The origins of the rooftop tent.
This historic advertising sign tells one of the earliest moments in the birth
of Maggiolina® and the Autohome® idea.
Mantua, Italy. Fiera delle Grazie. One of the first encounters between an idea and the public.
MAGGIOLINA®
“We designed and built it with great passion…”
A simple, authentic phrase that already expressed a clear vision:
to create a different rooftop tent, designed for real travel.
From here begins a new idea of travel: authentic, essential, free.
From here a story was born that still distinguishes Autohome® in international markets today.
First patent filed in 1958 by Stefano Stogl.
1958 THE FIRST PATENT
NO. 595326 – MILAN, ITALY – 16TH SEPTEMBER 1958
One of the first vertically opening rooftop tents designed to remain within the vehicle’s
dimensions.
Already in 1958, staying within the vehicle profile meant traveling with greater freedom.
Today, as then, the vehicle profile makes the difference.
Images and texts taken from the historic flyer that read:
Crowded hotels?
No rooms available?
Want to save money?
Here is the Stogl Auto-Camping – as shown in the photograph – mounted like a
luggage rack on the roof of any car.
Operation: by inserting a simple crank into the special opening, in 20 seconds (world
record), turning it in the indicated direction opens a room for one or two people.
1959 AIR-CAMPING
Just a few months later, AIR-CAMPING® was also born in Italy: the side-opening rooftop tent that helped spread a new outdoor lifestyle.
Air-Camping installed on a Fiat 500 Giardinetta.
1960 THE SKY IN A TENT
Maggiolina is born with the famous roof opening toward the sky.
1967 NINO CIRANI
LAND ROVER 109 - AZIZA 3
With NINO CIRANI, Italian tents definitively entered the imagination of
great international expeditions. It was not just a travel choice.
Remaining within the vehicle profile meant moving with greater freedom.
1970
The success of two icons.
Maggiolina and Air-Camping. Two interpretations of travel.
One solution within the vehicle profile.
One solution outside the vehicle profile.
A room on the roof.
A tent on the roof.
1980 COLUMBUS DAYS
Columbus Days is the original name.
A new way of experiencing travel. Designed for campers, expedition trucks, and tall vehicles.
Telling the story of the raids, expeditions, and great journeys experienced by Autohome®
would mean crossing decades of roads, deserts, mountains, and
continents.
But this is not only the story of a rooftop tent.
It is the story of an authentic way of traveling.
Since 1958.
A true story that continues to travel.
2017 MINI | AUTOHOME®
2020 DEFENDER | AUTOHOME®
THE ORIGINAL SINCE 1958
Today, many talk about adventure.
Autohome® has been living it for over sixty years.
A story built through real journeys: African raids, expeditions, iconic collaborations,
deserts, mountains, and thousands of miles traveled in every condition.
When the rooftop tent market did not even exist yet, Autohome® was already designing
products destined to become a global benchmark.
Not to follow a trend.
Not to buy reviews.
But to tell real stories.
To create a new way of traveling.
Today, many imitate that style.
Shapes change.
Details multiply.
Copies increase.
But the original remains unmistakable.
Because certain stories are not born to follow the market.
It is the market that follows them.
AUTOHOME®
The Original Since 1958
