Car topper

Last time we went camping at Chilliwack Lake, we took my pickup truck...and everything and everyone fit comfortably. However for a longer journey the car makes more sense. Except that the four of us will not fit in there too comfortably with all of our camping stuff (I don't know how my family did it when I was in highschool. I remember a week trip up the Island with 4 of us in a small hatchback).

The obvious solution is to put some stuff on top of the car. I found some nice roofracks on Craigslist for $125. That was as much as I was willing to spend, however, and decided that for this trip, a home-made car-topper would do.

It had to be aerodynamic, somewhat waterproof, light, and secure. I'm fairly happy with the end result, but the real test will come tomorrow when we go road-tripping!

The box is made of some old 1x4s someone gave me for free (cedar I think), some scraps of 1/4" plywood I had, and a wee bit of hardware (some U bolts for the front and some zap-straps for the back). Malachi helped me paint it. I call it the "Thule: Almost" box. I also added another piece of plywood (not pictured) angled at the front to further deflect the wind.