QOTD: Next Stop, Slumberville?

Maybe self-isolation is getting to me. Maybe the lack of balcony, deck, backyard, or sprawling property rife with plant life and woodland critters is having an impact, forcing this urban writer with his small carbon footprint into wild daydreams of wide open spaces and the road less traveled. Maybe there’s not enough booze kicking around.

Come to think of it, that could be the problem.

Anyway, as we continue enjoying a springtime of fear, uncertainty, and vastly reduced travel options, let’s turn our minds to a less-talked-about aspect of personal vehicles.

Sleeping. Having your vehicle serve as shelter for the night. Once upon a time it was a selling feature for Nash, with images of young families enjoying camping trips without the need for a tent or travel trailer gracing ads for Airflytes and the like. That fold-down seat/twin bed was a bonus for penniless campers, drunks, and amorous couples, but bad news for the father watching his daughter dash out the Nash owned by her new boyfriend.

They won’t be back by 10:30.

Thankfully, fate or circumstance never made it necessary for yours truly to live out of a car for more than a day or two. For some, spending every night in their car is an unfortunate necessity; most others use it as a last resort. Maybe a lunch break nap or a little shut-eye on a long trip. Those, at least for yours truly, are familiar things.

And when the time comes to sleep in my own car, I instantly wish I was in someone else’s ride. A larger car, a plusher car… ideally, a minivan with the rear seats removed. A panel van. A long-bed pickup with a cap. Anything that could actually accommodate my lengthy frame.

Depending on when you last folded down a front bucket (probably with insufficient lower back support and cumbersome headrests) or attempted to curl up on a hard rear bench, you know what I’m talking about. Restful sleep eludes me in a conventional sedan or hatch. I’d have to find something far bigger or older in order to really knock off for the night (or even an unbroken span of a few hours). I’ve often wondered just how I’d fare in, say, a ’71 Imperial LeBaron or some other mile-wide car from the Landau Era.

Sweet dreams and baby-making, those vast benches seem made for.

So, as we dream of a future in which our cars no longer contain surgical gloves for grocery store trips, can you tell us about the most comfortable car or truck you ever slept in?

[Image: Murilee Martin/TTAC]