944 “Car Tent” Camping and Canoe Trip

[OK-944]

A canoe camping trip, with one night on the mainland plus two on an island, finally provided the perfect excuse to finally give my “944 car-camp tent” idea a try.

First - the canoe…a 16 foot Kevlar “Ranger,” mounted on Yakima racks and guyed by threading polypropylene rope through existing holes on bottoms of front and rear bumpers. Works like a charm and rides smoothly and solidly, completely without vibration or excess noise:


For sleeping arrangements - I first removed the passenger seat, “replacing” this with the large (65qt) Yeti cooler (on a pad), atop which I placed another pad plus custom made, 3/4” ply topper. Note the curved recess cut out to allow for comfortable shifting:


View from front, with “feet” position in foreground - providing plenty of room for my 6’1” frame (additional yoga mat and Therma rest pad not shown):


On the outside, the rain fly from a large Sierra Designs tent, thrown over the car (with hatch open) and guy-lined to the ground. Rear zips on either side provide great access, plus the narrow plastic window (one in front also) perfectly positioned to see outside:


Front view - not perfect, but workable. The coverage was more than enough to allow windows to remain open to provide good ventilation while still keeping bugs out:


Finally, the reward: two nights on a perfect island campsite on Flagstaff Lake in central Maine. Fourth largest lake in Maine at over 20,000 acres…we had this lake (or at least all that we could see and explore over two days) completely to ourselves. Here’s an evening view from our campsite:


Postscript: My ‘87NA, with canoe attached and loaded with gear plus 65qt. Yeti cooler full of ice, still achieved just over 27mpg over 320 miles of mostly empty northern NH/Maine roads (lots of twist and sweepers - nice!).

[dme]

Beautiful! First 944 camper conversion I've seen. I've found my 44 to be big enough to carry all of my camping supplies, but I've never thought of sleeping in it.

[wwdwgs]

Cool. You wrote "we", where did you fit another person?

[Matt at Pelican Parts]

Wow! This is really unique and useful build! That 944 seems to be a great adventure vehicle! Keep us posted with any updates or changes you make!

[OK-944]

Thanks Matt! I'll be doing this again sometime, and will likely be updating/changing a few details.

Other folks on this trip included three buddies...one in a Tacoma (which he slept in for first night) and two in a VW (they pitched a tent). Three canoes total, with two in one, and myself and one other paddling solo, camping in tents and hammocks for two nights at our island destination.

My rig cannot transport two as the passenger seat is removed for this purpose. But it could probably fit two for sleeping. But no "campground cruising" for me as I'm quite happily married, thank you!

[OK-944]

If I were to go "car tent camping" in my 944 on a regular basis, I'd definitely want to add about two inches of lift to my car - and perhaps even mount some decent AT tires onto a spare set of rims.

I mention the above with the full disclosure that as the (mainland) campsite was a bit remote, (and not accessible to GPS), and that I was the first of our crew to arrive, I ended up driving way too far past the actual campsite and into the wilderness - navigating conditions that would have my buddy Miles, in his lifted Tacoma...a bit of a pause, with perhaps the worst obstacle being a washed out section of road - filled in with a still-deep swale of large cobbles. But there were other interesting bits as well - and more than a few loud "thunks" on my poor car's bottom were both heard and felt.

But the car was truly a champ...bringing me back home in style without missing a beat and feeling like its usual great self, and when I got it up onto my lift the day after returning and going over the bottom with a fine-toothed comb - looking not so much for scrapes but for any evidence of cracks/fractures of oil pan, suspension and brake components - I did not find a thing excepting some scrapes along various areas of the exhaust system - but no real damage or misalignment was visible.

But my take is that I got lucky...and vow not to engage in such "off road" stupidity in the future - at least not without first lifting my car a bit...and maybe installing some real (thick aluminum) skid plates.

[wwdwgs]

[originalowner]

One wonders why anyone would select a 944 for ^^^^ when so many other better platforms are available. Kudos for the work, but ??? for the strategy.

[mepstein]

I think I would just pitch a tent.

[JackMan]

Very unique strategy, kudos for innovation. Surpised the canoe fit so snuggly on the car, I'm a frequent hauler of canoe's on roof racks and the key is getting the ropes snug enough to stop movement, curious did the ropes need adjusting every few hundred miles. What type of "rope" did you use? Love to see some close up pixs of the bungee rubber straps you have holding the canoe onto the racks and the point of attachment of the racks with the rain gutter of the car.

How did the canoe affect car handling? Experience any crosswinds?

[OK-944]

Just back from visiting my daughter and son in law out in Washington state - got to drive my SIL's 718 GTS - wow! More on that in the Off Topic forum.

But to address a couple the above questions:

One - yes, I could have "just pitched a tent," but this would have been unwise...as the "real" tent I had packed for our two nights/three days at a remote island campsite needed to stay dry (yes, we did get some rain) until set up, plus the logistics of setting up and breaking down and packing this ("real") tent and squeezing back into the "dry bag," would have taken lots more time than detaching and rolling up my "car tent." As it was, it took all of three minutes to detach and re-roll the car tent (which stayed in the car), while the dry-bags (I have two) went right into the canoe. Also...I just really wanted to try out this "car-tent" idea!

And as for mounting and driving with the canoe: the canoe itself was firmly strapped on with "cam-cleat" style straps (similar to Thule straps), and attached front and rear with polypropylene ropes, in what is an effectively "cross-tied" configuration, firmly enough to help hold the boat down against the racks, helping to mitigate any issues with air pushing the boat around.

As for efficiency - as mentioned, I realized just over 27mpg...with the canoe mounted, plus a load including myself (at 190-ish pounds), plus the Yeti full of ice, beer, and food, plus stove/gas/cooking stuff, tent, sleeping stuff, etc. etc. - for a likely total weight (canoe, me, and other stuff) of around 500 lbs. Not bad, especially considering that I'm running with "ultra high performance" all-season tires - which typically clip around 2mpg from what I'd otherwise realize with a set of good touring tires.

As for aerodynamics of this arrangement...the canoe never budged regardless of speed and wind currents from any direction, and it really did not make all that much extra noise. I was quite skeptical that such great behavior would be the case...so I was very pleasantly surprised to say the least!

[Monkey Wrench]

I had to wonder if you bolted the roof racks to the roof or how they attach?
I think Id take one of those flat belt ratchet strap things, just put it around the roof with the doors open. I think you'll find the doors still close ok without harming things.

I just did that as I helped a neighbor strap two kayaks to the roof of an old VW Jetta. the owner made sort of a rack from plywood. rope is round, but those nylon straps are flat and thin.

it takes me back to when I was 16, I "converted" my VW bug so the passenger seat had a fold down back and made it level, shag rug, basically a similar idea. It never did get me laid though, lol..


I did get stuck in the middle of a giant mud puddle with a girl I had a real liking for, she had on a beautiful long white dress and high heels.. she smiled and said hey no way, lol ,,, and I had to walk back down the mountain and hitchhike to get a friend with a rope to pull me out..took 4 hours to get back but she was patiently waiting and in good spirits.

I loved how the beetle could skim over big pool of water, because beetles are basically flat bottomed boats.. so it was a rush to hit a big puddle and float part way ,, but that one time I went a bit too slowly.. man that thing would climb into all sorts of places a car was never meant to go with the rear end traction.

nice memories anyway ! sounds fun.

[Chalt]

OK-944, would you mind looking at your sticker in the back to see what paint color code you have? I am just curious as mine was resprayed to gray and I wonder if I have the same original color as your car.

Here is what is on my sticker:

C02 Catalytic Converter
147
401 Light Metal Wheels (Forged Fuchs)
404 Stabilizer Bars front and rear
425 Rear Window Wiper
533 Alarm System
650 Electric Sunroof
946 Leather front seats with Leatherette rear side (983=Full Leather seats)
LM3Y Paint Code - Special Color: Garnet Red Metallic
Option Decoder ---> http://www.kindel.com/porsche/options/options.asp

[OK-944]

Chalt...my car's paint code is LY3V, which translates to Maraschino Red Metallic.

While I'd purchased my car based on condition (I'd originally wanted silver or meteor gray), I've grown to like the Maraschino...which IMHO looks best in bright sunlight, but a bit more "maroon" in cloudy weather.

[Chalt]

I don't like the original LM3Y Garnet Red Metallic on mine. But they (a previous owner) didn't do an excellent job on the respray. Not terrible, Not great. I really wanted Alpine White, which is what my first '79 924 was.

Also, on yours, the Metallic... does that mean a color and clear coat or single stage. I just really wonder what these Metallic paints looked like when new.

[OK-944]

Two stage on mine...color coat plus clear coat.

[Monkey Wrench]

mine is an 85.5, it must be a transition model, I went to cut polish it and found it has clear-coat down the drivers side and single stage on the passenger side ;-)

it was evidently used in a movie and maybe they wanted one side to be in the movie , didn't care about the other side. both fenders have small dents from the cameras being mounted.

[Monkey Wrench]

for years Ive had a half a ford courier pickup made into a trailer. we drove it tull it finally died then my brother and dad cut the frame , brought the two sides in and put a hitch on it , it looks pretty nice, always gets admiration.
I found it so handy, like having a pickup when I want.. 50 bucks a year insurance.. it still has the diff so the gears turn. I found the springs didn't have much frame above them so I want to rebuild it.

I have a 1920's car front end with leaf springs, it came with 3 cool wire wheels, 4 bolt ones , same fit as a lot of trailer wheels, so I have options. Ive been saving up any alunimum pieces I can find thinking Ill rebuild it, just use the box again, the rest I can probably make.. I think i can make it about half the weight.

I know its kind of redneck to tow a trailer with your porsche but still practical..

we have a neat one it was offered by sears, then they were quickly discontinued. maybe banned? it clamps to a back bumper and only has one wheel.. It was factory made so might still be legal to use. it has a custom lightweight aluminum box and we used that behind an old Mercedes to go camping as kids. you dont see too many one wheel trailers on the road these days. It would really draw a lot of looks today.

funny when you back up, it leads like the back of the car.
they don't corner well though, as all that weight is doing weird stuff to the suspension and handling. I'm sure that's why you never see them anymore. it's other problem , when you unhook it it can't stand on one wheel so you need a way to prop it up.