How to Pack an Aston V8 Vantage Roadster for the Weekend

The trunk (boot) of a Vantage Roadster measures 144 liters or 5 very irregular cubic feet. This is very suitable for a weekend overnighter at your favorite winery or chateau. Seeking YouTube fame with an entourage of chase cars? No problem. However, going farther afield on your own is a bit of a challenge. For myself, in a week I’ll want a typical carry-on, my computer bag, a camera bag, a bag for the car itself and a bag of outdoorsy stuff. Going well off the beaten path will also require some sort of provisions. With the Vantage Roadster you can have all that, and a companion. Just not at the same time. I recently found I needed all that for a long, self-catered weekend and here are my top tips:

·       Pack only soft bags. If you put one hard roller bag in the trunk you are pretty much done.

·       Have your soft bags in a variety of sizes to fit in the odd shapes.

·       Remember the parcel shelves behind the seats. Flat-ish bags go nicely there. Or parcels.

·       Depending on your leg-length there may be a tiny space on the floor behind the seat for, say, a road atlas.

·       If you need to provision, be inspired by the voyageurs or 19th century trappers. Or try modern dehydrated backpacker meals. Very compact. Better still, stay in a civilized place with restaurants.

·       Favor friends and relations who like to travel independently and have their own car.

Here’s my example of loading the car for an off-season trip to the coast:

The gear … will it fit?

No, it won’t

Perhaps …

Yes!

With stuff tightly crammed behind the seat he passenger side airbag warning light was on for the whole trip. For this there is the “Read” button. (It took me some time to understand that button was written in the past tense.)

You can see that I left space for an imaginary friend in the passenger seat. If that were a real person with their own luggage it might call for a clever and stylish invention from Europe: The Boot Bag that straps on the back end of the car. It would increase your boot capacity by a third, reduce your top speed by the same, and lower your sense of dignity even more. Then last, for people who really love packing, the same company will make you custom luggage to perfectly fit for roughly a grand.