Extra Trunk Space or Bike Carrier – Westfalia Portilo
A bike carrier is commonplace nowadays, and so is the car rooftop box. But what if your needs vary and you don’t have a station wagon that can easily accommodate your rooftop box? The Portilo from Westfalia is an original new approach that can be either bike carrier or extra trunk space, depending on the needs of the moment.
Why It’s Clever and Easy
I have a trailer hitch on my car that I can use to attach a bicycle rack. But sometimes when planning for a long weekend where you don’t need your bikes, extra storage space to transport your things would be more welcome. The good old and very spacious rooftop cargo box is a nice solution, but it takes some time to fix it to your roof – if it’s possible at all with the car that you have. And even if you decide to make the effort, a rooftop cargo box with the necessary cross bars will mean your gas consumption increases by about 10%.
Therefore, I really love this out-of-the-box thinking from Westfalia. For the trips where you need a bike carrier, you can use it for that purpose, and it can carry two bicycles with a total weight of up to 135 lbs (60 kg). When you decide not to take your bikes on a trip, it turns into a spare trunk that can hold up to 100 lbs (45 kg) payload with a total volume of 7 cu ft (200 liters). It also has the advantage that it’s mounted in the slipstream of the car, with minimal or no impact on your gas consumption (although, admittedly, your parking-space requirements aren’t entirely unaffected).
It also swivels down to provide easy access to your car’s trunk.
Here’s the product video from Westfalia:
Summary
- Bicycle carrier converts into extra trunk space
- Mounted in slipstream, doesn’t increase gas consumption
- 2 bikes or 7 cu ft (200 liters) trunk volume
- 135 lbs (60 kg) bikes or 100 lbs (35 kg) baggage
- Mounted on trailer hitch.
Tips
Westfalia is the first such product that I came accross. Later, I also found similar products from the Italian company Fiamma that can be attached to your bike carrier. You might verify if they have a distributor in your country too. Here are two models:
The Fiamma Ultra Box 320:
And also a soft luggage bag, the Fiamma Cargo Back:
When you get home, you might want to store this cycle carrier the same way as this rooftop box example.
Where to buy
You should be able to find it in stores that carry the Westfalia portfolio. Or the Fiamma portfolio, of course.
Approx. price: $500 (October 2009)
Categories: space-saving, car & garage, travel, simply original
