14 of the coolest Shooting Brakes you need to know about
Aston Martin DB5 Shooting Brake (1965)
The DB5 Shooting Brake exists because former Aston Martin boss David Brown was fed up of his dog chewing through his company DB5's seats, and wanted a DB5 with a boot for his beloved pooch to sit. The factory was backed up with demand for the 'regular' car, so Brown turned to a new coachbuilding business – Radford Shooting Brakes – to carry out the conversions. Yes, yes and yes.
Only 12 were built by Radford, who cut away the roof and extended it with steel fabrications, and fitted a single-piece rear hatch. Boot space was increased substantially to 40 cubic feet with the rear seats folded. Fit for a King (Charles Spaniel).
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The all-glass rear hatch earned it the nickname Schneewittchensarg (Snow White's coffin) in Germany, but that didn't stop Volvo using the outline as inspiration for the 480 and C30.
Only 8,077 were built, and while it lacked the table-rattling hotness of the coupe, a few examples can be found knocking around on Britain's roads. You might like
Hey, did you know Princess Anne had one? Probably. But then again, who didn't have one? The Scimitar's production run stretched from 1968 to 1990.
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Is it a Shooting Brake? Possibly, though a teeny tiny one. It remains one of the better-driving things in the history of the automobile, and the divisive styling's matured well. We'll take two.
Yep, it's the GTC4Lusso's forebear, complete with less clunky (though less history-inspired) name.
Basics? 6.3-litre V12, mad, grinning face, Ferrari's first ever four-wheel drive system, and up to 800 litres of luggage space. Aston Martin Virage Shooting Brake (1992)
A mess of older Astons were transformed into shooting brakes by bodyfiller sculptors in the Sixties, but this one's the real deal.
Only four were made by the company's Works Service and it cost £165,000 back in 1992. Equivalent to £365,000 in today's money. And yes you absolutely would. Audi Shooting Brake concept (2005)
Unveiled at the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show, this design study was based on the second-gen TT and had a 3.2-litre VR6 engine hiding behind those LEDs.
It didn't make it to production, but as Audi's range expands to fill every conceivable niche, it's surely only a matter of time...
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It cost £9,100 on top of a new Corvette C7 Coupe, it didn't hold much more stuff, you didn't get more seats or headroom, and there was no performance benefit.
But heck, we still want a poor man's FF quite a lot. Ferrari 365 GTB 4 Shooting Brake (1972)
The thing about Ferraris these days is they're far too common; any old millionaire can have one. Far better, then, to go for something like this – a one-off 1972 Ferrari 365 GTB 4 Shooting brake, one of the most outrageous 'brakes ever built. Starting life as the 805th Daytona off the line, it was fully rebodied by Panther Westwards in Surrey, England and has more than whiff of hearse about it.
But who cares about looking like the world's fastest funeral carriage when you have a 352bhp 4.4-litre V12 to wring out, and enough boot space to move house?
Advertisement - Page continues below Toyota GT86 Shooting Brake (2016)
As if Toyota's wee rear-wheel-drive coupe wasn't fun and funky enough, an Australian design team (hence the backdrop) stretched it out a little, improving the rear space and practicality while also making us swoon a little bit.
'It is a fully functioning, driveable vehicle that has been put through its paces on Toyota test tracks,' explained Tetsuya Tada, GT86 chief engineer. 'The GT86's nicely weighted and direct steering ensures the car retains the coupe's involving driving experience with a slightly more neutral feel in tight corners.'
Oh Tada-san, we don't care how it handles when it looks this cool.
In 2016, Ferrari revealed the GTC4Lusso. It was same shape as the old FF, but lots was new. The styling had a big update while there was a gamut of new tech, including four-wheel steering, plus an additional 30bhp, and a 208mph top speed. Yikes.
There was also the V8 Lusso T, which did without all-wheel drive and had a turbo'd V8 instead of the big V12. We'd gladly take either one today. Lynx Jaguar XJS Eventer (1982)
How do you add more grace, pace and space to a Jaguar? Stick a massive bit on the end, stand back and marvel, job done.
Such was the case with the XJS, which was turned into this shooting brake iteration by Hastings-based coachbuilder Lynx in the 1980s. The process took 14 weeks and each was bespoke built, with just 67 ever made. You can almost smell the cigar smoke through the screen. Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Shooting Brake (2017)
Back in 2017, Aston and famed Italian coachbuilder Zagato treated us to four special editions of the Vanquish: Coupe, Convertible, Speedster, and arguably the best of the lot, Shooting Brake.
Challenging. Striking. Really Very Lovely. All applicable. Just 99 were built, each featuring a full carbon fibre body plus that old-school 6.0-litre V12. Yeah, we like. BMW Z4 Concept Touring Coupe (2023)
Not as much as we like this, mind. BMW came oh so close to a follow-up to the Z3M Coupe with this, the Z4 Concept Touring Coupe, revealed at the 2023 Villa d'Este concours show.
All the ingredients were there: 3.0-litre turbo six, manual gearbox, rear-wheel drive, and a short, shooting brake rear. And a fanbase with their cheque books at the ready. Indeed, design boss Adrian van Hooydonk said all the pieces were in place to build a limited series. Come on BMW, you know what to do…
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