What’s a Shooting-Brake?
The BMW M Coupe is commonly referred to as a shooting-brake style car. Shooting-brake refers to a 2-door car with a squared-off backend. The term seems to have originated in Great Britain referring to custom-built 2-door estate cars wealthy owners modified for additional space for hunting or sporting equipment.
There is much debate over what is and is not a shooting-brake throughout history. Some of the most common shooting brakes are:
- Aston Martin DB5 Shooting Brake (1963-1965)
- Aston Martin Virage Shooting Brake (1992-1993)
- Jensen Gt (1975-1976)
- MGB GT (1966-1974)
Some modern manufactures such as Audi and Bentley have released recent concept cars labeled shooting-brakes, but most would just call them hatchbacks or wagons. These include:
- Bentley Continental Flying Star (2010)
- Audi Shooting Brake Concept (2005)
- Aston Martin Bertone Jet 2 (2004)
- Chevrolet Nomad Concept (2004)
Some of the more “unique” shooting-brakes built over the years are:
- Ferrari 250 GT “Breadvan” (1962)
- Chevrolet Corvette Shooting Brake (1973)
- Ferrari 365 GTB4 Daytona (1975)
- Porsche 944 Turbo Shooting Brake (1994)
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- Aston Martin DB5 Shooting Brake (1963-1965)
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- Aston Martin Virage Shooting Brake (1992-1993)
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- Jensen GT
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- MGB GT (1966-1974)
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- Bentley Continental Flying Star (2010)
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- Audi Shooting Brake Concept (2005)
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- Aston Martin Bertone Jet 2 (2004)
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- Chevrolet Nomad Concept (2004)
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- Ferrari 250 GT Breadvan (1962)
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- Chevrolet Corvette Shooting Brake (1973)
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- Ferrari 365 GTB4 Shooting Brake (1975)
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- Porsche 944 Shooting Brake (1994)
A great resource for additional shooting-brake information, photos and history is www.shooting-brake.com.