Car Umbrella's

Tim M

Tim M

PRESIDENT, Member # 015
GCC Member
Location
St. Charles
First Name
Tim
Last Name
Mauldin
During our Friday cruise in Southern Missouri, we were caught in some torrential downpours. Most had rain suits, that were in the trunks of the cars as were the umbrellas we had. It was brought up that a 60" square umbrella exists. Although I did find those - http://www.4imprint.com/tag/87/Umbrellas/product/129779/Square-Umbrella-60-Arc, http://www.adcomarketing.com/product/windjammer-vented-square-golf-umbrella.aspx , http://www.adcomarketing.com/product/windpro-gellas-vented-golf-umbrella-square.aspx , I really started looking for a Rectangular umbrella. I came across this, which, in the video it attaches to a car roof, I wonder if an adapter could be made to the tranny tunnel in our roadsters :confused:
[youtube]3QXMvVs7qj0[/youtube]

Looking through old threads on ffcars, a squeegee seemed to be high on the list to carry as well. One thing to keep in mind if there is a next time we are in this situation, maybe find a route AROUND the rain so we aren't pounded. I'm still finding tree limbs, leaves and other material that was blown in to my car when I stopped under the tree :eek:
 
Purple Venom said:
One thing to keep in mind if there is a next time we are in this situation, maybe find a route AROUND the rain so we aren't pounded. I'm still finding tree limbs, leaves and other material that was blown in to my car when I stopped under the tree :eek:
Click to expand...

Tim,

Driving around a rain storm may be a viable option when in a metropolitan area as you have numerous alternate routes to chose from.
That is simply not possible in a rural area as remote as the national forest lands we drove through.
First there are dead end roads and gravel roads...but very few connecting paved roads. And what few choices you have are often 15-30 miles apart. If you plan to drive around a storm in rural Missouri you need an aircraft storm scope and a willingness to go over miles of dirt and gravel roads...potentially flooded low water bridges...and the possibility of ending up in a farmers field.

In retrospect... on Friday... we should have waited under cover at the Cherokee Pass Mobile until the storm blew over. Rather than try to outrun it.
 
My example would be, Hwy B approaching Biehle, MO. We stopped at either Hwy KK or E (can't remember) to put on rain suits. We continued North on Hwy B....at that point before hitting the rain, we should have stopped, re-assessed which way to go and see if KK or E would have been an option. Looking at Google Maps, both would have taken us East to I-55, and maybe, possibly, by that time the storm would have passed North of us by the time we drove back there. Had we taken E out to I-55, the Cowboy Church there has a large overhang we could have taken cover under.....Hindsight 20/20.... :)
 
Good idea Tim!
Couple of those looked like volume buys only.

Did find this one: Gellas by ShedRain 4532 Gel Handle, 62-Inch Arc Auto Open Vented Square Golf Umbrella $28.98
Leaning toward this one.

71Hg5ePGFyL._UL1500_.jpg


btw, I got soaked one more time on the way home Sunday. Got DRENCHED again on 55 about 2 miles from the house. almost made it home. :eek:
 
The one I had with me was vented, the wind blew through it as well as the rain. I want non vented.
 
Tim,
Did you notice the automatic umbrella I had on my car? Fits perfectly and can be deployed from the drivers seat. I'm just sayin!
 
62" arc wont cover the cockpit. It will end up being 52-54" wide. A standard golf umbrella is wider.
 
Rich, I think your find is the best umbrella yet! I got the 68" square one I ordered. It is nice and much cheaper but doesn't quite cover the full interior. Mike P.
 
I think the California Cover is the best option....just need to see where the bungies attach.
 
My new 72" umbrella arrived today. :D

Good News / Bad News.

Good News: this thing is HUGE! Covers the width of the cockpit and extends over the windshield and rollbars well.

Bad News: this thing is HUGE and TALL! The handle is almost too tall and sits up above the windshield and rollbars and will not rest in a postion un-manned. (would be great if I had a hole dead center in my trans-tunnel :rolleyes:)
oh yeah, opening it quickly in a rainstorm could be tricky too. (did I say this thing is huge!)

I'll keep it, would have been REAL nice in Farmington. I'll be packing it for Gatlinburg and Harrison!
I'll bring it to our next event so others can check it out. I'm going to take a better look at it tomorrow, while I'm sitting in the car.



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Any chance you could cut about 10-12" off the length of the umbrella shaft? Look's like the right size to cover the full cockpit. Certainly much better option than driving through a rain storm!
 
Well, I did consider that (cutting off part of the handle), but it has a locking mechanism that prevents the umbrella from automatically opening (it's kind of spring loaded).
I'm going to take a closer look over the next couple days and see if I can figure out something or if I can find a spot between the trans-tunnel and seat to insert the handle (mine are pretty tight).
Don't mis-understand me, it's a great umbrella and the size is really nice. It's better than no umbrella or one too small that would drip everything into the cockpit.
It would have been great in Farmington when the wind wasn't blowing, but with the gusts we had, this umbrella would have been gone and taken the passenger holding it with it! :eek:
(I could do without the blue sky and white clouds on the inside too, but I can live with that :rolleyes:)
 
Tim, any more information on the California Cover? I agree, this looks like a better longer term solution, for extended parking (an hour or 2, or more) and especially for windy days.
I'd like to look into one of these too, but it wouldn't do you any good if you were caught in the rain. That was my priority.

I am happy to report that I was able to use the big umbrella yesterday and wedge the handle between the tranny tunnel and the seat to snug it down against the windshield and rollbars.
I think this could be a better solution when you are in the car and surprised by a quick cloud burst (and may be good at very low driving speeds, just to get you off of the road and prevent some of the rain from soaking you.) It also works well for covering the interior from the sun, preventing the seats and more importantly the steering wheel and seatbelt buckles from reaching their scorching point! It is long, but will fit in the passenger footbox and pointing up to the driver seat (similar to the 289 rollbar 3rd leg) and it will fit in the trunk, but it may be tight in some trunks and does lay corner to corner, so it's takes up a lot of room.
It's an inexpensive compromise between no top at all and a convertible top. :rolleyes:
 
7 years. 66,000 miles. 55,000 with my wife in the passenger seat. Roof was on 4 times.

Didn't need no stinkin' umbrella. :D

Steve
 
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