I had to buy a few landscape ties at the local Home Depot, which is about 5 miles away, local streets. I just folded down the rear seats, slid in the ties, and closed the left rear door, keeping the right rear door open. Other than a warning chime indicating the rear door was open, no issues in driving with the rear door fully open. It never swung in or out or moved at all, as far as I could tell. I wouldn't recommend this for any long hauls, but for a short trip it sure made it easy to get the lumber home! I did keep the driver's window and sunroof fully open, as I didn't want to risk any exhaust backing in to the pasenger compartment. I also had a heavy moving blanket under the ties, and a 50 lb bag of sand on top to keep them in place.

 

Wow! I'm still keeping my Silverado though.

 

I think you could put the Clubman in the Silverado!

 

I think I know this answer, but...

How about the width leaving both doors open?

Can you get a 4'-0" wide plywood sheet in?

 

Or.....you can put a MINI inside the Clubman:

 

No way a 4' wide anything will fit in the Clubman.

 

ClubmanS - Is that your spare?

 

yes!.

 

I think instead of dealing with overstuffing the Clubman, I would have rented one of Depot's trucks for $20 instead.

Thats awesome you were able to get that stuff to fit though.

 

Now THAT is funny!!

 

Raceface - yes, if I was hauling more than a few I would have. As I mentioned, it was a short, low-speed trip on local roads, otherwise the HD rental would have made more sense. Still, for the occasional oversize item, it's a workable option.

 

You were doing the heritage of the clubman proud. I can't tell you how many times I saw plumbers/sparkies/joiners back in the UK doing the same thing w/pipes/wood and a red rag tied on to their loads in their army green (the default colour for mini vans) vans :D .

I guess the only problem w/your scenario is the visibility of the rear lights w/the door open - was it fairly visible from the rear or obscured by the door?

 

The lights are visible, and the door edge has a reflector. If I try it again a red flag of some sort would probably be a good idea. An 8' length only juts out a little past the end of the open door.