Brock Keen insists he wasn’t trying to start a trend. “I never really contemplated sports-car camping in the past, and I’ve had Porsches and BMWs and others, but I’ve always taken an SUV or a truck camping,” he tells us from his home in Portland, Oregon. However, when a bargain rooftop tent didn’t jibe with the roof rails on his Range Rover, Keen stuck the tent on his 2004 911 Carrera 4S, just to get it home. He and his wife quickly realized this setup was far too cool to languish. So they started an Instagram account, @996roadtrip, to document the fun. Followers came quickly. Sports-car camping became a thing.

And hey, why not? A sports car might not take you as far off the grid as overlanding mainstays like the Toyota 4Runner or Jeep Wrangler, but have you ever tried to hustle one of those barges up a twisty road? “People are missing out by putting rooftop tents on their trucks and their SUVs,” Keen says. “Find a way to put one on your small car. You’re going to have so much more fun.”

 

It makes perfect sense, especially when you consider that many of America’s greatest roads run through state and national parks. Plus, a lower car allows easier tent access and simpler setup.

Of course, camping with a performance car has its challenges. You’ll need to know the maximum approved weight the roof can bear when parked and while moving. For Keen’s 996 (and many other modern Porsches), the dynamic weight limit is 165 pounds, while the static limit is around 600 pounds. And with a sports car like a 911, there are other concerns.

Storage isn’t exactly plentiful, Keen says. “For us, one of the things that worked out really well is we love to backpack. So we went into it with that mindset. We’re not going on a full-on glamping trip, even though it’s in a Porsche. We’re going to go out and do this from a minimalistic standpoint. – Read the rest of this story here.