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Shooting brakes\estate cars

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When I was a lad some 50 years ago my father always called estate cars shooting brakes. Anybody else heard this phrase and what does it mean?

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The old fellow who lived next door to me, years ago, called the neighbour's articulated lorry a "Shooting Brake". (whereas I would have followed my father's lead, and referred to it as a "wagon".)

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My Granddad had one in the early 1950s which he used for his milk round. It was a sort of large estate car with wooden cladding at the sides. I've no idea what make or model it it was, but I do remember the gear lever coming off in his hand as we drove down Chesterfield Road.

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Articulated lorries were known as "tickers" by us, and my dad in the early fifties used to have an Austin A40 Countryman known as a shooting brake, it was literally a red van with a window cut in the side and a bench seat bolted to the floor behind the driver and front seat passenger.

 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=austin+a40+countryman&safe=off&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=JhL6VLbhOYqM7QbOo4D4AQ&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1920&bih=942#imgdii=_&imgrc=3KYMgqgYLjFXDM%253A%3BcLnSYadk9J7wIM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.oldclassiccar.co.uk%252Fphotos-cars2%252F35.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.oldclassiccar.co.uk%252Fphotos-cars2%252Faustin_a40_countryman_35.htm%3B600%3B433

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Mercedes still use the term Shooting Brake for some of their estates. The CLS i think

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I have personally never heard an English person using the term, but I have been aware of it for years as it is one of two common descriptions of an estate car in popular 20th century American / Canadian Novels. Before the internet I would look up such terms in my huge Collins English dictionary in my 20s.

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When I was a lad my Dad bought a Hillman Avenger estate, my Gran always referred to it as a "Shooting Brake" .

It must have stuck in my mind because I still use that name for estate cars ;):cool:

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I still call older estates -shooting brakes---my dad gave a pal a hand to make one from a van ------best one I ever saw was a Humber Hawk in bright green with wooden trim about 1967--used to see it around Darnall

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One of my aunties always used to refer to estate cars as shooting brakes.

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I remember it being used during my childhood, but "estate car" was the more popular term. They have always to my knowledge been called "station wagons" in North America.

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