In the early 19th century, a “brake” was a large carriage-frame without body, used for breaking in young horses. By the late 19th century the meaning had been extended to a large wagon designed for country use.
A “shooting-brake” carried a driver and gamekeeper facing forward and up to six sportsmen on longitudinal benches with their dogs, guns and game carried alongside in slat-sided racks.
When horsepower replaced the horses the term was subsequently applied to custom built luxury estate cars altered for use by hunters and other sportsmen such as golfers, riders, and polo players requiring easy access to larger storage areas than offered by the typical automobile boot.
Since the unveiling of the DB5 shooting-brake it becomes popular to think of a shooting brake as an estate car converted from a coupe: fast, comfortable, from luxury origin and very exclusive.
Top Gear described a “shooting-brake” as a cross between an estate and a coupe.
In 2006, The New York Times described a “shooting-brake” as a sleek wagon with two doors and sports-car panache, its image entangled with European aristocracy, fox hunts and baying hounds, adding that while the name has been loosely applied to station wagons in general, the most famous shooting brakes had custom two-door bodies fitted to the chassis of pedigreed cars from the likes of Aston Martin, Bentley, Jaguar and Rolls-Royce.
Sunday 21 August 2011
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