles used on for example the Mk1-Mk2 Golf has a really bad reputation for reliability, but on the other hand I have never heard about Volvo, Saab or aircooled VW handles failing, so it might be more about how they are engineered and less about the type in itself.
To sum it all up: Started to appear in the late 60s, never really took off but can’t be called uncommon either, especially not for cars in the 70s-90s. If you like it, use it.
THE “SQUEEZE” TYPE
Often looks like the “flap” type when you first look at it, but instead of pulling a flap outwards, it is actually kind of a huge “button” that you push upwards.
IIRC, this 1955 Nash door handle is an early implementation of it. Then it has been used on for example 60s Fiats (which means that the Lada Niva still uses them), 70s european Fords, I think some 70s and 80s Toyotas, and the sliding door of the T4 VW Transporter. Still, quite a rare type though. Don’t know if there even is any fixtures resembling it, although many “flap” type fixtures could probably work for it.
THE “FLUSH” TYPE
Handles being more or less flush with the body have existed since at least the 50s, here on a Mercedes 300 SL. Some different types exist, there is some that you push in in one end for the handle to pop out…
there is some that have a button you have to push for the handle to pop out (here on a Fiat Barchetta)
We have the Tesla handles that pop out electronically
And then we have my favourite handle of all times, the Corvette C3. Almost hidden when it is mounted on top of the door, push down to open.
They have mostly been used on sports cars, but there is examples of some less exotic cars to use it, like the 1955 De Soto…
Late 60s and early 70s Pontiac Grand Prix
And with the chase for the perfect aerodynamics due to the EV boom, we will probably see them on some more regular cars in the future, like here on the Honda E.
To sum it all up, have existed since at least the 50s in many different configurations. Most suitable for, but not limited to, sports cars, since they are a bit of “design over practicality”. Probably becoming more commonplace in the future though.
I think that I have gone through all the most common types now, there will always be oddballs like the little levers on the early Twingos or the hidden button under the mirror on some TVRs etc. - but I feel like there is no idea going through every handle that has ever existed here, if you want to do something oddball and is in doubt, do your research. And as always - check out similar cars from the era. Even if the pull type is right even on cars of today, I doubt that the 1949 Mercury handles that just arrived as a mod will look right on a modern car - or vice versa, it is really about the shape, material etc. too. - but if this is going to help anyone (and if it means that I never again has to see that square 80s shape in black plastic on a 1940s car), it’s all good I guess.
(And this looks more believable, doesn’t it?)
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It’s strange that we have waited so long for a guide to door handles, but you should be commended for providing one that covers (nearly) every era, shape, and type imaginable.
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