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After seeing the pic on the crowdfunding page of matt_oab with a canoe in his yaris, got me thinking what is the largest item you have fitted into your car? Apart from bikes.
King size mattress in a mini
I once turned up to collect two freestanding kitchen units in a fiat punto. I'd already removed the passenger seats as prep; but it was still only just a fit after re-flatpacking them.
Mind you; you should have seen the look on the sellers face - they were a lovely old couple but had no idea that you could dismantle them so were expecting something a little more van-y 😀
the mother in law
myself................ ;o)
Metal framed double bed in a Nissan Micra (how I didn’t get pulled over I don’t know) Oakley display cabinets in a Fiat Punto.
A lawn in my Vectra. Dropped into a garden centre to enquirer about turf, chap asked if I wanted to take away there and then... bit of umming and arrhing, and he reckoned no way I could fit it all in, seats down, suspension bottomed out (and a few rolls on the passenger seat) and job was a goodun
13 conifer tree stumps in a mk 2 Punto. (Seems they may be the load luggers tool of choice)
16m2 gravel drive and 65m2 lawn, (separate projects) took a couple of trips in my Peugeot Expert, but that was down to weight limitations, not volume.
sidecar wheel and chassis in a mini! and it was properly in not "in" like matt and the canoe 😉
BMW 1 Series. Three adults, three enduro mountain bikes, two weeks kit for each adult, tool kit and an EVOC bike bag. Granted the bikes (minus wheels) were on a rack, but it was cosy.
I got two whales in my car 🙂
Well over a ton of bricks stacked in the Land Rover 90, it had HD MOD springs and it rode really smoothly instead of bouncing around like it usually did unloaded.
My colleague borrowed my estate car and loaded a canoe into it, unfortunately when he braked it shot forward and cracked my windscreen, which he had to replace, the prize muppet.
Four bikes and four humans inside my Passat estate, although two were children.
3m kitchen worktop, unfortunately the second one didn't fit due to slope of the windscreen which resulted in a cracked windscreen when I shut the boot.
Kayak for me. Perception blaze in a clio. I have managed to squeeze a second one in on occasion as well.
This weekend it was stable matting, 5 huge rubber mats at about 40kg each.
An entire CX course's worth of poles and tape is another. I do occasionally think should have bought a van.
My mate got an entire Nissan 200sx in his P38 Rangie.
He was subsequently banned from the local tip.
Motorbike (500cc) in a Morris Minor.
Some dismantling was necessary...
My Dad got a (stolen) stuffed elephant and 4 people in/on a mini once in his yoof. About 2am in London all well inebriated.
Police stopped him and asked them to keep the noise down. 😂
This one?
Kayak for me. Perception blaze in a clio.
Amateur.
4 metre long oar in an MX5
I remember going to Ikea many years ago, with my wife's Celica (which, it must be said, was surprisingly good for moving stuff). I strolled around the shop choosing beds, wardrobes and other such things without a thought in my head apart from how nice they would look. I then paid for it all and, because these items were from the second warehouse round the back, drove round to pick them up without a care in the world.
I stood there daydreaming until the assistant rolled out a trolley with this mountain of boxes on it and it was only at this point that I realised that I would have to get all of this in the car. I might have stood their gaping with a slightly sinking feeling in my stomach...
"Hold on a second, sir, while I go into the back and get the other trolley"
Doh!
(But, to my endless amazement, it all went in, with the boot lid tied shut and the two longest boxes for the sides of the bedframe propped on the shoulders of the driver's seat, either side of my head. I had to duck to look out of the windows! I wouldn't do that journey again for all of the meatballs and weird sauce in the world...!)
Fully assembled dining table and six chairs in my mark 2 Galaxy
mark 2 Galaxy
Borderline cheating IMO.... 😉
I got a bath in an MX5........okay, it was sliced into 5 pieces
7 windsurf wave boards, 11 sails, 5 booms and all the wetsuits and harnesses and kit bags for 5 blokes, all in a 530d Sport Touring Bimmer..
The blokes ? Nope, they caught the plane and I drove to Guincho (Portugal)
For a PWA Wave comp back in 04
American style fridge freezer.......it was collect or pay £50 for delivery......
6 people and enough kit for a week's holiday in my sMax. Was a bit cosy in the back.
My ego
Pallet of bricks in a vectra.... it handled funny on the way home.
Moved my mate into uni in a mini.... 3up and all his stuff....
I got a 3 seater sofa in my Volvo. And I mean in, boot and doors shut. 😃
my entire life in a Landrover Defender after coming home and having my suspicions confirmed by finding another blokes shoes in 'our' house.
Debbie from Essex.......
Yamaha RD400 into the boot of a DAF66. Complete with rider. He'd seized the engine, again....
I used to regularly fit my creekboat kayak into my Ford Fiesta. I had to drop the passenger seat and open the glove box which gave me the valuable few more inches length I needed!
More recently, when I bought my GSX750 Inazuma, it fitted in the back of my Berlingo. I was able to shut the boot too...
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Motorcycle side car in a ford fiesta, needed to keep the boot open which led to a cold and fume filled journey..............
recumbent trike slides right into the bacl of my CRV. I also added another bike and KICKR as I was off to a show, and could have taken another. Upright trike only goes in front wheel off. Had a huge TV cabinet in it as well, but door did not quite close on that one. Fantastic design.
I have a '99 V70 estate, anything fits in. Large YT Tues dh bike with wheels off and all riding kit in just the boot bit with parcel shelf over is my favourite.
Five complete VW T4 Multivan Interiors, (7 Seats each /Plastics/Headlining etc) inside a VW T4 Multivan.
From Poland to York.
You lot are bloody amateurs 🙂
I did collect a full length - two full length I think - kitchen worktops from B&Q or similar. "Do you have transport?" they asked as me and flatmate turned up. Oh yes. Cue they trundle the worktops out to the - 205 GTI (with seats flat). They summed and ahhed but we got them back to the flat, by dint of Hugh sitting on them in the back to stop them flying out the back of the hatchback...
American style fridge freezer…….it was collect or pay £50 for delivery
What car? I’m considering this myself...
I’m a serial overloaded and have done the usual tonne of bricks in a clio and double mattress in a golf but the bonnet of an RX7 in a 3 series was the most challenging Took a good hour of millimetric shuffling and headroom was ‘compromised’ somewhat but it can* be done.
*YMMV
Four bikes and four humans inside my Passat estate, although two were children
I can beat that - four bikes and four adults in my Focus estate. Or four adults and 4 days canoe camping kit (plus two open canoes on the roof rack).
70 paving slabs in a Bimmer 5 series Touring. Self-levelling suspension still worked during and after!
American style fridge freezer…….it was collect or pay £50 for delivery
What car? I’m considering this myself…
I was once passed by someone with a fridge-freezer in the passenger seat of their Triumph Spitfire. Roof down, obvs.
We've got a fair amount into the Berlingo but the most impressive feat was 4 adults and a bike in a Citroen c1.
A 3 seat leather sofa in the back of my Mondeo estate, & years ago 3 Bultaco Sherpa trials bikes in the back of a Mini Pickup.
On my daily commute, other drivers often try to get a whole other car in my boot. Does that count?
3 waveboards and a few rigs inside an XR3i. 2 pc mast would only fit diagonally and if I shut the tailgate too hard the mast would crack the windscreen.
he reckoned no way I could fit it all in
6 bodies, full-size Alsatian, a Wacker plate and a few more tools - Berlingo...was/is a thing of awesomeness!
four bikes and four adults in my Focus estate. Or four adults and 4 days canoe camping kit (plus two open canoes on the roof rack).
I'll raise you two open canoes on roof, four bikes on back, one bike inside, two weeks camping and kit, 7 paddles, 10 helmets, river kit, 5 of family_oab and 2000 mile round trip to South of France... Although it was a Galaxy😎
6 bodies, full-size Alsatian, a Wacker plate and a few more tools
Is this a confession of some description?
I got three built-in wardrobes-worth of bits into the Octavia. The folks my wife bought said bits from were terribly dubious and suggested I go hire a van, but in the end everything fit.
Transporting my wife's harp is always a tight fit. It doesn't so much fill the car as just require the maximum space in every dimension in the one way it will fit whilst being rather delicate and worth more than the car. Even tricky in the Mondeo and that swallowed a 6' dining table and a sofa.
We once had a bloke pick up a Hobie tandem kayak which is about 4.5m long and weighs 45kg with a 20 year old Skoda with no roof rack. Just tied it on with some 20 year old rope. I offered him some straps for free but he didn't want them. Kayak cost 5k+
I currently have a playboat plus kit in my Nissan leaf with enough room to take three kids to school tomorrow morning as well.
This reminds me of a photo that TINAS (I think) put up with his bike on the passenger seat with the roof down in an MG, in the rain
Motorbike (500cc) in a Morris Minor.
Some dismantling was necessary…
MZ 250 (mine 😶) in a Reliant Robin (not mine).
Broke down on the M61 and managed to push to Salford.
Only had 10p in change and Tommy Clines was the only one who answered the phone. 🙂 A LOT of dismantling was involved.
Ford Kuga mk1. Big car on the outside, Focus on the inside...
six piece drum kit (kick, snare, 2 rack toms, two floor toms), two bags of stands, bag of cymbals, Marshall head & 4x12 cab, three guitars, bag of assorted guff and one lead singer/guitarist. Plus myself as driver.
although perhaps getting the same amount of gear minus the 4x12 cab into a Citroen C4 was more of a challenge
A Giant 😎
Mondeo 07
2 humans, one dog. 2 bikes with kit. 4 man tent. 2 chairs. Cool bag. Gas canister & stove. Fold up table. 3 casss of beer. 2 bag size of shopping. 2 suitcases. Dog crate. Duvet & 4 pillows. Loads of towels.
The dog even had room to sleep on his bed in the boot, no wonder that things known as the cardis. There was room for more gear too. Incredible.
Up and over garage door to the tip - had to fold it into quarters though.
Puch m2 sports 'ped in a 2cv
Thats easy 2cv seats come out, even the passenger AND the drivers seat and its massive!
The heaviest was most of the concrete panels from a prefab garage - slabs of it up to the window line in a Civic. Suspension was on the bump stops and it never returned to its original ride height. Doh!
Slightly OT, but my Dad and I once got the entire contents of a Camden Passage antique silverware shop in a Honda Acty van. That was a fraught drive across London.
We were rennovating the place, honest officer.
The Engine.
One that I forgot - I once collected a load of solid oak floor boards from a local supplier. They filled the back of my XC90, with the seats down and the tailgate open, from floor to roof and from window to window - there wasn't the smallest gap anywhere in the car and it was hanging out of the back by a couple of feet too.
Being honest, I hadn't given the weight a whole lot of thought and it was only as I started climbing the hill back to home that it dawned on me that it wouldn't (or, to be precise, couldn't!) get out of 2nd gear. I have to admit that this was a very, very careful drive home as I wasn't entirely sure what would happen if I had to stop in a hurry. (Suspect: not very much!)
My best - a spare set of four wheels + two spare tyres + full bumper + set of carbs + exhaust. In a Mk1 MX5. Roof down, obviously.
My wife and I got a double bed + mattress + general fixtures and fittings for our first flat in a hatchback Mondeo. We had to fold a brand-new sprung mattress in three to get it into the boot. We got a round of applause from the loading bay when we finally got it all in.
A CB500 and an RS125 plus all our trackday stuff in a Toyota Lucida (no rear seats.)
Double bed and matress in a Fiat Tipo.
Two people, five bikes and all of my friend's worldy goods in a Mondeo hatch. I also managed to move house in that car, after two bikes had moved in a previous trip (I didn't own any furniture at the time)
We had 70 bricks in the OP's car, volume was fine, more of a weight issue. Landy 110 barely noticed 100 roof tiles
You can get a ride-on mower in the boot of a Montego estate, just need to pop the steering wheel off (the mower!) for height reasons.
Firewood and three people in a two seater berlingo. Drove out with me in the comfy passenger seat, housemate in the boot. Filled it with blown down branches for the bonfire, my turn in the back on the way home, not comfortable!
Four adults, plus a week’s worth of camping equipment, bags, snacks and booze in a tiny 1992 Daihatsu Charade GTti for a trip from Newcastle to Glastonbury (1994 festival).
Back in my gigging days I would drive to gigs and take our drummer, his drum kit (bass, 2x floor tomtoms, 1x snare, 2 small drums for on top of the base, 6 cymbals, all associated stands, his stool and a roll of carpet for him to setup on), my bass guitar, a 100w Marshall bass amp/speaker combo, our PA amp, 2x pa speaker & stands.
In my Fiat Panda
A tumble drier and a washing machine in a Fiat Punto with a driver and passenger.
2 adults and two double beds including mattresses from Ikea in a Vauxhall nova. They had shut (not able to pop it back in to collect the next day) before we realised that even with one of the mattresses on the roof we ere going to be making a very odd spectacle along the M6. In the end we admitted defeat and called in reinforcements, but not without a fun few miles flapping around the backstreets of West Bromwich.
Rydsters purity.
Huge.
A 190cm carbon kayak paddle in my kit car at cannock chase. (160cm is the longest straight line in the cab area) The look on the sellers face when I pulled out a hacksaw to fit it in the car was priceless! I explained it was a right handed padde and I was left handed so I was going to need to re feather it anyway!
Moved house using a 2CV. Clothes rails and wardrobes out through the roof! Many trips of course. Then used it to carry trees to plant in the garden, not much defeated it.
Some trees (although stretching the 'car' definition here 😉 )
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In a panda, Wombat? Impressive 🙂