Roof tent

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.

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.

Roof Top Tents are particularly popular with travellers and 4WD'ers of Australia for their ease of use and rapid setup.

Italian manufacture Autohome claim to have designed, patented and mass produced the first roof tents in 1958.

Beginning in 1958, more modern tent designs appeared - housed in a waterproof, moulded fibreglass or carbon fibre box, and are erected and taken down more quickly using a simple crank-operated cantilever arrangement or gas rams that automatically erect the tent when the latches are released.