10 Shooting Brakes You Don’t Have to Break the Bank to Get
These classic two-door sport wagons prove you don’t need Ferrari money to park a shooting brake in your garage.Benjamin HuntingWriter
Motor Trend ArchivePhotographerBring A TrailerPhotographerAlan MuirIllustrator
Sep 25, 2025
The shooting brake is one of the rarest of automotive body styles, combining the sportiness of a two-door coupe with the practicality of a long-roof wagon. The name is derived from the old-school British practice of using custom-built coaches to haul hunting gear into the deep woods of country estates.
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These “shooting breaks,” in the original spelling, relied on weighty wagons to keep horses in check, or “break” them in. The name gradually shifted to “brake” when gas engines began to take over for equine power, but the general shape of the bodywork remained consistent, providing passenger room for a pair up front and using the rest of the vehicle to store and schlep equipment.
With traditional wagons in short supply on the current market, the modern shooting brake has largely been shunted into the world of exotics (think the Ferrari FF and GT4CLusso) or bespoke coachbuilders such as Zagato, who serve an ultra-rich clientele by taking luxury coupes from brands such as Aston Martin and turning them into two-door wagons.
But for a few decades at least, it was possible to choose from an array of shooting brakes at prices that didn’t require a second mortgage. Today, many of these two-door sport wagons remain accessible pricewise to the broader buying public, letting you drive something with the type of styling and capabilities that are truly unique on the collector car scene.
These are our picks for the 10 best classic shooting brakes that are still affordable to own.
1968–1986 Reliant Scimitar
Rather than sitting alongside a more traditional coupe or existing as part of a larger lineup of models, the Reliant Scimitar is notable in that it came only in a shooting brake body style for most of its existence. Although the Scimitar started off as a coupe in the mid-1960s, when the second-generation model arrived in 1968, it was exclusively offered in a two-door, long-roofline edition.
Even more interesting was that Reliant targeted a higher-class buyer with the Scimitar, positioning it as a luxury sports car that just happened to offer a back seat and a remarkable amount of cargo space. Debuting with a 3.0-liter V-6 engine good for nearly 130 horsepower, the Scimitar shooting brake was quick and responsive for its era.
The ensuing years saw a bit more power coaxed out of its Ford-sourced drivetrain, along with a couple of redesigns that squared up the front end and stretched out its wheelbase. Although later editions of the car are relatively rare (post-1980), and a convertible model that shed the wagon design was introduced toward the end of its run, it’s the shooting brake Scimitar that enthusiasts remember and collectors seek out.
1968–1977 Chevrolet Corvette Sportwagon
Noted Corvette tuner Callaway currently offers a (very expensive) Aerowagon kit for the C7 Chevrolet Corvette. But 50 years ago, another tuning company called Greenwood Corvettes got the entire ’Vette-as-wagon concept kicked off with its own (very rare, and consequently very pricy) Sportwagon conversion of the C3 generation.
In between these two bastions of Corvettes-with-cargo-space sits Eckler’s, another longtime presence in the Corvette aftermarket. In fact, the Greenwood Corvette Sportwagon was inspired by a fiberglass kit that had been sold in the Eckler’s catalog by a man named Chuck Miller—albeit in much more primitive form.
The C3 Sportwagon’s lineage is a complicated one. After Greenwood Corvettes perfected the shape of the extended coupe, it then partnered with Eckler’s to build and sell kits through its catalog, as a separate venture from the customer cars it had originally built.
These “kits” weren’t always complete, as it was possible to buy just the roof panel and make the rest yourself in your garage at home. This explains the variety of C3 Sportwagons out there, some with side glass, others with panel wagon fiberglass, but all bearing that distinct form of the original Greenwood design. The lack of official provenance and homebrewed aspect of these period-correct kits has also helped keep the cost of buying a Corvette Sportwagon within the reach of the average collector.
1970–1980 Ford Pinto Cruising Wagon/Mercury Bobcat Wagon
If you’ve done your best to forget the Ford Pinto and its Mercury Bobcat platform mate, we don’t blame you. This underwhelming chapter of Ford’s econocar history has been a target of scorn for decades, but if you pierce through the fog of shame that surrounds the nameplate—and ignore potential safety concerns—you can score an extremely inexpensive shooting brake.
Both the Ford Pinto and Mercury Bobcat offered a two-door wagon from the outset of production. While the wood paneling available on each model might dull some of the sportiness inherent in the shooting brake concept, the Pinto at least has a style-forward ace in the hole for the truly devoted seeking it out.
The Pinto Cruising Wagon, which arrived in 1977, offers ’70s nostalgia in abundance by combining bright colors and over-the-top stickers with the panel wagon side paneling and bubble window aesthetic inherent in that era’s van culture craze. Want a plaid interior? You can get that, too, and all at a huge discount versus nearly any other shooting brake. Best of all, at this point in its production Ford had largely solved the rear impact fire problems that made the Pinto so controversial, which means you can “cruise” with total peace of mind. Well, at least until a neighbor sees you wearing all that polyester.
1971–1977 Chevrolet Vega Kammback
Chevrolet was determined not to be left out of the small car party at the start of the 1970s, and one year after the Pinto arrived on the scene, the Chevy Vega was there to match its vibe. Like its Ford counterpart, the Vega came in a bewildering array of body styles, including a two-door wagon dubbed the Kammback (after Wunibald Kamm, who pioneered the extension of a vehicle’s bodywork toward the rear in a bid to reduce drag).
The Vega Kammback more closely resembled the classic shooting brake profile as compared to the Pinto, and while it couldn’t counter the funkified Cruising Wagon note for note, the Vega did offer a panel version of the model that blanked out the side glass with metal panels of its own. Unable to resist the classy allure of genuine imitation walnut, a “GT Estate Wagon” also joined the Vega family toward the end of its run.
1972–1973 Volvo 1800ES
Before it became famous for building conservative, ultra-safe boxes, Volvo allowed its designers to ditch their T-squares and actually pen cars with curves. The Volvo 1800 is the most famous example, a classic coupe whose starring role in the TV show “The Saint” had Americans clamoring to drive the same import as heartthrob Roger Moore.
The Volvo P1800 stayed on sale for a full decade with very few changes, but in its final two years it introduced a remarkable shooting brake model called the P1800ES. Mechanically, it was status quo for the Swedish sensation, with a humble four-cylinder engine calling the shots under the hood. In terms of style, however, the P1800ES was a home run.
Only 8,000 or so examples of the P1800ES were built, but its influence on Volvo’s corporate culture remained strong. In fact, when the Volvo C30 hatchback arrived in the mid-2000s, its large rear glass hatch was a direct nod to the setup used for the P8100ES shooting brake.
1975–1976 Jensen GT
The Jensen-Healey was a popular roadster offered in the early 1970s by the eponymous automaker. Part of a sea of similarly sized convertible sports cars flooding the market in Britain at the time, Jensen decided to repurpose the car’s platform and make a play for those who prized practicality over fun in the sun.
The result was the Jensen GT, a vehicle that stuffed not just extra cargo space but also a vestigial set of rear seats under its stretched roofline. From the front—and mechanically—the GT was a dead ringer for the Jensen-Healey, with only its profile revealing the shooting brake nature of its revised bodywork.
Surprisingly, the conversion was remarkably graceful, and although the car suffered from the same reliability concerns that plagued everything that left the Jensen factory in that period, the GT’s stiffer suspension and bigger brakes helped make up for some of the weight gain associated with its fixed roof. While Jensen’s bankruptcy in 1976 cut the car’s production short (just 511 examples left the factory), they remain attainable on today’s collector car market.
1980–1981 Porsche 924 Kombi
It’s here that our definition of “affordable” stretches just a little bit. The Porsche 924 Kombi is a very rare vehicle, with only 20 models produced by Günter Artz, the Belgian conversion crew responsible for the conception of this shooting brake version of Porsche’s entry-level coupe.
Normally, low production numbers translate into high prices, but the 924’s combination of Volkswagen mechanicals and front-engine layout have made it lesser than in the eyes of Porsche diehards. Günter Artz spiced up the looks of the 924 further by adding a widebody kit to the vehicle, but under its skin it’s still a modestly powered four-cylinder turbo reliant on early ’80s technology.
Of all the Porsche specialty models out there, this is likely one of the easiest on your bank account to acquire. If you’re feeling much more financially irresponsible, Günter Artz also tried its hand at a 928 shooting brake kit, of which very few survive. Photo credit: PistonHeads
1986–1989 Honda Accord Aerodeck
Honda had the art of the hatchback down cold in the ’80s, with the Civic introducing scores of Americans to the joys of a compact car that was economical to operate but still useful in a pinch when you had an extra trunk load to haul around.
Honda also applied its hatchback skills to the larger Accord, with a liftback model as part of the vehicle’s lineup since close to the beginning of its run. Additionally offered as a sedan and a coupe in the United States, for a very brief period the Honda stylists went wild with the Accord Aerodeck, which added a shooting brake two-door wagon to the mix.
Unlike the previous Accord hatchbacks, which featured a sloping rear roof, the Aerodeck delivered a much more modest top angle, to the point where it appeared almost flat. This improved its interior cargo room (and headroom), but more important, it gave the Accord Aerodeck a unique silhouette that stood out as sportier than other models.
Sadly, slow sales limited the Aerodeck to just a few years of production. Honda didn’t give up on the idea of an Accord wagon, but starting in 1990s it added a second set of doors and shifted its family model toward a traditional estate shape.
Pictured, 1981 DP Porsche 924 Cargo conversion.
1988–1990 Porsche DP44 Cargo
The Porsche 944 was an evolution of the 924, and although similar in appearance, the newer coupe aimed to sand off its VW roots for a purer Porsche experience that would attract a wider range of buyers. Additional performance certainly didn’t hurt the 944’s appeal, either.
It’s only natural that its 924-like shape attract yet another conversion company intrigued by the car’s potential as a shooting brake. Enter DP Motorsport, a longtime aftermarket player that leveraged its expertise building race car bodies to design the DP44 Cargo.
Initially, the DP44 Cargo stemmed from an in-house experiment that dropped a Volkswagen Passat wagon’s extended roofline onto a 944 coupe, but eventually paying customers were clamoring for copies of the striking result. DP Motorsport ended up designing its own fiberglass cargo roof and hatch (with bits borrowed from Mercedes-Benz on the mechanical side), selling the 944-based result as the DP44 Cargo.
Less than 10 are said to be out there, including a few 924 conversions, but again, in the world of Porsche specialty cars, a front-engine, four-cylinder model is the sweet spot when it comes to pricing. DP Motorsport still owns all the tooling to build fresh examples, too, so if you want to spend more, you can go full bespoke on your own restomod 944 shooting brake build.
1998–2002 BMW Z3 Coupe
Most BMW fans are aware of hubbub surrounding the original BMW M Coupe, the hotted-up, fixed-roof version of the BMW Z3. With a reputation of being a bit of a handful to drive in the best possible way, the M Coupe has seen its halo glow extra bright in recent years—and watched its auction prices climb into the stratosphere.
Few enthusiasts are aware that BMW built a standard version of the Z3 coupe, as well. This shooting brake (affectionately called the “clown shoe” due to its unusual proportions) is a seriously rare automobile, as far more buyers drove home in the Z3 roadster. While it might lack M power under the hood, its inline-six engine is anything but dull thanks to the 228 horsepower and 221 lb-ft of torque available in later models.
The Z3 coupe’s relative scarcity compared to the convertible makes it a unique addition to anyone’s collection, and pricing is still quite reasonable compared to other collectible BMWs of the same era. Just make sure you’re comfortable explaining to everyone you’ll ever meet that no, it’s not the M model.
