Is it possible to get a surfboard on an 1800/1800ES?

[HarryHPalmer]

Hi all

New member with what may well be a ridiculous question.

I am the former owner of a much missed banana yellow '73 ES. That car still haunts my dreams, so much so that I am thinking of going down the same path again - possibly downsizing to a P1800.

Here's my question. Since owning the car I have gotten into surfing. To make matters worse I favour longboards - generally around the 9 foot mark.

Does anyone have experience of toting boards - or similar - around on an 1800? An impossible task? Would I be advised to stick with the ES - and even then, would I struggle?

Any advice - including the general desirability/practicality of roof-rack arrangements - would be much appreciated.

thanks

Richard

[classicswede]

Hi Richard,

I doubt you would get a p1800 to carry a 9 foot board very well. The ES should be ok with some of the clamp on type roof bars.

The other thing you could consider is a tow bar with a board trailer. Not quite as easy to move about with but at least you are less likely to damge paintwork and you could carry a lot of boards to go with it.

The amazon estate or 145 would be a good animal for the job but without quite the same look

[Steve and his 244]

If you were to go down the P1800/1800 route, I would go with an ES. They look better in my opinion and look super cool with a period wooden slatted roof rack.....

Steve

[Ron Kwas]

Richard;

Roof length of an ES is about 5 1/2 ft. Roof length of an 1800 is about 40 inches...both can carry a board perferctly with a decent rack connected to the gutter rails, like a Thule or Yakima (see: http://sw-em.com/accessorize.htm), but a banana yellow TP21 has to be the most raaad surf support vehicle ever!
<img src="http://sw-em.com/volvo%20surfmobile%20tp21.jpg">
Cheers

[Ron Kwas]

Second Try at Pic: http://sw-em.com/volvo%20surfmobile%20tp21.jpg

[Sporro]

I carry my 8'1'' mini mal on the roof of my '68S every Friday morning for a surf before work.

I strap it directly to the roof - no racks - with the straps going through the cabin and a towel between the board cover and the roof to keep the paint from getting scratched. I only have to drive about 4km though and don't go above 70kmh.

It goes on just fine, but I won't drive above 70kmh because of the wierd aerodynamics going on.

[HarryHPalmer]

Thanks chaps for your excellent advice. I'm thinking the ES will give me less headaches, esp. for the longer trips and motorway driving - and a period wooden roof rack would look particularly fine. If I can find one of course - not sure I have ever seen one on an 1800ES? The Thule looks good but wonder if a modern rack might somewhat spoil the beautiful lines of the car.

Richard

[caliwagon]

Try to find an ES that already has a rack, and you'll be good to go. Like this one:

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n133/brickster151/Img_1992.jpg

[Ron Kwas]

Richard;

A "period" rack would not be a wooden rack (when do you think an ES was built, 1950?...no, it was quite the modern fuel injected tourer when most other cars leaving the lines still used carbies, and built at the same time the 140s were leaving the production line)...so a more time appropriate period proper rack would be from a 140...and I don't believe that one on caliwagon's ES is one because the 140 racks did not have the spike extending beyond the corner mounts...I just confirmed that on a 240 rack I have here...probably similar...

Cheers

[Derek UK]

Cali's one looks too heavy. Probably handrails off a boat. Good thinking though. A bit of checking on the rails on recent estate cars would probably find something suitable. I believe the Amazon estate has been fitted with bars from a VW Passat?

[Kauai1800]

aloha!
Well I did manage once to get a 9 ft longboard on top on my 1800 using a couple towels and straps, it was not very stable. I angled the board and braced it on the rear part of the roof/trunk. It stuck up in a crazy way but since I was only going maybe 2 miles and under 40 mph it was ok.
Definitely not something I would want to do regularly. I think you could probably stuff a shortboard inside if you let it hang out the window a bit. But like you, I prefer longboard.. In fact now I'm mostly doing stand up paddling on a 12 footer and a sweet carbon fiber paddle. No way thats gonna fit on a 1800! ES is the way to go for sure.

Btw..Stand up paddling (SUP) is really growing fast here in Hawaii.