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A roof tent or rooftop tent is an accessory that may be fitted to the roof or bed of a motor vehicle that allows the users to sleep in relative safety and comfort above the vehicle, and leaves the internal load-space free. The first example of roof tents appeared in Western Europe in the 1930s.[1]
Roof tents are particularly seen on expedition-prepared four wheel drive vehicles such as Land Rovers, but can be fitted to almost any vehicle. The Tesla Model Y is another popular choice to put roof tents on. Generally they will mount to a vehicles roof rack or aftermarket roof bars. They are particularly popular in Italy and one manufacturer advertises them using photographs of their devices fitted to cars as small as the Fiat Panda.
Italian manufacture Autohome claim to have designed, patented and mass produced the first roof tents in 1958.[2] Although there seems to be a number of American patents starting in 1927,[3] 1936[4] and 1956[5] that seems to contradict that statement but none seem to have gone into production.[6]
- ^ "Car Top Carries Collapsible Tent", January 1937, Popular Science article bottom of page 38
- ^ "The History". Autohome Official. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
- ^ US1707270A, Lichtenberg, Frederick B., "Tent accessory for automobiles", issued 1929-04-02
- ^ US2186584A, Ludwick, Halvorsen Arthur, "Automobile sleeping compartment", issued 1940-01-09
- ^ US2847018A, Peter, Weninger, "Vehicles with attached stowable tent-like structures", issued 1958-08-12
- ^ "The roof-top tent is far from a recent concept, as nearly a century of innovation shows". www.hemmings.com. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
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