A shooting brake, in the modern sense, is a sporting estate with flair. Over the past few years most have been bespoke coachbuilt cars either put together by dealers as specials to sell at a premium or one-offs ordered by wealthy customers who want the convenience of a hatchback but without having to resort to a run of the mill car.
The Volvo 1800ES was a station wagon version of the P1800 and available as a production car from the factory. Not surprisingly, given it's flowing lines, the 1800ES was designed by an Italian - Sergio Coggiola.
The BMW Z3M Coupe was never sold as a shooting brake but it's a classic example of the breed, albeit a little squat. Not exactly pretty but compared to some modern BMWs it's not a bad effort.
The Ferrari FF (Four wheel drive, Four seats) is one of the most wonderful examples of a shooting brake.
The Porsche Panamera Sport Touring concept takes the woeful Panamera and improves it beyond recognition by the simple addition of a hatchback boot. The lines flow instead of jar.
The Aston Martin DB5 Shooting Brake was produced in small numbers by a coachbuilder called Harold Radford. We're not entirely sure it works - it's slightly hearse-like.
This Rolls Royce Silver Seraph Shooting Brake is of unknown provenance, however examples like this can be occasionally be seen around the streets of London and are normally one-off coachbuilt examples.
This Jaguar XJS Shooting Brake was one of 67 created by British engineering company Lynx. It is arguably better looking than the coupe. Apparently Jaguar were encouraged to create a factory version but, sadly, declined.
Little is known of this 1965 Ford Mustang Shooting Brake but, like the XJS, it's a fabulous looking car that really should have made it into production.
The Mercedes-Benz CLS Shooting Brake. The car that revived the Shooting Brake term after decades in the doldrums. We love it, except for the lines that meet at the c-pillar which try to create a false coupe effect.
Jaguar's XF Sports Brake. A shooting brake in all but name.
