When I thought I've seen everything here are rooftop tents:
http://www.loftyshelters.com/IndexFrame.htm
I was under the impression that roofs have specific max loads.

Matt

I'm sure that the roof-rack application is designed to take a decent load. I wouldn't want to stand on the sheet metal but a bit of flooring accross the roof-rack would be reasonable for standing on. Still I'd want to read the spec's for max load on the vehicle roof-rack before using any of these tents. For my money I'd rather store these tents on the roof while traveling and set them upon the ground when sleeping. The top of a car doesn't seem a stable platform to me.

I agree.
This would not hold my ex-wife's butt!
These days, she would probably dress out at about 225 lbs!

Ummmm.... No thanks. I'm not the most coordinated person when I get up in the morning. Climbing down from the roof of the truck probably isn't a good idea for me.

Chris

One question you've got to ask yourself...... Why?
This is one of the most rediculous things i've ever seen. The affects of the slightest winds would be magnified the rocking of the car and you would be higher up and likely, less shelted. If you want a large heavy tent like that why not have it just clipped to the roof and removable?

Rooftop tents are fairly common here. I don't use one myself, but here are some observations:

1) Most are mounted on top of trailers or land-rover-type vehicles. in fact, I havn't seen any mounted on a 'normal' car.

2) these tents have a rigid, foldable base (does that make sense?). you don't sleep on the roof of the vehicle. you sleep on a rigid floor.

3) the systems is attatched so as to bear weight on the supporting structures of the car roof, not directly on the roof.

My personal opinion? If you do a lot of camping, and want a bit more comfort (not everyone likes to be too close to nature!), and you have the right car/trailer to accomodate this set-up, then I would consider it.

I hadn't considered this before due to the fact that I live in NE USA, but in SA in the wilder sections don't you folks have many forms of nasty predators that would find a canvas tent full of sleeping humans attractive? In which case the ability ot be 6 - 8 feet off the ground ontop of a steel box might be useful.

$1000 - $1500 for a tent. What is the advantage?

Looks like it would work pretty good mounted over the bed of a pickup, and you could use the space underneath for storage. Interesting product, bridging the towable pop-up camper w/ a "truck tent".

I came across the August 1962 issue of Mechanix Illustrated in my dad's library yesterday. There was a special feature on car camping and a variety of rooftop tents such the KarPak, SkyVue and Aero Cabana were reviewed. Apparently 1962's wave of the future has finally arrived.

Curiously (I say that because this magazine is a year older than me) there was also an article that had some rumblings about California's smog problems and demands for Detroit to improve exhaust emissions.

I guess it's true - the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Ed