Strangest thing you've carried on the roof of your car

[fouronthefloor]

I saw this and it got me thinking: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-42787789

I remember travelling in the back of a friends car years ago with someone laying flat on the roof holding on for dear life

[mickmcpaddy]

I would say a person, used to hand around with someone who would occasionally climb out of the rear window and get on the roof whilst you were doing 40mph.

[Donbot]

My friend bought a rowing boat from a show a few years ago and carried it back on the roof of his Fiesta. Had roughly the same footprint as the car. I had to have my arm out of the window holding onto it the 20 miles back (along with 2 ratchet straps holding it). It dented the roof pretty badly.

[Wiccan of Darkness]

Once had to cram a dead ostrich in the boot of the car. Didn't quite fit so had to drive the 20 or so miles with the boot lid tied down with a bit of rope as the birds feet poked out the back.

I didn't have a roof rack, hence why I didn't strap the bird to the roof.

[Spare tyre]

Big garden shed from some blokes back garden to my dads allotment. We made a frame attaching it to the roof rack of a 406 estate. Lifted it on with about 12 blokes in the day time

Then around 11pm on Sunday evening we drove at walking speed a mile or so to the allotment

Left the car there until the morning then got some help to lift it off

Big old thing it was

[TooMany2cvs]

Two incidents spring to mind.

First was about a mile - a sofa perched on the roof of our battered old beige Dyane about 15-20 years ago. No roof bars, no rope - so I sat on the body side holding onto it while 'erself drove. Had a very pleasant eye-level chat with some horsey types en route.

The other was from the depths of the fens to NW M25 - coincidentally, in the same Dyane. I'd been given a CX that'd had a front-ender (into the back of a stationary security van!), so went to take the front off a scrapper at a mate's place. Cut across the crown of both wheel arches, inner and outer front wings, bonnet slam, bumper, undertray - a sizable slab. That went into the back, with the tailgate open. Which didn't leave much option for the bonnet, but put it on the roof... Again, no bars - but at least I had some cardboard and some rope.

[wolfracesonic]

Wiccan of Darkness said:

Once had to cram a dead ostrich in the boot of the car. Didn't quite fit so had to drive the 20 or so miles with the boot lid tied down with a bit of rope as the birds feet poked out the back.

I didn't have a roof rack, hence why I didn't strap the bird to the roof.

Would you care to expand a little?

[LordJammy]

A big dog cage strapped to the roll bar of my Mazda is probably the most precarious thing I’ve tried to carry

[Wacky Racer]

[The Moose]

Wiccan of Darkness said:

Once had to cram a dead ostrich in the boot of the car. Didn't quite fit so had to drive the 20 or so miles with the boot lid tied down with a bit of rope as the birds feet poked out the back.

I didn't have a roof rack, hence why I didn't strap the bird to the roof.

So, irrelevant for this thread then

[wildoliver]

My thread has arrived.

That is a tvr wedge chassis. Took 4 of us to lift it on. That Passat took allsorts on its roof the roof must have been made of recycled panther tanks.

[Wobbegong]

A wing for an aeroplane

[Rosedene]

My dad and his brother went from High Wycombe to Wales a few times in the ‘70s with a canadian canoe strapped to the roof. One of them always slept in a sleeping bag in the canoe. When my dad and mum moved to the Hebrides from Wycome they had a Morris traveller with a bath and a crate of chickens on the roof.

[Whistle]

Quite a lot of scaffolding, drove about 15 miles up the M6 with this lot on the roof a number of years ago.

[stuartmmcfc]

Once had a 8 foot high plaster model of Odin on my roof rack.
Sorry no pics.

Edited by stuartmmcfc on Wednesday 24th January 07:49

[normalbloke]

wildoliver said:

My thread has arrived.

That is a tvr wedge chassis. Took 4 of us to lift it on. That Passat took allsorts on its roof the roof must have been made of recycled panther tanks.

Excellent! We did a similar thing, with a Berlingo van( I know...) and a Westfield chassis. It was semi panelled, had the rack, front suspension, hubs/discs etc on. By our guesstimates, we believe it was within the limits of the roof rack and roof loading, just looked a bit odd!

[Condi]

Double mattress straight on the roof with 2 ratchets holding it down

[alorotom]

Not on the roof as such but a whole bedroom suite of flat pack furniture (bed, mattress, side tables, chest of drawers and wardrobe) sticking out at approx 60degrees from the rear seat area of a 2002 Megane Cabrio with the roof down

Got pulled on the A1 by traffic police heading from Gateshead to Sunderland but he thought it was hilarious and let me continue as long as I took it easy - this was 2004ish

[mickmcpaddy]

Condi said:

Double mattress straight on the roof with 2 ratchets holding it down

Me too actually, I made the mistake of going to IKEA by myself and I just couldn't fold the mattress enough to get it in the back of the estate car so it had to go on the roof. I did have two roof bars but only one ratchet strap which went front to back down the middle of the mattress. Most of the roads back were 50mph ones as well, made for a very interesting journey every time I went over 30.

I wouldn't mind but the plan was to put the frame and mattress inside the car but I couldn't wheel both round the store, so I bought the mattress first and once it was on the roof I couldn't leave it so I had to take it home and then go back to buy the frame.

[Whistle]

I used to do a lot of work for IKEA as a contractor, used to sit in my car at lunch time eating my sandwiches watching all the muppets trying to load wardrobes etc into family cars.

Then I found the subsidised staff canteen, a full dinner for 50p with free drinks.