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Aroof tent orrooftop tent is an accessory that may be fitted to the roof orbed of amotor 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-preparedfour wheel drive vehicles such asLand Rovers, but can be fitted to almost any vehicle. TheTesla 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 inItaly and one manufacturer advertises them using photographs of their devices fitted to cars as small as theFiat Panda.

Roof Top Tents are particularly popular with travellers and 4WD'ers of Australia for their ease of use and rapid setup. Roof Top Tents are recommended when entering "Crocodile Country".

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]

Roof tents have traditionally taken the form of a conventional ridge-poletent which can be folded into a compact package, resting onmarine plywood, and mounted on aroof rack. Beginning in 1958, more modern tent designs appeared - housed in a waterproof, mouldedfibreglass orcarbon 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. In 2003 aFrench manufacturer introduced another design of simple and lightweight tents, resembling modern sprung-pole types of ground tent.

There are three types of roof tent available:

• Softshell - A soft removable canvas cover which opens likes apop-up book into a traditional looking canvas body tent.
• Hardshell - A hard shell cover made of fibreglass,aluminium orABS which opens vertically to form the roof of the tent with canvas sides.
• Hybrid - A hard shell cover made of fibreglass, aluminium or ABS which opens like a pop-up book with a canvas body, some hybrid roof tent designs use the top shell to form a wall of the tent body.

Each of these types have their advantages and disadvantages^[7] and with the advances in manufacturing and materials, new variations of these types are being designed year-on-year.

• Autohome
• Camping
• Off-roading
• Overlanding
• Roof camper, roof tent with walls made of hard materials such as wood or metal

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