One thing that we love about the “Rig of the Month” is how each machine is unique to its owner. Each of us is different and has our own goals with a build. For Bart Cops, he didn’t want to build an off-road rig to cross canyons. Instead, he went with a rig designed to carve through those canyons. Meet Bart and his 2023 Porsche 911 Carrera T.
Originally from Belgium, Bart moved to the U.S. more than a decade ago and currently calls Nevada home. For a day job, Bart is a classic car inspector. He works with special automotive collectors around the world. To date, the most expensive car he’s ever inspected was valued at more than $30 million.
Bart is also a collector himself. He started with matchbox cars as a child in Belgium. He has since moved on to collecting lifesize models. This latest 911 is the 14th addition to his Porsche collection that stretches back to a 1954 356 “Pre-A” coupe, and even a Porsche tractor.
Outside of the cars, Bart spends all of his free time traveling, camping, and cooking. Bart is so into cooking and camping that he even dedicated his Instagram handle to his culinary creations. You can see those @camperchef. One of his favorite go-to dishes is a fresh pasta carbonara cooked right over the campfire.
The Rig
If you are unfamiliar with the extensive family of 911 models, the Carrera T is a lightweight, driver-focused variant of the base 911 that aims to put the pleasure of driving at the forefront of the experience. Bart ordered his 911 with the 7-speed manual transmission to stay as involved in the drive as possible. He does love a bit of comfort as well, so he upgraded to the 18-way comfort leather seats. He also loves a good view and enjoying the scenery on a drive, so he opted to get the glass sunroof as well. In short, the 911 Carrera T is Bart’s ideal modern Porsche, but it just needed one addition to be his perfect adventure rig, a Roofnest Condor XL.
To hear it from Bart, “Porsches are meant to be driven and enjoyed. Hence why I thought the Roofnest was the missing link. Why not travel and camp on the roof of a 911?”
Bart has plans to spend a lot of time traveling with his significant other, Iris, and he wanted a tent that was big enough to give them both plenty of room, but he needed a tent that was built well enough to handle thousands of miles of service on top of a high-performance sports car.
“I love the design and craftsmanship. and the quality! This car is capable of a top speed of 181 mph and I pushed it once with the Roofnest on top to [REDACTED] miles per hour on a lonely desert road in NV. That was the moment that Iris looked at me and said “this Roofnest is really sturdy schatteke.” And “schatteke” in Flemish means “honey” in English. Thank God I did my research well and ended up buying a Roofnest product or we would have been sleeping in soft leather bucket seats that night.”
And boy has Bart put his Porsche and his Condor to good use. Since picking up the 911 at the end of July, he’s already driven more than 10,000 miles, hit multiple National Parks, and even made it out to Monterey California for Rennsport Reunion 7. When asked about the trip, Bart was praised for his Porsche and Roofnest.
“It’s been a couple thousand miles of fun camping in our Roofnest on top of our Porsche 911 Carrera T,” Bart said. “We had so much fun and slept like roses in the Roofnest from freezing cold weather to the beautiful sunshine in California.”
Despite taking it straight out of the showroom with just 40 miles on the clock, and then amassing thousands on a grand camping adventure, Bart hasn’t had a single issue out of his 911 or his Condor XL.
You can follow Bart’s adventures in Porsches and cooking by following him on Instagram @camperchef.
