Shooting brakes: the ultimate “if you know, you know.” The term is truly antiquated, originating from a small, simple carriage used to train horses. Over time, these carriages instead became popular with hunters and shooters, offering plenty of room to rear-load guns and other necessities on trips. Ultimately, the term carried over to automobiles, but the definition is still a bit nebulous. A few details rarely deviate, though. Modern shooting brakes must faithfully combine a sports coupe and estate, and almost universally must be “gentlemanly” — read: expensive. BMW has tried its hand at more than one of them over the years.
BMW Z2 or Z1 Shooting Brake Concept
The earliest example of a BMW shooting brake — because the 02 Touring isn’t quite shapely enough to our eyes — is a concept car based on the BMW Z1. The never-produced concept car was a bit of a design study for in-house skunkworks team BMW Technik. However, the car got as far as a design model before the plug was pulled. Weirdly, this is also the only shooting brake — possibly ever — explicitly designed with off-road use in mind. BMW referred to it as an “off-roadster,” and even modeled it with all-terrain tires. The hatch design and flared rear fenders give it an unmistakable shooting brake look.
BMW M Coupe
Dubbed the “clown shoe,” this is likely a car that needs no introduction. The M Coupe was based on the Z3 of the day, trading a retractable roof for a bulbous hatch. Under the hood is an M3-sourced powerplant, but there’s more to the story. Like the Z3 M Roadster, the M Coupe received engines from both the E36 and E46 M3. Pre-2001 models got the S50 or S52 engine from the E36, depending on your region. For the short remainder of the model’s production cycle, it borrowed instead the S54 from the E46 M3. Both are excellent to drive and unmistakably cool. The M Coupe is, so far, also the only true shooting brake BMW’s managed to get into production.
BMW Concept Touring Coupe
If you’re an enthusiast, the BMW Concept Touring Coupe is probably still burned into your memory. The Z4 M40i-based shooting brake debuted at Ville d’Este in 2023. Rumors circulated for ages regarding a production version; sadly, it never came to fruition. The BMW Concept Touring Coupe is almost the quintessential shooting brake, featuring exclusive paintwork (Sparkling Lario) and alloy wheels and getting motivation from a divine inline-six, the B58. All that was ever missing was a manual gearbox. While most of the car is bespoke, there are still some telltale signs that you’re looking at a Z4. Luckily, that isn’t a bad thing: the Z4 is arguably one of the best-looking cars BMW sells today.
New BMW Concept Shooting Brake?
Likely the reason you’re here in the first place, the BMW Shooting Brake is expected to debut at Ville d’Este in 2025. Until the vehicle formally shows up, details are light, but it’s borrowing heavily from the Skytop Roadster that debuted last year. With only 50 units scheduled, the Roadster is as limited as can be — so we’re thinking the Shooting Brake could be just as limited. Like the Skytop, the BMW Shooting Brake seems to be based on an 8 Series platform, and ascend to ranks occupied by similarly desirable and exclusive cars like the 3.0 CSL.