Mirrors and the usefulness thereof

I love the GT mirrors that sit in a housing on the fender. My common sense is telling me that rear vision on these can't be a good as the swept backward style that sits on the door and is only a couple of feet from your head. Any feedback appreciated.

I've had both, and I MUCH prefer those mounted on the fender, forward of the windshield.

Why?

Well, with the top up and side windows in, it's far easier to see those mirrors out through the windshield. Set up right, they complement the center mirror nicely as far was width of vision field goes, PLUS you don't have to move your head much to see them - just flik your eyes, as opposed to having to crane your neck to see the door mounted thingies.

With the top down, they're nicely up out of the way of anything to do with the door opening so you don't have to worry about hitting them inadvertently.

How's that?

Conversely, a mirror farther away from your eyes (like on a fender) will have a smaller field of rearward vision. A mirror closer to your eyes (like on the door) will have a larger field of rearward vision.

I agree with the Gordon's stated problem if you use side windows often. Your decision may depend on where you live and how you use the vehicle.

Whichever mirrors you choose, place a decal on the bottom of the mirror that reads "Objects in Mirror are Losing!"

Huh?

Ed Zachary!!

We used to have the flag mirrors on the Hoopty. I never liked them very much.
The GT mirrors I have now are much better suited to the overall look, and they're also 100 percent tailored to where I needed them to be able to see -- and Teresa still finds them somewhat useful where they are.
They required drilling, and the leather pad underneath of them is a bitch to get right. The pattern is not the same from right to left. Remember to flip the paper over from one to the other, or you'll wind up drilling a fourth hole in your fender.
The driver's side mirror is slightly outboard of the centerline of the fender, and I can see that over-the-shoulder blind spot pretty easily.
The passenger's side mirror has a blister mirror set into it, attached to the outside edge of the mirror's surface. It's only there so I can see if there's something in the rear quarter. Not handy for detail, but seeing something there out of the corner of my eye is really helpful. Teresa's a bit shorter than I am, and she's able to use the convex mirror a whole lot better than if we had left it as flat glass.
Teresa also added a convex add-on to the dash-mounted mirror recently. I haven't driven the Hoopty since she did that, but it has a tonneau that would be impossible to see over with the short mirror that's on the dash now. She says it's a night-and-day difference.
I was only using that mirror to see the temp gauge before, but if we can actually see what's behind us ... great success!
The aesthetic of the GT mirrors was a selling point to me. It took a few hours to install them, and they were stupid expensive, but they're mirrors that look the part.
The GT jobbers came from Russ Rodriguez. The fiberglass quality is excellent, and the hardware doesn't vibrate at all. They're pretty much set-and-forget once they're mounted, and the glass is of a good enough quality that a new driver can gently apply thumb pressure to the driver's side glass without risking breakage. They're really well made.