Skip the SUV — These Modern Shooting Brakes Are So Much Cooler

Yahoo

29-05-2025

Although uncommon, the shooting brake car style has a noticeable and unique presence all to its own. In the traditional sense, a shooting brake is a three-door station wagon with sporty styling, blurring the lines between sports car and utility with a lower, streamlined stance, focus on performance, and a mix of luxury features.
Modern-day variations blend these boundaries further by throwing four-door variations into the mix, as you'll see with some of the options on this list. However, the general aura of the shooting brake remains, and we are all too excited to continue to see them on the market, even in limited quantities at higher prices.
This list of some of the best-looking modern shooting brakes on the market might be enough to prove that one car can do it all, but at what cost?
Shooting brakes are a rare breed, so to curate this list, we focused on modern models that truly embody the spirit of the format — low-slung, stylish, and sporty with a practical twist. While some stretch the definition with four doors or electric drivetrains, all of them maintain that unmistakable shooting brake attitude: bold proportions, upscale details, and just enough cargo space to feel rebellious.
We prioritized cars that:
Features distinctive, coupe-like design with an extended roofline
Blend performance and utility in a single silhouette
Have generated buzz from enthusiasts, collectors, or design critics
Were limited in production or uniquely styled (because ordinary wagons need not apply)
Pricing and production numbers come from reputable sources, including RM Sotheby's, Evo Magazine, Top Gear, MotorTrend, and official manufacturer data. Enthusiast forums like BimmerLife and Reddit's r/SportWagon also helped us understand which models have earned cult status — and which ones just look the part.
If you are unfamiliar with the Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato, you are not alone. Zagato, the Italian coachbuilder, created only 99 of these exclusive and stunning vehicles in collaboration with Aston Martin. They developed a version of the Vanquish, a 5.9-liter naturally aspirated V12-toting British supercar, into a sleek, two-door grand tourer with insane proportions, as reported by British automobile magazine Evo.
The catch? These rare, low-production number cars are hard to find and come with a hefty price tag ranging between $400,000, according to collector car auction houses like Barrett-Jackson and RM Sotheby's.
Porsche enthusiasts and purists may be conflicted over the introduction of an all-electric sedan into the brand's lineup, according to popular Porsche forums like Rennlist, but anyone who has gotten behind the wheel of the Porsche Taycan could agree that this car is something special. With the addition of the Taycan 4 Cross Turismo, this sporty sedan transforms into a gorgeous shooting brake.
Although not as rare as the Vanquish Zagato, the Cross Turismo comes in at a significantly more reasonable starting price of $111,100 and moves upwards of $149,800 for the more performance-oriented Taycan GTS Sport Turismo, according to the Porsche online configurator.
If you like classic styling combined with luxury, the Mercedes-AMG CLS Shooting Brake ditches the idea of eccentric body lines and supercar-like styling for a timeless appearance. The AMG-styled radiator grille, combined with the widened rear end and strong roofline, gives the car an aggressive appearance, while the sleek lines of the body and doors stay true to the "quiet luxury" styling Mercedes is known for.
Unfortunately for us here in the US, the market for shooting brakes is significantly smaller than that of other countries, and the Mercedes-AMG CLS Shooting Brake hasn't been made available here. For our European readers, however, you can find these starting at €60,000 and up, depending on the insane tech options and stylings in the brand's configurator.
The US vehicle market really struggles with the European concept of a shooting brake, but of all of the options available on the market, the Ferrari GTC4Lusso is perhaps the most true to the name 'shooting brake.'
In recent years, we've seen Ferrari branch out into more practical vehicles such as the Purosangue, a proper SUV (even if Ferrari doesn't want to admit it's an SUV), and expand into the market of practical, daily-driver-ready sports cars. The GTC4Lusso shooting brake is no exception, boasting a proper Ferrari 12-cylinder engine with an extended roofline and surprisingly usable rear seats. While the GTC4Lusso is no longer available new, they can be found on the used market for a wide range of prices in the 6-figure range, depending on mileage and condition.
Although it looks slightly like a wagon, as confirmed by its long chain of polarized comments on the r/SportWagon comment thread, the Genesis G70 takes the overall appearance of the G70 four-door executive luxury sedan we got here in the US market and elongated the body lines into a proper shooting brake that unfortunately did not make it to the US market.
Estimated pricing for the Genesis G70 Shooting Brake converts to around $42,300, according to MotorTrend, making it one of the more attainable shooting brakes on this list — as long as you're in a country where it is available.
Another example of a striking modern shooting brake we didn't get in the US, the Peugeot 508 SW sits halfway between a station wagon and a shooting brake — based on the Peugeot 508, a family-oriented sedan, with adjusted body lines of a station wagon as denoted by the 'SW' in the name.
It's not all that dissimilar from the Genesis G70 Shooting Brake, as shown by the direct comparison of the two by UK's weekly car magazine Auto Express. Although you can no longer order the 508 SW from Peugeot, prices started at £34,910 according to Top Gear.
Affectionately nicknamed the "clown shoe" by fans and forums like BMW-specific publication BimmerLife, the BMW Z3 coupe was made in surprisingly low production numbers but was at least available in the US. The specialty website reports that only 2,071 coupes were produced, making it just as uncommon, if not more so, than some of the other options on this list, but at a far more affordable price point.
Prices vary drastically for the Z3 coupe, depending on specs, mileage, and condition, but according to online vehicle sales website Cars.com, the average sales price is around $11,989 — quite a big dip from the newer, more modern options on this list for those looking to score a bargain on a rare, US-available shooting brake.
The Ferrari GTC4Lusso may be one of the newer shooting brake vehicles in the Italian supercar manufacturer's lineup, but we can't forget about the Ferrari FF. It's a three-door, four-seater with traditional shooting brake proportions, making it a great addition to this list.
According to Ferrari, the FF features a 12-cylinder engine supported by not one but two transmissions for a revolutionary four-wheel-drive system. Collector car insurance company Hagerty reports that while the original MSRP for the Ferrari FF started at $302,450 for the base model, today, the average price for a car in good condition is $122,000. With only 2291 produced, that money gets you something that stands out.
The Rolls-Royce Wraith Silver Spectre is more of an honorable mention as a one-of-one adaptation, but it definitely deserves some attention. Unlike some of the flashier supercar-based shooting brakes on this list, the Wraith Silver Spectre shows off a simpler design with big 'old money' vibes.
According to RM Sotheby's, the collector car auction that saw this car cross the block for $280,265, the designer, Niels van Roij, said that the Rolls-Royce Wraith Silver Spectre shooting brake was designed to "subtly link back to the heyday of shooting brakes in the 1930s."
While mainstream buyers have turned their backs on wagons, the shooting brake endures, quietly and confidently, in design studios and collector wishlists around the world. These cars aren't for everyone, and that's kind of the point. They're for those who want practicality without giving up on personality, and who believe hauling groceries shouldn't mean giving up on great design.
Whether it's a Ferrari with room for luggage, a Porsche built for grand touring, or a BMW that looks like it escaped from a design experiment, these shooting brakes prove that you really can have it all, if you're willing to search a little harder.