Slim-Line Door Latch Design: Compact bear jaw latch engineered for smaller car doors, making it ideal for hot rods, street rods, and vehicles with limited door shell space Two-Stage Safety Latch: Features a modern two-stage locking mechanism that securely wraps around a striker pin for improved door retention and reliability Durable Steel Construction: Zinc-plated steel body and internals provide long-lasting strength for steel or fiberglass door applications Versatile Installation Options: Works with rod or cable release systems and supports both standard and suicide door configurations Universal Fit Convenience: Installs directly into door shells or with optional mounting plates; sold individually as left side latch with optional kits available Slim-Line size bear jaw latch works well for vehicles with smaller car door shells. Adds safety and reliability to your hot rod or street rod car door. Works with both rod and cable release door handle mechanisms. Can be used for standard or suicide door style installations. Additional bear jaw door latches can be used as trunk/rumble seat lid latch. Works with steel and fiberglass door shells. Installs directly into car door shell or use with optional mounting plates. Sold individually in left or ride side latch, or as a kit with striker pins and cage nuts included. Zinc plated for corrosion resistance. Works with shaved door handle systems. Mounting hardware not included (mounting holes take a ¼-20 fastener) Modern Safety for Your Hot Rod or Street Rod Most domestic pre-war vehicles utilized a car door latch mechanism very similar to what you would find on your bedroom door. A tapered spring-loaded car door latch bolt that when the door is closed, simply slips over a striker plate tongue and seats in a depression or groove. This design certainly works well for your bedroom door, but is not the best for a moving automobile, especially one that has been vastly updated decades later with better suspension, more horsepower, and so on that can really push the car to its limits. Occupants need to be secured (use those seatbelts!) and just as importantly, the doors need to stay closed during hard cornering or worst case a collision that involves a rollover. Enter the modern automobile “bear claw” car door latch that rotates and locks around a robust striker pin or “Nader pin.” This style of modern door latch has been used in new vehicles since the early 1960s and hot rodders have been retrofitting them to early hot rods and street rods ever since. Today, Speedway Motors makes this process easier with its Universal Slim-Line Bear Jaw car door latches