Whereas the four-door Mercedes CLS paved the way for other car makers to design and build their own four-door coupes, the recently unveiled CLS Shooting Brake will be a forerunner as well as Porsche and McLaren are considering to build their own shooting brake.
Porsche will unveil a shooting brake based on the Panamera at the Paris Motor Show this September. The Panamera Shooting Brake which will make its world debut will be a concept car. Porsche will await the results of the Mercedes CLS Shooting Brake before making a decision regarding production of their own shooting brake. If the Panamera Shooting Brake will make it into production, it will come with the next generation Panamera scheduled for 2015.
McLaren is also considering to built a shooting brake based on the MP4-12C. This rumour is not new, two months ago it was also reported the British manufacturer of supercars was discussing the introduction of a shooting brake. The MP4-12C Shooting Brake would be introduced to take on the Ferrari FF.
The McLaren Shooting Brake will be powered by the same twin-turbo 3.8 liter engine as the coupe, which puts out 592 horsepower. This should enable the MP4-12C Shooting Brake to hit the 100km/h from standstill in 3 seconds, while its top speed should be 330km/h. It should be pointed out that a Shooting Brake version of the McLaren MP4-12C would require a redesign of its drivetrain layout. The coupe features a mid mounted engine while a shooting brake would require an engine placed between driver and front axle, which will severely influence the driving characteristics.
If the rumour of McLaren working on a shooting brake turns out to be true, than undoubtedly more news and eventually spyshots will follow. But German magazine Autobild is convinced the McLaren MP4-12C Shooting Brake will hit the showrooms by the end of 2013.
[Via AutoBild]
Looks like a roof chopped VW Scirocco fitted with aftermarket box arches, but a very fast one.
I’m a huge McLaren fan, but this rendering is to much Volvo ES480=)
A shooting brake McLaren definitely wouldn’t NEED to have the enigne up front. It would be amazing if done like an old VW Squareback, or something like the Renault Clio V6.