I used to defer to Frenchie when it came to extended camping. Rooftents have come a long way since we played with them back in the 90's. What holds then still holds true. We did a concept car back in like 2000 that sort of encapsulated what we thought of as a "world" car for extended travel anywhere. Back then the choice of vehicles was easy - Jeep, Land Rover, or the Land Cruiser, or a Cherokee like Frenchie used or in this case a YJ for more extreme travel. You might recognize the roof tent.
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Looks pretty dated today but the concept I think still holds. First, the vehicle, it is a little Jeep on purpose and at the time in Europe they were putting in a small Italian diesel. This had that diesel which was the power choice because you could get gasoil anywhere. These little Jeeps came with 29" tires and normally to put on 33's you needed a 2" body lift, so we raised the fenders, and made the flip up front end. Jeep did not like the Hummer look but there was a common heritage. The roof tent is small by today's standards. This is the original Maggiolina and it was small and short on purpose. It came with one door, the second door was something we added. Tents are for cold weather and these small Maggiiolinas were superb, I'd say better than today's tents. The top rack wasn't just for looks, you would throw your wet dirty stuff up there and strap it down. Even the ladder was weird by today's standards, it was welded steel and both half were independent. The top part was hooked to the tent and the lower part would sink in so it wouldn't slide. You could easily separate the two halves and use the ladder as a sand ladder if needed. If you broke it, you would straighten it or weld it.
The tent itself was brilliant. Your first question is why blue? The Italians explained that they liked the "quality of light" it relaxed you. If you were in a foreign country and tired of all the strange stuff, you could crawl up into your tent with a good book and listen to your walkman, and you were soothed and in your own country. This is back before iPhones and Internet. Exploring was different, there were times when you just had to go slow, and that was good.
You could be like Frenchie and live out of your vehicle or take advantage of what is around you. My wife was a girly girl and liked comfort. The tent suited her well but she would also like a fine hotel, and nothing in between. The idea here was you could park anywhere and the vehicle wouldn't attract attention. You were a bit limited in vehicles, Jeep, Land Rover and the little Land Cruiser were the obvious choice. Your roof tent didn't have to be aerodynamic as you were pushing it to do 60.
So, my choice for an extended trip, a medium Maggiolina, one with the crank and basic. Bring a few extra crank handles, you lose them. Get the mat under the mattress, works like a box spring and put down a bottom sheet and thrown in a big down duvet and your aren't camping anymore, it is your home.
