One of the nice things abut having gearhead friends all over the place is that when they spot some sort of interesting car wherever they happen to be, you can be assured you’ll get a picture of it so you can geek out too, even when you’re thousands of miles away. This is an important service. Our own contributor Emily Velasco frequently does this for me, and recently sent a picture of a wonderfully crusty old Land Rover, which has a fascinating type of roof I’ve never really noticed before. So let’s notice it together!
As you can see above there, that’s a pretty old Land Rover there. While I’m not a Land Rover expert, I think that’s a Series I Station Wagon body; I think it’s a Series I and not a II because of that extra panel below the window on the front doors and the simple rectangular shape of the rear door. I love how crude this whole body design looks, crude and rugged with lots of reinforcement plates on seams and corners – it’s just such a look that evokes adventure and exploration and exciting trouble and throwing idols into bags in the back and hauling ass away from giant rolling boulders. You know, the first few minutes of Raiders of the Lost Ark.
But we’re here to talk about that roof, so let’s look at it closer:
See what’s going on there? It’s a sort of strange kind of double-skinned roof, with an upper panel and a gap, then the lower, main roof panel. What’s going on here?
As you likely guessed, this is for ventilation; it’s called the Tropical Roof, or sometimes the Safari Roof, and you can see it mentioned, briefly, here:
That mention of a “roof fitted with a ventilator” seems to be this same thing. Here’s some better brochure pictures of it, from a Series II brochure:
You could get it fitted to the short-wheelbase Landies, too:
Basically, what’s going on is the roof has four large vents in it, and over top of those vents is that upper roof skin, which helps draw in air when in motion, and, I suspect, helps hot air escape a bit when not. There’s no way this could be considered a replacement for actual air conditioning, of course, but I’m sure it was better than nothing, certainly better than sitting in an un-ventilated metal-and-glass box out in the desert heat, or some similar tropical place.
I bet these tended to get dented up a lot, as that upper skin is sort of thin, especially if a roof rack was involved as well. I also wonder what this must have sounded like in the rain? I’m imagining it being kind of loud and booming, but perhaps not all that unpleasant?
Also, Emily took a picture of this amazing old CalTech sticker on the Land Rover:
That beaver is kind of unhinged looking. I’m not sure I trust him.
I’m surprised I never really noticed these before! The world is still full of wonders, pals! You just need to either keep your eyes or, better, have friends keeping their eyes open.
The “Tropical Roof” has nothing to do with ventilation, think of it as providing shade. The outer roof gets pretty hot sk you really don’t want any of that hot air in between inner and outer roof coming inside.
It also makes a sound. A very particular sound.
The “Tropical Roof” has nothing to do with ventilation, think of it as providing shade. The outer roof gets pretty hot sk you really don’t want any of that hot air in between inner and outer roof coming inside.
It also makes a sound. A very particular sound.
I’ve always known these as safari tops. To the best of my understanding all 109” station wagons (not including the troopie) were equipped with it. But that could be something just in our market. They are so rare these days cos the chassis rust in our salty humid climate
I’ve always known these as safari tops. To the best of my understanding all 109” station wagons (not including the troopie) were equipped with it. But that could be something just in our market. They are so rare these days cos the chassis rust in our salty humid climate
In Queensland in the 70’s, the majority of taxis were XA, XB or XC Falcons. Some enterprising organisation made fibreglass tropical roofs for these, that bolted on to the gutter rails. They also extended out over the front and rear windscreens to act as sunvisors, most of these cars probably didn’t have air con back then. We are classed as having a sub-tropical climate, probably similar to Florida, so they would have helped a lot. Tropical roofs are still a thing here, most commonly on caravans and some motorhomes. I have tried to find a photo of a Falcon with one fitted, with no luck.
In Queensland in the 70’s, the majority of taxis were XA, XB or XC Falcons. Some enterprising organisation made fibreglass tropical roofs for these, that bolted on to the gutter rails. They also extended out over the front and rear windscreens to act as sunvisors, most of these cars probably didn’t have air con back then. We are classed as having a sub-tropical climate, probably similar to Florida, so they would have helped a lot. Tropical roofs are still a thing here, most commonly on caravans and some motorhomes. I have tried to find a photo of a Falcon with one fitted, with no luck.
It’s a design you can see on houses with metal roofs in tropical countries.
I guess it’s quite useful when you have to enter a car sitting in the sun.
The noise must be awful when it’s raining, but anyway during a tropical rain you can’t hear anything except the rain…
It’s a design you can see on houses with metal roofs in tropical countries.
I guess it’s quite useful when you have to enter a car sitting in the sun.
The noise must be awful when it’s raining, but anyway during a tropical rain you can’t hear anything except the rain…
Ah; “Tropical Roof”. This is what I was suggesting for the USPS LLV retrofit.
Ah; “Tropical Roof”. This is what I was suggesting for the USPS LLV retrofit.
the tropical roof was common on LR when I was growing up in Oz. Probably the default option in those days
How does the tropical roof work when upside down? Does heat fall instead? Is the roof inverted?
the tropical roof was common on LR when I was growing up in Oz. Probably the default option in those days
How does the tropical roof work when upside down? Does heat fall instead? Is the roof inverted?
Those double roofs work really well for keeping the interior a little cooler. Air is a heck of a great insulator.
As an aside, an added bonus of roof mounted solar panels is that they shade the roof underneath. Usually on the side facing the sun most of the day. First, they’re directly using 20%ish of the sun’s energy to make electricity. The shaded roof is then cooler both between less solar energy reaching it and the convection drawing air under the panels. This translates into less energy the insulation has to work against and thus an overall cooler structure.
wait till you read about bifacial panels… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bifacial_solar_cells
Those double roofs work really well for keeping the interior a little cooler. Air is a heck of a great insulator.
As an aside, an added bonus of roof mounted solar panels is that they shade the roof underneath. Usually on the side facing the sun most of the day. First, they’re directly using 20%ish of the sun’s energy to make electricity. The shaded roof is then cooler both between less solar energy reaching it and the convection drawing air under the panels. This translates into less energy the insulation has to work against and thus an overall cooler structure.
wait till you read about bifacial panels… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bifacial_solar_cells
I love roofline windows! I love them on old VW busses, I love them on Land Rovers and Discovery’ies, I love them on strange hardtops for roadsters, I even love them on silly Zagato bodied Lancias!
Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser FTW
I love roofline windows! I love them on old VW busses, I love them on Land Rovers and Discovery’ies, I love them on strange hardtops for roadsters, I even love them on silly Zagato bodied Lancias!
Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser FTW
It’s a Land Rover Series I 107″ (107 inch wheel base), I would hazard a guess that it’s a 1957 or 1958, but that colour was only offered starting in 1959 so probably not the original colour. That colour is officially called “Limestone” and I think I have the colour code saved somewhere.
Safari roofs are fantastic, growing up in Durban South Africa my dad had a 67 Series IIa 109 with Safari roof. Even on the hottest days you could touch the metal roof and not scorch your hand because the air gap does a huge job keeping the majority of the suns heat off the inner roof.
Edit: Although could that colour be Ivory? Idk, looks too yellow to be Ivory.
It’s a Land Rover Series I 107″ (107 inch wheel base), I would hazard a guess that it’s a 1957 or 1958, but that colour was only offered starting in 1959 so probably not the original colour. That colour is officially called “Limestone” and I think I have the colour code saved somewhere.
Safari roofs are fantastic, growing up in Durban South Africa my dad had a 67 Series IIa 109 with Safari roof. Even on the hottest days you could touch the metal roof and not scorch your hand because the air gap does a huge job keeping the majority of the suns heat off the inner roof.
Edit: Although could that colour be Ivory? Idk, looks too yellow to be Ivory.
I saw and experienced these now and then in my wayward youth in Latin America. It is pretty much like you say, but it does keep it cooler in the sun. I know we have modern air conditioning, but I still prefer vehicles with a light colored roof. I live in the desert!
I saw and experienced these now and then in my wayward youth in Latin America. It is pretty much like you say, but it does keep it cooler in the sun. I know we have modern air conditioning, but I still prefer vehicles with a light colored roof. I live in the desert!
I’ve not measured it, but AFAIK they were made out of the same thickness of aluminium as the roof.
I’m not sure if you could still fold down the front windscreen with one of these roofs attached.
I’ve not measured it, but AFAIK they were made out of the same thickness of aluminium as the roof.
I’m not sure if you could still fold down the front windscreen with one of these roofs attached.
Funny, I always thought Californian beaver was a triangle shape… For a while Landrover made roofs with a little plug in the front which could be taken out for a search light, and there were also conduits to wire the search light into the dashboard.
Don’t see anything like that here so maybe it was only for combined civilian/police/military markets.
Aren’t they all?
Sadly the Californian beaver is on the razor’s edge of extinction.