Spotted 8 special shooting brakes

We dive into the wonderful world of shooting brakes.

Nowadays you can get just about every possible body style, but one that is still missing is the shooting brake. Okay, there are cars called shooting brakes, but we mean a real shooting brake. So a three-door station wagon.

One was recently spotted in Maastricht, namely the one and only Vandenbrink 612 Shooting Brake. A great opportunity to see which other unique shooting brakes have been spotted. We will not consider the ‘mainstream’ shooting brakes (such as the Z3 Coupé and the Ferrari FF). We’re going to look at the real exotics.

Ferrari 612 Shooting Brake Vandenbrink

Spotter: @wolfssjrd

You may already know the story behind the 612 Shooting Brake. It was originally a project by designer Michiel van den Brink, but it didn’t seem to get off the ground. Ultimately, the car was delivered in 2019, but Van den Brink himself was no longer involved. The plan was to build several copies, but for now this is the only one. Fortunately, at least it is being driven.

Aston Martin V8 Sportsman

Spotter: @gwnfinn

Another one in the category ‘not very beautiful, but very special’: the Aston Martin V8 Sportsman. This is an official creation of Aston Martin, based on the V8 Coupe. Only two examples were built, one of which can be found in London.

Corvette Callaway Aerowagon

Spotter: @wolfssjrd

Usually a major conversion is required to get a shooting brake, but that is not the case with this Corvette. Thanks to Callaway, your Corvette can be converted by replacing just one part: the tailgate. Just like a standard Corvette, this is still a targa, so this is probably the only shooting brake that you can also drive open-top.

Bentley Continental Flying Star

Spotter: @kliniclown

This Bentley is a classic example of coachbuilding: a coupe that has been converted into a shooting brake by an Italian design house. In this case it is Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera. Based on the first generation Continental, they created this beautiful Flying Star, of which 19 were built.

Porsche 944 DP Cargo

Spotter: @Miguel

Nowadays Porsche builds station wagons itself, but this was not yet the case in the 1990s. For that you had to go to DP Motorsport, which transformed 944s into shooting brakes. This 944 Cargo was equipped with the back seat of a Passat and actually had a fairly spacious luggage compartment. And let’s be honest: it just looks cool too.

Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Shooting Brake

Spotter: @astonmartindriver

One of the most recent shooting brakes is the Vanquish Zagato Shooting Brake. Two of these have a Dutch license plate, including this dark blue copy. The owner had to pay no less than €937,133 for it. 99 of the Vanquish Zagato Shooting Brake were built, which is quite a lot compared to the other cars in this article.

Lynx Eventer

Spotter: @autokieker

A conversion to a shooting brake sometimes produces strange creations, but this Jag looks as if it was always intended as a shooting brake. Yet this car did not roll out of the factory like that. This is a conversion by Lynx Engineering. They transformed the Jaguar XJS Coupé into a beautiful shooting brake. That’s how you do it. This Dutch copy was for sale in 2016 for €99,500 and has now been exported.

Ford Mustang Country Squire GT

Spotter: @sturmovik

We conclude with this Mustang shooting brake, perhaps the most special of them all. Apparently there is only one copy. There is some uncertainty about the history. The car is said to have been converted in the Netherlands, and the first owner was said to have been none other than Prince Bernhard. The car has had a Dutch license plate since at least 1965.

This was our list of special shooting brakes that have been spotted. Have you also spotted something special? Then we would love to see your photos appear on Car Whiz Spots!

Comments

1. camber24 say

   That Vanquish Zagato is really mouth-watering…

   • rogerzz say

     For 937k your heart rate could go up a bit, what a lot of money. But agree, very nice.

     In terms of shooting brake concept, the 944 has been given a real backseat due to the conversion, the rest just got some extra height/space? That 944 turned out great too. That Bentley had a tailgate and now a real space where the mountain bike can be thrown in, so it is really more practical, but it has not become any prettier.

2. W115 say

   The Bentley is very beautiful.

3. Elise say

   That Ferrari, why would you voluntarily want to have your car modified like that?