What's a Shooting Brake?

Shooting Break was the original (or more correct) term, but is often changed to Brake. In France these vehicles were referred to as "Break de Chasse," literally, break in the hunt. Brake has become a common term in England for any station wagon or sport ute.

I get the impression the Break was the common early term, but has become Brake in recent times. This is not uncommon in English (or American for that matter), where spellings vary and those variations get accepted. How many reading this have family names that are different from those in the old country, or that have evolved over time?

Shooting Breaks and Estate Wagons were originally different vehicles, horse drawn for specific purposes, but sometimes their uses would be combined into one, often on smaller holdings.

Most country houses had separate facilities for horses (stables) and vehicles (carriage house). Often you would enter in a circular drive or courtyard, and the carriages were usually on the left and the stables on the right. The carriage house was usually larger and often contained the servant quarters, being less pungent.

A well equipped country estate had a large number of carriages for work and play, sometimes different vehicles used in different seasons. Thus with high maintenance horses being used for different purposes and vehicles at different times, there were usually many more vehicles than horses.

Carriages were open and closed, with driver and driven by passenger, seating from two to eight. As these houses were often some miles from a rail or coach depot, the appropriate sized vehicle was sent to fetch them. With entertaining in the country being a big thing, people would bring large trunks for their fine items; note that most carriages did not have baggage areas.

Baggage would be collected via a hired wagon, one of the utility vehicles, or in finer houses, a special vehicle would be dedicated to that purpose, i.e. an estate wagon. Usually they had fine woodwork but not the lacquered and polished finish of carriages (think 18th-20th century woodie). Houses often had preferred colors for their rolling stock and servant uniforms. For smaller parties or smaller houses, the estate wagon might be used to collect people AND baggage, thus have seats fitted as well. In the US we often called these Depot Hacks (also Station Sedan, Traveler and Wagonette), in Germany Kombi is common, while the more poetic Italians refer to these people wagons as Giardiniera.

Someone previously dealt with the Shooting Break being a service vehicle used to transport guns, supplies, dogs and refreshments (though I suspect dogs and hor's douvres were not carried together) into the fields . . . thus the Break part of the name. I quote Steve: " Shooting break is a description derived from an old British tradition.  

In the first half of the 20th century shooting parties were a popular pastime on privately owned estates across the UK. Moving these parties around the estate was done in a 'shooting break'. This was normally a large British or American car which had a coachbuilt back half to carry the 'shooters' and their weapons etc. The term break was originally a type of horse drawn carriage."

Most shooting was for birds (or sometimes hare and varmits), and the shooters would position themselves while waiting for drovers to herd the game to them. It was smaller than the estate wagon, probably because it didn't need to be bigger, and likely to help it navigate off road terrain.

Probably the uses of these vehicles were intermingled based on size of house and varying needs. I noted a few service vehicles with the crests being attached with screws as opposed to painted on, which suggested to me that they would  be hired or borrowed when needed in some instances.

When motorcars became available, it is obvious that the better houses would carry on this activity, and coachbuilders were kept busy adapting their talents to the differently powered vehicles. Obviously the Rolls, Daimlers and Lagondas were the epitome of the breed, but Rovers, Humbers, even Fords and Austins were adapted.

My impression is that the difference today between an estate and a brake is usually size and sportiness. Remember that even large cars like the Rolls were well known for heir off road capability, being high torque and with good ground clearance. As two seat sporting cars became popular with the young blades, adding a shooting compartment provided utility and a lifestyle statement. These are sometimes referred to as Sporting Estates.

Obviously, this has continued to cars like the specially outfitted Astons, Ferraris, Jags, and even coach built Mini Coopers, usually favored by flash young men. I recall a Brit magazine suggesting that the Espada was well adapted to this purpose. I don't think anyone intended shooting brakes to ever go off prepared roads, just carry the sportsmen to and from the shooting areas.

             Dictionary definitions

Word IQ includes it in its definition of "Station Wagon". It's the best I found so far:

"A station wagon (US and Australian usage) or estate car (UK usage) is a normal sedan car with an extended rear cargo area. The first station wagons were a product of the age of train travel. They were originally called 'depot hacks' because they worked around train depots as hacks (short for hackney carriage, an old name for taxis). They also came to be known as 'carryalls' and 'suburbans'. The name 'station wagon' is a derivative of 'depot hack'; it was a wagon that carried people and luggage from the train station to various local destinations... In the United Kingdom, a very specific type, rare these days, is known as a shooting brake. These are modifications of luxury coupés with an estate car - like back fitted. They generally remain with two side doors. The purpose of them, historically, is obvious from the name; they were vehicles for the well-off shooter and hunter, giving space to carry shotguns and other equipment. They have rarely been made by the factory and are generally aftermarket conversions; some are still made. Up through the early 1960s many of them were built as woodies, making them some of the most exclusive and luxurious woodies ever built."

Merriam-Webster Unabridged has no definition for "shooting brake" except as a synonym for "station wagon". However, it describes "break" of "brake" as follows: a four-wheeled straight-bodied horse-drawn pleasure vehicle usually having a capacity of six or more persons in addition to the driver and footman.

The Hyperdictionary has: (British) another name for a station wagon. Synonyms:  estate car  
See Also:   beach waggon, beach wagon, station waggon, station wagon, waggon, wagon.

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                      Definizioni

Estratto da Motorbox, in un Articolo sui "Woodies" di Dicembre 2001:

"Che il mondo vada avanti per contrasti non è certo una novità. Che anche le automobili risentano di questa lotta di forze, motivazioni, valori conflittuali è meno banale. Un esempio sono le woodies, come vengono chiamate negli USA quelle che per gli inglesi sono le estate car o shooting brake, per i francesi le break e per noi, in Italia, le Giardinette o Giardiniere.... Solo gli inglesi, a dimostrazione della potenza delle forze in contrasto, hanno fatto di Rolls Royce e Bentley Shooting Brake un mezzo di ostentazione e distinzione, al massimo del lusso. Che cosa può essere più snob di una supercar falsamente povera con la quale andare a caccia o controllare le proprietà terriere (ecco da dove deriva l'altro nome: estate car) e poi, al momento giusto e con la compagnia adatta, abbassare il portellone posteriore e trasformarlo in una tavola per un pic-nic con argenteria Sheffield, vetri Waterford, vasellame Wedgwood?"

                    Wortbedeutung

Aus dem Technik-Lexikon von Oldtimer Markt

Break: Begriff aus dem Kutschwagenbau für einen offenen Gesellschaftswagen, der zu Ausflügen ins Umland – etwa zur Jagd (engl.: Shooting Brake) – diente. In Frankreich heute noch gebräuchliche Bezeichnung für Kombi