Ok, I've seen this term twice last week referring to some 1940's or '50s car design, but unsure what it is. The term came up discussing a new Ferrari design.
A woodie with a more or less sporty character. The term comes from a form of horse-drawn carriage used for hunting and also for breaking in horses. "Break" became "brake": note that the French still call a station wagon a break.
Interesting definition. Sure would have missed that one on Jeopardy. I was thinking it was something you said when the pedal went to the floor, like "SHOOTing brakes!" Gary
also, sometimes called hunting hack, usually had soft tops that could be retracted so the hunter had only to stand up to shoot. hate to get your fancy boots dirty.
Cool, thanks! It's more fun to ask on here, that to Google or Wiki the answer. I thought it was something to do with the design, or shape of the car.
I'm sorry, but when it's a 1933 Rolls Royce I think you're supposed to refer to it as a "Woodrow". Still like to see this with a surf board on the roof though!
This is a monumental occasion in my life, the first time I've ever known something that some other hambers didn't! It'll probably be the last too! Paul
Glad someone asked this as I've also always wondered what it meant. Usually heard it in reference to a Rolls but never knew the meaning. Not to hi-jack but, how about the term, Drop Head, like usually referencing a Jag. Does that mean it's a convertible or is there more to it? Seems I've seen it as a Drop Head Coupe which I find even more confusing. Help. Thanks, Don.
I still have the original Owner's Manual from my '67 XKE Coupe, which lists it as a "fixed head coupe"...which means a 2-passenger coupe, as opposed to the 2+2 (a 4-passenger XKE). Jaguar made BOTH coupes as well as the "Mark" Sedans, which were 4 door, 4-Plus, passenger units. At one time the larger Jags had a version of a "convertible". Later, they were, as far as I know, "solid" bodies. SO, the "sport" models, XKE's in particular, were given the "drop head" coupe/"fixed head" coupe designation to distinguish them when using the company name: Jaguar. When you say: "That's a Jaguar..." at that point in time you add "...XKE Drop Head Coupe (convertible")", or, "...Mark Sedan". Believe me, it's much simpiler than it sounds once you know the "basics" ! ALSO, Rolls wasn't the only one to make a "Shooting Brake"...other companies did as well. Jonnie King www.legends.thewwbc.net
In American terms you'd be most familiar with when discussing HAMB era cars, "shooting brake" is a European term for a station wagon. More or less. But as others have indicated the term has a colorful history.
Hey, In the proper vernacular, is a "Shooting Brake" & an "Estate" one in the same? Meanwhyle, back aboard The Tainted Pork "
My expieriance has been that shooting brakes are the english term for ststion wagon not nessicarly woodies (later Astons Bentlys). Germans use the term Estate. sorry for the shitty spelling......
Learn all about Shooting Brakes, Breaks, Estates and Wagons here: http://www.pestalozzi.net/sb/about_term.htm
Here's another Rolls Royce shooting brake, slightly older and a lot less fancy. Looks more like a school bus actually. Scroll down to the second pic on the right. http://feralsportscarclub.net/Splash.html Scroll a bit further and you can see it plowing thru a shallow pond!
This Rolls-Royce Shooting Brake has special boxes on the side for the guns. http://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/asp/appmain.asp?appactie=collectiedetail&taalcd=&collsq=5406
Back in the early 60s I had a 1952 Jaguar XK-120 DHC... A DHC was like a convertible but it did not have roll up windows (I carried the side windows in the trunk when not in use). A convertible has roll up windows. A fixed head coupe was a hardtop car. --- that is my understanding of what I had (and wish I had today).
If you don't know what a shooting brake is ...where do you put the dogs when you go hunting ? We can't take them on the bus with us...bought a brake. And nobody mentioned a three position drophead ! Gone fishin.
When Ford Australia built this Capri as a design exercise they called it a Shooting Brake, I always wondered where they came up with that name and now thanks to the HAMB I know. By the way it's the only one they ever built.
Yep, I'd say you were right. Originally a shooting brake was what the toffs used to drive - or more likely were driven in - when they went, well, shooting, whereas an estate car was a general purpose vehicle used on one of those large, posh country estates for ferrying people etc around. They were always coachbuilt and expensive, which is why they were only ordered and bought by the wealthy. Here in England the term shooting brake disappeared ages ago and nowadays is just a pretentious term used by manufacturers. The term estate car probably became the general term for any longroof passenger car here around the '50s. Estate car is generally the common term over here, same as in America you call them station wagons, even though you no longer use them to ferry people to, well, stations. When SO-CAL built this 2003 MG ZTT below which ran 225 at Bonneville, MG took it all round the world's motor shows touting it as "The World's Fastest Estate Car" (you can see the decal on the top of the windshield)... The two photos above were taken at the Bonneville display at the 2007 Goodwood Festival of Speed. Right now it's sitting in my garage as I figure out what to do with it - guess I could hunt something damn fast with this one? Regards Jon'.
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