By Robert Emslie
Just like an open bar at a distant cousin’s wedding, or that little tag on the underside of your mattress admonishing its removal to be a crime, the lure of the sport wagon is nearly impossible. The sportiest of all sport wagons is of course, the shooting brake. Or perhaps, shooting break, should that be the manner in which you roll. Just the thought of being able to drive across your family estate with great speed and authority, stop and lift a jauntily angled hatch, remove your family heirloom over-under, and blow away a few grouse, is awesome.
I mean really, how cool is that?
Cool enough that there have been plenty of factory shooting brakes – everything from MGB GTs to Toyota Corolla Liftbacks – to fill that niche. But not enough to do so fully. In addition to the factory jobs from the major – and a few minor – players, there have also been a bunch of one-offs, uber-limited production, and coachbuilt two-door wagons to help keep the elite well kitted. Heck, the last Lotus to carry the Elite name was itself a sudo shooting brake!
Today I want to hear from you which of those you think is the wildest brake to ever break cover. Whether Lynx Eventer, Panther 365 GTB/4 gull-glass, or Porsche 944 with room for more, what do you think is the wildest one-off shooting brake ever conceived?
Image source: MyCarQuest
Jeff Glucker
<img src="http://cdn.carthrottle.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/gt86-sportbrake-front.jpg" width=500>
Not that wild, but I mostly just hope it doesn't stay one-off for long.
I'd hoon that.
Not very wild, but a Pininfarina classic: Peugeot 504 Riviera.
<img src="http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/rr229/ruit48/Casey-Cars/peugeot-504-break-03.jpg" width="650/"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ie6E0lr453E/T4gcdyQq9_I/AAAAAAAAZm0/7yrBcHXuWhk/s1600/504r2.jpg" width="650/">
The Rinspeed Bedouin was quite a nutter.
<img src="http://www.weblogsinc.com/common/images/0669091566611766.JPG" />
<img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6113/6277163538_5ae4f3faff.jpg" width="300">
"Hey, guys, sorry I'm late. When did you get the new wheels?"
<img src="http://www.anomalousmaterial.com/movies/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/The-Seventh-Seal-2-610×343.jpg">
we've been waiting a long time.
Started looking for the 356 Shooting Brake but found this:
<img src="http://img7.autonavigator.ru/carsfoto/1024/5807/71110/Ferrari_365%20GTB4%20Shooting%20Brake.jpg" width="450">
Then this was on the same page:
<img src="http://daddytypes.com/archive/IM_pinin_transam_typek.jpg" width="450">
He showed up:
<img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_leoGYAeiH44/S64vdqMaz8I/AAAAAAAAJNU/3DepTcYNFu0/s640/volkswagencorradoG60magnumMAGSGS-2.jpg" width="450">
I then realized I am at work and need to get stuff done.
<img src="http://www.special-classics.com/Archive/prototyp/71eldwg2.jpg" width="450">
Cadillac CTS-V wagon wins!
*Eldorado wagon.
That Firebird wasn't the only F-body wagon proposed:
<img src="http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/chevrolet-camaro-and-pontiac-firebird-concept-cars-3.jpg.jpg" />
There's a history of Firebird Kammbacks:
<img src="http://strumors.automobilemag.com/files/2010/02/28001977-623×389.jpg" width=600>
<img src="http://cache.jalopnik.com/assets/resources/2007/03/HurstHauler.jpg" width=600>
I'd DD an Eldo wagon of that vintage.
500 CID of FWD FURY!
Re: the first picture: I never knew it was Ferrari that built the Pacer… not that there's anything wrong with that!
Wild Horses.
<img src="http://www.mustangevolution.com/forum/attachments/12379d1142526375-20_3.jpg">
<img src="http://mycarquest.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Ferrari_330_GT_Shooting_Brake_01.jpg" width=550>
That Mustang is amazing.
Wouldn't it be a quarter horse, then?
Not exactly a one of but still great:
<img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NP0zb8822HQ/TkhuUAuWIYI/AAAAAAAAACA/N6UJn28bX7o/s1600/shooting-brake-jaguar-xjs-lynx-1.jpg" width="600">
The Challenger Sports Wagon, of course!
<img src="http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/895745/original/1971_dodge_challenger_station_wagon.jpg" width="512">
Long Gremlin is long.
No ones posted The Beast yet? What could be better than a shooting brake with a 27 liter Rolls Royce Merlin V12.
<img src="http://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/19/merlin4i.jpg">
Exactly my thoughts! That sound…
My answer comes from the annals of Mystery Cardom: the Jensen G-type. (link: http://hooniverse.info/2012/05/18/mystery-car-80)
Because what makes a shooting brake awesomer? Gullwing doors, of course.
<img src="http://www.british-steel.org/models/g-type2.jpg">
Or perhaps a rotary Mazda RX500
http://hooniverse.info/2013/03/23/weekend-edition-…
I'm sorry. all you colonials have this wrong
I give you a true shooting brake
<img src="http://static.zigwheels.com/media/content/2011/May/phantomcartier_1_560x420.jpg" width="600">
Built for some despotic maharaja or maharani in the sub continent to bag a few tigers or pesants
Toodle pip!
How about a DB5:
<img src="http://www.seriouswheels.com/pics-abc/Aston-Martin-DB5-Superleggera-Shooting-Brake-fs-lr.jpg"width=500>
Does this count?
<img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/06/ferrari-breadvan-oven-lead.jpg"width=500>
That car counts for everything.
Greatest racecar of all time? Breadvan.
Bitchinest shooting brake ever? Breadvan.
Best van? Yep.
It event tops the list of best motorcycles in history, because no motorcycle in history is as awesome as this car is.
But importantly – have you seen the blond that drives it? What a package.
<img src="http://www.murileemartin.com/UG/LTW11/LTW11-UG-0714.jpg" width="500">
Here it is in action.
<img src="http://blog.caranddriver.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/21-BS-Inspection-at-Campaign-To-Prevent-Gingervitis-24-Hours-of-LeMons-626×426.jpg">
How about this Rolls with the emphasis on shooting:
<img src="http://www.cfgphoto.com/data/media/278/APA0332.jpg"width=500>
sudo is a linux command…. pseudo would fit better there.
Also I think you meant the lure is irresistible, not impossible? The opening line needs help regardless.
True, true, possibly true, and not necessarily, but such corrections are better received if presented in a witty or humorous way, else not at all.
Well, unless the correction pertains to an automotive fact, in which case feel free to ride roughshod over the author in pursuit of the collective good. That's fair game.
sudo apt-get remove grammernazi
Thank you, Google Image Search, for introducing me to the Calloway Aerowagon conversion for the C7 Vette.
'Tis a 1-off for the moment, so it counts.
Damn! Lookatthisthing!
Methinks I am in love.
<img src="http://www.diseno-art.com/news_content/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Callaway-Corvette-Shooting-Brake-1.jpg" width="500/">
This is the first one that came to my mind.
this is beautiful why isn't it an actual thing
If I'm reading it right, it'll be available as a body kit for around $15k for the upcoming 2014 Vette.
Oh, to be rich.
It wouldn't be the first Corvette shooting brake:
<img src="http://www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Chevrolet-Motorama-Corvette-Nomad-Sport-Wagon-f3q-BW.jpg" width="500" />
That's oddly pretty.
Surprised no one's yet posted the Sbarro TAG Function Car.
<img src="http://www.carstyling.ru/resources/studio/large/1978_Sbarro_Cadillac_TAG_Function_Car_02.jpg" width=400>
Like all Sbarro concepts, the thing makes no sense at all. It's silly, absurd. So awful that it's sorta growing on me.
Check out the back:
<img src="http://www.carstyling.ru/resources/studio/large/1978_Sbarro_Cadillac_TAG_Function_Car_05.jpg" width=400>
Does it sell pizza by the slice?
Cooks the by the slice, too. Those things that look like desks?
Mega high-end pizza ovens. Slices cook in each drawer.
I need one of those in my cube. Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
I LOVE it!
THIS is the vehicle I need when I establish my Evil Genius World Headquarters in a hollowed-out mountain. It'll be used for grocery runs, small-town parades, Skype calls to the world leaders promising instant annihilation unless they do as I please, cruising the countryside, rolling cocktail parties, etc.
All it needs is a little armoring up, and some better seats and upholstery in the back lounge area.
Ooh. You should paint it a deep glossy black, then upholster the inside in black velvet and get a fluffy white cat.
When one owns a shooting brake, one is not…..(drops monocle)…..wild. It simply isn't done.__<img src="http://www.hardtuned.com/feature/htshorts/img/wagon/lagonda-rapide-shooting-brake.jpg">
Looks like the bastard child of an Aston Martin and an Edsel wagon. I want one.
You're not far off. It's a Lagonda Rapide.
http://www.lagonda-rapide.com/
I'll take one of these Astons.
<img src="http://www.pestalozzi.net/sb/am_virage/virage_400.jpg">
Not my favourite but for some reason it was the first to come to mind, mostly because I used to see one around with a corvette summer style paint job. Not a one off either, did they make a kit for these or are there just multiple people who liked the idea?
<img src="http://www.chevyhardcore.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/28/files/2010/11/500x_picture_1_05.jpg" width="600">
For some reason that reminded me of this. Does it count as a shooting brake if it has no doors at all?
<img src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5084/5347612067_00214a03dd_z.jpg" width="512">
EDIT: I suppose without side glass, it's technically a sedan delivery. Which means the above Corvette and the Ferrari Breadvan would also not count.
I suspect both your car and the Corvette do, in fact, have side 'glass.
⚡ RIMSHOT! ⚡
Greenwood offered a variation for the chrome bumper cars, and a restyled one for the later rubber bumper years.
http://www.greenwoodcorvettes.com/StreetSportwago…
Eckler's sold these. I recall asking my dad repeatedly to get a kit for his Vette.
<img src="http://static.cargurus.com/images/site/2011/10/20/06/35/pic-6667303760982837411.jpeg" width="600">
If you take the most beautiful car ever built, and turn it into a hearse, you get the world's most beautiful Shooting Brake.
<img src="http://www.imcdb.org/i006262.jpg" width="600">
The 928-based Porsche H50, built for and presented to Ferry Porsche.
<img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2012/08/04-1987-porsche-928-h50-concept.jpg" width="500" />
Looks way better than the Panamera.
<img src="http://28.media.tumblr.com/hSvCVC7kkmmo8y9uQfxnXzYmo1_400.jpg">
We'll have every Corvette covered by the end of the day.
<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7f4yb52gE1ra31o5o2_500.jpg" width="600">
<img src="http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/802/mercedes230slxfrua6.jpg" width="600">
The Crayford Condor for me, please (can't find pic atm)
this is pretty sweet
<img src="http://www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Buick-vista-wagon-2-door.png">
<img src="http://www.carstyling.ru/Static/SIMG/420_0_I_MC_jpg_W/resources/studios/1968_Frua_Volvo_P1800_ES_Rocket_05.jpg"> Frua Raketen