Throughout time manufacturers brought to life many different shooting-brakes, some were brilliant and some were unusual. Nonetheless, each had a unique aesthetic and feel intended. Below, are what we deem to be the most uniquely crafted.
Aston Martin Rapide Bertone Jet 2+2
A one-off shooting brake hand-built by the Italians at Bertone, commissioned by Barry Weir, an English Aston Martin enthusiast who desired to add a unique piece to his collection similar to what Bertone developed earlier with the Vanquish shooting brake in 2004. It maintains the same drivetrain as the first-generation Rapide, a 6L V12 producing 470bhp. Fortunately, Bertone also had a little inside help from Aston's designer Marek Reichman informing Bertone to pause and wait for the updated Rapide grill to come out for use. Bertone planned to build 10 unique examples, unfortunately, the company went bankrupt before it could do so.
Tesla Model S shooting brake by Niels Van Roij Design
London-based Coachbuilder managed to take Tesla's flagship car and graciously remodel it into a shooting brake. It keeps the same Tesla electric drivetrain, yet, everything from the B-pillar onwards has been overhauled by the studio with their unique bodywork, not being hard to notice how the designers succeeded to add such a big chunk without losing the model's essence painted in an outstanding green metallic with a gold twist. Fortunately, 20 examples will be built with bespoke materials from top to bottom with an undefined price-tag.
Aston Martin Virage Zagato Shooting Brake
For years, Aston Martin has designed and manufactured the most elegant GT's around, more so when Zagato stepped in, leaving us with fantastic collectible pieces. On this occasion, both the manufacturer and the studio worked together to produce three one-off variants of the Virage. A convertible, a Coupe and the shooting brake as seen in the picture above to celebrate Aston Martin's 100th anniversary. All three have been sold to collectors around the world.
Jaguar XFRS Sportbrake
Perhaps, not the most expensive shooting brake on this list and not the rarest. Though, it's cunning super-saloon cues powered by at-the-time Jaguar's top-spec 5L V8 Supercharged producing 542bhp and 502lb-ft does excite us. Who wouldn't want a supercharged shooting brake? Though, it can still be considered a rare car as allegedly only 100 examples were produced by the manufacturer. However, it is still unknown.
Touring Superleggera Bentley Continental Flying Star
First released to the public in 2010, it began its life as a convertible Continental, then promptly touched up by Touring adding a rather spacious rear, while comforting to its shape. Only 19 were ever made, each hand-built taking no less than 4 thousand hours, at the time priced at around $650,000. Though Touring built it with the intention of it only gaining value, so expect it to fetch it for nearly $1,000,000 at auction houses or, private sellers.
Ferrari 612 Scaglietti by Vandenbrink Design
What happened to the Ferrai 612 Scaglietti? So charming, yet buried under Ferrai's more powerful V12 cars. Fortunately, dutch based Coachbuilding studio Vandenbrink decided to shine a light on it by extending the rear, while adding some fantastic bespoke in-house touches, not to mention the practicality it gets. The project was announced back in 2008. Though, it stayed dormant for nearly 11 years when studio owner produced one for show. Fortunately, the company is still open for requests for the few who understand and are enthusiastic about the idea.
Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Shooting Brake
The one-off Ferrari Daytona-based shooting brake commissioned by a collector who fancied an Italian, while still getting the practicality of a station wagon that took the studio nearly two years to be concluded, with only the windshield, A-pillars, doors and the V12 spec from the original car, while the two rear windows actually open up, giving you plenty of space for baggage arrangement. Quite a unique design. This piece is expected to go for nearly $1,000,000 at an auction house. Would you add it to your collection?
Maserati Quattroporte Shooting brake
A one-off piece commissioned by a European customer who missed the opportunity of purchasing a Maserati shooting brake based on the previous generation built by Touring Superleggera. Unsatisfied, he approached various coachbuilding studios to create this piece based on the Quattroporte, often receiving the same response regarding time and price. Unsatisfied, he approached Adan Redding. An English master in bodywork. It took him nearly 1,500 hours to complete the job. It packs Maserati's 3.0L Turbodiesel V6, covering over 8,000 miles from new. This example is currently for sale for an unknown price by an English dealer.
Aston Martin Virage Shooting Brake
The third Aston Martin shooting brake on this list and the first to be built in house by its factory work service. It was first released at the 1992 Geneva International Motor Show available as a conversion of an original Virage for around £165,000, making it the most expensive Aston Martin available at the time. There has been an estimate of around 5 to 6 to ever exist, making it two prototypes and the rest, conversions.
Audi RS6-R ABT
As if the 2020 Audi RS6 wasn't already enough with its innovative all-wheel-steering, Turbocharged V8 and a styling shooting brake body, ABT Sportline has decided to make it better. The RS6 4.0L V8 TFSI engine now makes 740bhp and 920nm, which is an increase of exactly 140bhp and 120nm over the standard model. Only 125 units of the RS6 Avant will be remodeled into this beast, fetching around €69,900,00 for the full package, including the donor car. As expensive as a supercar. Though, as fast as one.
What is your favorite off of this list?
Photos courtesy thanks to each manufacturer and dealer.
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