The idea of so-called 'Shooting-Brake' car models started in the UK a few decades ago. The most well-known ones came from Aston Martin, but there were also a few single shooting-brake models created on the base of Jaguar cars or even more affordable cars such as the Volvo 1800 ES or the Jensen GT.
Now Mercedes Benz offers an attractive alternative to those who have all these years been dreaming about a modern shooting brake.
Mercedes Benz AG announced that the CLS Shooting Brake will go into serial production as of 2012. The sporty four-door Coupé with sloping tail end based on the CLS will roll-off the assembly line in the Mercedes-Benz Plant Sindelfingen in Stuttgart.
Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars said: “In 2004, Mercedes-Benz established a new vehicle segment with the four-door Coupé CLS and created a design icon. 170,000 customers around the globe show how enthusiastic this car has been received by the market. The decision to build the CLS Shooting Brake underscores the leading role of Mercedes-Benz in regards of innovative passenger car concepts and design – and that is exactly what the customers expect from us.”
Dr. Wolfgang Bernhard, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG for Production and Procurement Mercedes-Benz Cars & Mercedes-Benz Vans said, “This new model with its high emotional appeal is another highlight for the Sindelfingen plant. The location decision is an evidence for the significance of the plant as competence centre for the luxury class. The CLS Shooting Brake will contribute to a sustainable capacity utilization in this core location of our production network.”
The fresh and exciting interpretation of the emotionally-appealing Coupé-based design had its premiere as a show car at Auto China in April 2010. Now, this insight by Mercedes designers into the possible future development of the Coupé concept will become reality. In 2012, the CLS Shooting Brake will be launched to the market.
Dr. Joachim Schmidt, Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing, Mercedes-Benz Cars continued, “The CLS still makes waves with its fascinating design and wows customers for our brand. With the new generation of the CLS we expand our pioneering role in this segment. We aim to extend this success story with the CLS Shooting Brake and complement our product portfolio with another appealing model. This car is based on the great tradition of a stylish, cultivated sportiness which has always characterised the great Mercedes Coupés, and it takes this unique legacy an exciting step further. At the same time it points the way towards the future design idiom of Mercedes-Benz."
The proportions are clearly those of a coupé: the long bonnet, narrow-look windows with frameless side windows, and dynamic roof sloping back towards the rear. It is only when taking a second look that it becomes clear that the Shooting Brake actually has four doors and a large rear lid. The model features some astonishing proportions which at the same time are clearly reminiscent of another design icon - the CLS.
So, where did the name "Shooting Brake" originally come from? Well, break, or the homonym Brake, was the name once given to carriages used to "break" in wild horses and also to restrict (or "brake") their urge to move, so that they could be put to use as work horses. Since the carts could easily be broken as part of this process, people tended not to use ones which they may have urgently needed for other purposes. Where necessary, "Brakes" were often fitted out with variable bodies, which were only really used to carry along anything that may have been necessary for the hunt, for example. Any such vehicle which was used when going out shooting was called a Shooting Brake or Shooting Break. In the 1960s and 1970s motorised Shooting Breaks were popular in Great Britain – exclusive cross-over vehicles, which combined the luxuriousness of a coupé with extended space on offer and additional variability.
The CLS Shooting Brake is expected to find a lot of customers in the Middle East region, especially since the first CLS model became a hit in that region and also because the Middle Eastern customers have now been open for and accepting new designs and new concepts when it comes to cars.
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