Shooting Brake is a term used to describe a vehicle with two doors, one on each side and a squared off rear.
The back of the car would have an opening in the form of a hatch which is the popular alternative. Other rear door
alternatives are split doors horizontally or vertically.
This bobystyle is basically a two door hatchback. Modern usage of the shooting
brake concept seperates itself from the concept of a hatchback. While the bodystyling fits perfectly with is a hatchback
it differs with what is expected from a hatchback.
You see when you think of a hatchback you may think of a small vehicle with a small engine usually offering
features short of the sedan or coupe.
There are luxury and performance hatacbacks such as the Audi A3/RS3 or the BMW 1 Series/M but these cars still
dont measure up to the sedans such as the A4/RS4 or the 3 Series/M3.
The Shooting brake usually refers to a hatchback with performance figures and features to match other larger
bodystyles.
The size of a shooting brake may also larger than most hatchbacks. The two door Ferrari FF has a wheelbase of
117.7 inches and a total length of 193.2 inches while the four door high performance 2011 Audi RS3 has a wheelbase of
101.5 inches and a total length of 169.4 inches.

Ferrari's shooting brake, the FF (Ferrari Four)
The name shooting brake goes back to the horse and carriage days in the 19th century where a brake was a large
carriage like frame which was used for breaking in young horses.
Later in that same century the brake now slightly altered and called shooting brake was used by hunters. It accomodated
the driver (ie the person controlling the horse/s), another person both of whom would be facing forward and behind them there
was room for more men, dogs, hunting guns and game.
In more modern times specifically in the 1960s the term shooting brake became popular again in Great Britain as it was
used to describe a vehicle with modern luxury and seating accomodations similar to a coupe but had greater storage space than
the average car trunk.
Many automotive marques have made shooting brake recent recent times. Some of these companies are Aston Martin, Bentley
and Volvo.
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