Shooting brake
Shooting-brake(alternately spelledshooting break[2]: 20, 146 ) is acar body stylewhich originated in the 1890s from horse-drawncarriageorigins. The first automotive shooting brakes were manufactured in the early 1900s in the United Kingdom. The vehicle style became popular in England during the 1920s and 1930s, and was produced by vehicle manufacturers or as conversions by coachbuilders. The term was used in Britain interchangeably with "estate car"from the 1930s but has not been in general use for many years and has been more or less superseded by the latter term.[3][4][5][6][7]
Since the 1960s, the term has evolved, describing cars combining elements of bothstation wagonandcoupébody styles, with or without reference to the historical usage for shooting parties.[8]During the 1960s and early 1970s, several high-end European manufacturers produced two-door shooting brake versions of their sports cars. Following a hiatus from the mid 1970s until the early 2010s, the shooting-brake body style entered a resurgence.
Horse-drawn origins
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/Espeyran%2Cgrande_wagonnette4.jpg/220px-Espeyran%2Cgrande_wagonnette4.jpg)
A horse-drawn shooting brake was a variation of thebreak(also spelledbrake). Originally built as a simple but heavy frame for breaking in young horses todrive,over time it became a gentleman-driven vehicle and was popular for such aristocratic sports asshooting parties.Taking the design from the rear-loading horse-drawn sporting vehicle, the station wagon was born, retaining the term "shooting brake".[9][6][2]
Definition
[edit]There is no universally agreed definition of a shooting brake as an autobody style; however the common themes are thecoupéandstation wagon,and the historical usage of the vehicle for hunting trips.[10][11][12]Descriptions of the body style and usage of the term include:
- "A sleek wagon with two doors and sports-car panache, its image entangled with European aristocracy, fox hunts, and baying hounds".[8]
- "A cross between an estate and a coupé".[13]
- "Essentially a two-door station wagon".[14]
- An interchangeable term for estate car (station wagon).[5][4][6][15][3]In France, a station wagon is marketed as abreak,once having been called abreak de chasse,which translates as "hunting break".[16]
- A body style with "a very interesting profile. It makes use of the road space it covers a little better than a normal coupé, and also helps the rear person with headroom.... The occasional use of the rear seat means you can do one of these cars, even if such a wagon lacks the everyday practicality of four doors."[8]
- A vehicle conceived "to take gentlemen on the hunt with their firearms and dogs.... Although [its] glory days came before World War II, and it has faded from the scene in recent decades, the body style is showing signs of a renaissance [as of 2006].... The most famous shooting brakes had custom two-door bodies fitted to the chassis of pedigreed cars."[8]
1900s to 1950s
[edit]In the early 1900s, the ScottishAlbion Motorsbegan producing shooting brake models, described in the weekly magazineThe Commercial Motoras having "seats for eight persons as well as the driver, whilst four guns and a large supply of cartridges, provisions baskets and a good 'bag' can be carried."[17]The 1912HudsonModel 33 was described in England as a shooting brake, on the basis that "it was also used to carry thebeatersto and from the location of the shoot, and for bringing back the game shot ".[18]
Early[when?]motorized safari vehicles were described as shooting brakes with no windows or doors. One such description read: "Instead roll-down canvas curtains were buttoned to the roof in the case of bad weather. These cars were heavy and comfortable in good weather and allowed quick and silent exit as no shooting was permitted from the vehicles."[19]During the 1920s and 1930s, shooting brake vehicles were popular in England and were produced as shooting brakes from the factory or converted by coachbuilders. The term "estate car" began to be used instead of shooting brake, as the use of the vehicle expanded from just shooting parties to other domestic uses including ferrying guests and their luggage to and from railway stations.[7]
1960s to 1990s
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During the 1960s and early 1970s, several high-end European manufacturers produced two-door shooting brake versions of their sports cars, including the 1960Sunbeam AlpineShooting Brake and 1965Aston Martin DB5Shooting Brake.[8][20][21]The 1966 Sunbeam Alpine was a limited-production three-door variant of its two-door open sports car with leather interior and walnut trim, selling at a price double its open counterpart and marketed as a shooting brake.[22][23][24]TheAston Martin DB5,DB6,andDBSshooting brakes were custom manufactured by coachbuilderHarold Radfordfrom 1965 until 1967.[25]
A prototype DB5 shooting-brake was custom produced by the factory forDavid Brown,an avid hunter and dog owner, and a further 11-12 coupés were custom modified for Aston Martin by independentcoachbuilder,Harold Radford.[26][27]In August 2019 a DB5 sold for a record $1.765m (£1.456m),[28]making it the most valuable Shooting Brake bodied-car of any marque sold at auction. In 1992, Aston Martin manufactured in-house a limited production shooting brake variant of itsVirage/Vantage,including a four-door shooting brake.[29]
Other cars combining elements of a wagon and coupé have been described but were never formally marketed as shooting brakes, including theReliant Scimitar GTE(1968–1975),[30][31][32]theVolvo P1800 ES(1972–1973),[33][34][35]andthe later 480(1986–1995) – marketed as a coupé, and with a sporty, low nose featuring pop-up headlights, but with a distinctly estate-like rear body.[36]The 1998BMW Z3 Coupé(plus associated M Coupé model) is also typically referred to as a shooting brake.[37][38][39][40]
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Aston Martin DB5Shooting Brake (1965–1971)
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Reliant ScimitarGTE (1968–1975)
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Volvo 480(1986–1995)
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BMW Z3Coupé (1998-2002)
2000s to present
[edit]Mostly dormant since the mid-1970s, the shooting brake term was used in 2004 to describe theChevrolet Nomadconcept car.[8]The following year, theAudi Shooting Brakeconcept car debuted at the Tokyo Motor Show. Several other cars have been described by journalists as shooting brakes, including 2005Dodge MagnumStation Wagon,[41][42][43]2006Renault Alticaconcept car,[44]2008Mini Clubman,[45]2011Fisker Surfconcept car,[46]and the 2011Ferrari FF.[47][48]The first production model of the 21st century marketed as a shooting brake was the 2012Mercedes Benz CLS-Class Shooting Brake (X218),[49][50]which was previewed as the Shooting Brake concept car atAuto China.[51][52]This model has four passenger doors, which is at odds with some definitions of a shooting brake as having two doors. In 2015, Mercedes-Benz added the smallerCLA-Classfour-door shooting brake to the model range.[53][54][55][56]
The 2018Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo,[57]along with theVolkswagen Arteondespite the Arteon having five doors,[58]are both described by their manufacturer as shooting brakes. The trend is to associate the shooting brake body style with "performance" and also making the cars "more practical" than a coupé.[59]The marketing descriptions have been further blurred between variations of the terms with names such as sports tourer, sportback, or "shooting break" as a way to differentiate from SUVs and reposition ordinary body styles with "sleeker lines" in the minds of consumers to "ooze sex appeal".[60]BMW unveiled theConcept Touring Coupébased on the Z4 at theConcorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Estein 2023.[61]
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2005 Audi Shooting Brake Concept
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Mercedes-Benz CLS 63AMG (2012), a five-door station wagon that the manufacturer dubbed shooting brake
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^Rong, Blake Z. (24 April 2016)."The Lynx Eventer Was A Rare, Beautiful Shooting Brake That Made Perfect Sense".Road & Track.Retrieved26 October2020.
- ^abSmith, D.J.M. (1988).A Dictionary of Horse Drawn Vehicles.J. A. Allen & Co. Ltd.ISBN0851314686.OL11597864M.
- ^abAutomobile quarterly,vol. 22, Princeton Institute for Historic Research, 1984, p. 1931,
If milord had it in mind to do a bit of hunting, he and his guns would then be transported to the shooting site in a "brake" (the English term originally applied to horse-drawn wagons). Being somewhat logical, the British determined that if a brake was used for shooting purposes it might well be named "shooting brake." However, the term fell into common parlance and eventually became a generic label...
- ^ab"Woody Gallery – British Woodies".
- ^abHartford, Bill (February 1969)."Sizing up the 1969 Station Wagons".Popular Mechanics.Vol. 131, no. 2. p. 104.Retrieved5 December2023– via Google Books.
- ^abcChambers 21st Century Dictionary.India: Allied Chambers. 1996. p.1295.
shooting-brake.
- ^abPeck, Colin (May 2008).British Woodies: From the 1920s to the 1950s.Veloce Publishing. p. 5.ISBN9781845841690.
- ^abcdefDiem, William (26 November 2006)."The Shooting Brake Makes a Comeback".The New York Times.
- ^Terry, Christopher William (1914).Motor Body-building in all its Branches.London: E. & F.N. Spon. p. 6.
16. Wagonettes. — This type of body should have longitudinal seats placed vis-a-vis in the main portion of the body and usually with a hind entrance, although some varieties have side doors as well. A shooting brake is a wagonette provided with game and gun racks, and accommodation for ammunition. A luggage brake, or estate wagon, is often a wagonette with the long seats made to fold flat against the side of the body and the hind entrance provided with double doors.
- ^"World's best ever shooting brakes".msn.com.Retrieved8 November2018.
- ^"Wicked Wagons: 15 Best Shooting Brakes of All Time".hiconsumption.com.Retrieved8 November2018.
- ^"12 of Our Favorite Shooting Brakes Ever Produced".roadandtrack.com.Retrieved8 November2018.
- ^Pattni, Vijay (21 January 2011)."Four-wheel-drive Ferrari shooting-brake revealed".Top Gear.Retrieved9 October2020.
- ^Ulrich, Lawrence (13 January 2014)."It's an Audi Shooting Brake and a Plug-In".The New York Times.
- ^Allen, Mike (August 1999)."Europe Spy Report: The 2001 Jaguar S-Type Estate".Popular Mechanics.p. 50.Retrieved5 December2023– via Google Books.
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- ^"What a Shooting Brake Is and Why Automotive Journalists Love Them".complex.com.Retrieved28 October2018.
- ^"A Short History of the Shooting Brake".acontinuouslean.com.Retrieved28 October2018.
- ^Spencer, Ian."The 1960 Sunbeam Alpine Shooting Brake Estate Wagon".SunbeamAlpine.org.
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- ^"Lost & Found- In search of the shooting brake estate wagon".hemmings.com.Retrieved4 November2018.
- ^Cottingham, Tim (9 July 2008)."Aston Martin DB5 Shooting Brake by Harold Radford (1965–1967)".Aston Martins.com.
- ^Hingston, Peter (2008).The Enthusiasts' Guide to Buying a Classic British Sports Car.Hingston Publishing Company.ISBN978-0-906555-25-5.Retrieved5 December2023– via Google Books.
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- ^Bobdcuk."Aston Martin DB5 Radford Shooting Brake Estate August 1972".Retrieved5 December2023– via Flickr.
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- ^"The Reliant Scimitar GTE – A Sports Shooting-Brake".motorsportmagazine.com.Retrieved4 November2018.
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- ^Braithwaite-Smith, Gavin (28 September 2020)."Volvo 480: a sporty Swede that wasn't sensible or square".Retro Motor.Archived fromthe originalon 30 October 2020.
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- ^Lieberman, Jonny (26 March 2010)."The Jalopnik Fantasy Garage: First-Generation BMW M Coupe".Jalopnik.Retrieved5 December2023.
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- ^"Renault Altica".autoexpress.co.uk.Retrieved6 November2018.
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- ^Martine, Nate (13 September 2011)."2012 Fisker Surf Say Hello to the Future's Coolest Niche EV Segment".Motor Trend.Retrieved5 December2023.
- ^Shultz, Jonathon (21 January 2011)."Ferrari FF, an All-Wheel-Drive Shooting Brake".wheels.blogs.nytimes.com.Retrieved5 December2023.
- ^"2004 Chevrolet Nomad Concept".upercars.net.30 March 2016.Retrieved5 December2023.
- ^Kew, Ollie (29 June 2012)."Mercedes CLS Shooting Brake (2012) first pictures".Car Magazine.Retrieved6 July2012.
- ^"2013 Mercedes CLS 63 AMG Shooting Brake Review".Top Speed.Retrieved31 May2018.
- ^"2013 Mercedes-Benz CLS-class Shooting Brake".Car and Driver.June 2012.Retrieved21 August2014.
- ^"China auto show: Mercedes-Benz Shooting Break concept previews new CLS".Autoweek.Retrieved31 May2018.
- ^"Mercedes CLA Shooting Brake arrives in Geneva".autoexpress.co.uk.Retrieved6 November2018.
- ^"Mercedes-Benz CLA Shooting Brake: Vehicle concept".mercedes-benz.co.uk.Retrieved21 December2018.
- ^"Mercedes CLA Shooting Brake review".Telegraph Cars.Archivedfrom the original on 22 December 2021.Retrieved21 December2018– via youtube.com.
- ^"Mercedes CLA Shooting Brake (2015) review".carmagazine.co.uk.3 June 2015.Retrieved5 May2022.
- ^"Porsche shooting brake: past and present".porsche.com(Press release).Retrieved8 November2018.
- ^"Arteon Shooting Brake".volkswagen-newsroom.com(Press release).Retrieved15 March2022.
- ^Angelov, Dim (18 May 2021)."Cool Shooting Brakes You Probably Didn't Know About".Top Speed.Retrieved5 May2022.
- ^"What is a shooting brake and why are they a good idea?".autotrader.co.uk.23 March 2022.Retrieved5 May2022.
- ^Kacher, Georg (19 May 2023)."BMW's Z4 Concept Touring Coupe Could Herald the Return of the Clown Shoe".Car and Driver.Retrieved5 December2023.
External links
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- "The Shooting Brakes Archive".coachbuild.com.Retrieved5 December2023.