The shooting brake has long been the holy grail of a certain type of car guy. Half sports car, half station wagon, it’s a body style long extinct from the automotive kingdom but not from the hearts of enthusiasts. Google “shooting brake” and see any number of photoshopped renders of modern GTs with extended roofs. Then there’s Toyota, who went and actually built one.
Sadly, the 86 Shooting Brake is a one-off prototype conceived and designed by Toyota Australia. As the story goes, a 1:4 scale clay model was shown to the 86’s global chief engineer Tetsuya Tada when he was visiting the Australian studios in November 2014.
“I was totally surprised — and I liked it so much I arranged for my expert takumi prototype craftsmen to hand-build the Shooting Brake concept based on the Australian design,” Tada-san said.
Toyota Australia’s design chief Nicolas Hogios: “Like kids in a lolly shop, we thought about restyling more of the car; however, like a good parent saying ‘no’ to too many sweets, we made the conscious decision to keep as much of the original 86 as possible, only changing what was absolutely necessary.”
The result is a fully functional, drivable car that is still instantly recognizable as an 86 and retains its stellar roadholding dynamics. Hogios continued, “We have expanded the appeal of the coupe while intentionally retaining the purity of the now-iconic 86 style.”
Tada-san said that Toyota green-lit the project because they wanted to gauge customer reaction. “While we never say never, and I would love this concept to become a production reality, it is very much a concept that demonstrates the passion within Toyota for cars that are fun to drive.”
So while a longroof variant won’t appear on the current Scion FR-S — and most likely not even on the facelifted 86 — a shooting brake could be something Toyota considers for its successor if this concept gets worldwide attention. After all, Akio Toyoda did turn the Lexus LC 500, originally just a design study, into production reality.
I am not sure how I feel about this. It is emotionally confusing.
I own a BRZ, and a RA29 liftback, so it’s like mashing the two together…
I’m on the fence, personally. I feel at certain angles like I’m just looking at a Hyundai Veloster. Other times, not so much.
Nice! Any more space (well, to a point) is a good thing for me.
According to this, was the third generation Honda Civil Hatchback ( 1983 to 1988 ) a “mini” shooting brake ?
“Civic”
Yes, Civic, typing horror, I mean error 🙂
I’m speechless. It’s beautiful. I want a white one. Sell it to me Toyota.
This is the correct answer to this week’s QotW.
I want one. Scratch that, make it two. Or three. Or…
Take on in a heartbeat. Love the look. Would be perfect compliment to my 1991 MR2 Turbo, instead of my Scion tC.
Interesting to look at and think about, but really unnecessary. The 86 is what it is and doesn’t need extra cargo space for what it was designed to be and do.
I am a shooting brake guy; I have hobbies that mean I need the extra space and carrying capacity, and I love the heritage of the shooting brake concept. In the past I have always been stuck with wagons, which I don’t necessary mind, because some of the modern smaller European wagons are great cars.
I wouldn’t / couldn’t buy an 86 as they are today, however I certainly would seriously consider one of these, as it would enable me to have a sport oriented car that can carry the necessary load.
An 86 with more room for stuff, I’m in.
No thank you
Doesn’t Honda build civics in that format ?
Looks like a Japanese hot hatch to me. Honda Nissan Toyota Mazda have been making them for years. Am i missing something here ?
nice veloster, well done Hyundai.
Shooting brakes can be really cool… but I’m not sure this works for me. I’m a self confessed Toyota guy through & through, but I have to agree with Taylor… this just looks like a Hyundai Veloster to me.
Toyota mentioned they wanted to restyle other parts of the car, but decided against it. I think they should’ve!
Sure, that probably meant this wouldn’t have ended up as an 86 Shooting brake (because once you start restyling, where do you stop?), but rather a new model completely.
I also am seeing the disconnect between this and the AE86 just getting larger and more confused. Should they not have made a hatch concept? Seeing how the current 86 resembles the coupe version of the AE86, why not build the other side of it? I mean, we never saw the AE86 coupe locally. C’mon Toyota Australia!
Also, they could’ve played around with some pop-up headlights (just for fun).
All-in-all, good on Toyota for making this. I guess they wanted to gauge consumer reactions and this is mine… lol!
Um….that’s a hatch”ish”. Let’s stop using technical/JDM terminology for things we’ve seen a million times before. Wasn’t the sacred and most desirable “AE86” a hatch? Nothing to see here folks…back to work! Lol
You need to check the origins of the shooting brake terminology…possibly predates ‘hatch’ as a model description by about hmm let me see 20 years…
Lots to see here and lots to enjoy!
“Shooting brake” predates the automobile.
That said, guh, terrible execution. The 86 should have a liftback as is, but here they put a near worthless rear window and windscreen on it for the sake of maybe a couple extra cu. ft. of space. It should have a flatter roof and maybe extended ever slightly, with a taller hatch.
I *think* it goes back farther than that… I could swear I’ve seen old Jags in that style, like,. from the ’60s, anyway…
Back in the ’70s GM had a similar style on the Vega and Astre – “Kammback” was the term, and I think it references a VW model, though I don’t recall any VWs having that particular body style…
Toyota had a Corolla of the 2-door/longroof design in the later ’70s, but I don’t think they called it Kammback, or Shooting Brake… I think they called it “Coupe.”
Eh, “[a] rose by any other name…”
Oh yeah – that Volvo, from the late ’60s-Early ’70s! One of the few Volvos that ever really caught my eye!
So are we seeing a ‘range’ of models in the 86 product life? Wasn’t there a convertible some two years ago?
Mini did it – why can’t 86?
N I C E !
Build it!
A sports/”sporting” car with more usefulness for daily life? YES!
Didn’t Sube have a concept one like, last year, or so? Not complaining or denigrating, by any means; I LOVE the style.
Any chance Toyota people are reading this?