Wagons – or station wagons, estate cars and touring models – are a utilitarian type of car for moving luggage, families, and belongings around.
This practical type of car body existed before the ubiquitous crossover and compact SUV, and here’s a secret: wagons are still the champions of luggage space.
Most SUVs look big on the outside but fall short on space up the back compared to the humble station wagon, but then again, wagons are arguably not always as fashionable.
Some bright people historically decided to convert sports cars or muscle cars to create usable space within a desirable car’s design. Like the Ford Mustang wagon prototype, or the Ferrari Breadvan.
Talking of merging two concepts – this render of a third-generation Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z could be on to something. We take a look at this interesting idea from jlord8 courtesy of Instagram to see if it, in fact, makes sense.
The Custom Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z Station Wagon Idea
This IROC-Z is the result of combining an iconic late '80s pony car and an unwieldy wagon rear, which could offer speed in a straight line (and be able to bring along luggage for a whole week at the Festival of Speed).
In that classic burgundy red and doing a burnout, the render features the legendary IROC-Z sitting back on its rear axle, but even so it still looks to be riding higher than standard. The wheels are custom, and the changes start from the windshield, which is far less raked than in the '80s Chevy sports car.
From then on back, the car sports a boxy-yet-cavernous rear end, the design looking surprisingly cohesive, although to some this concept might simply appear as an unfortunate joke.
If you would like to see more cool renderings, you can subscribe to HotCars Premium to see a Buick Skylark get the modern muscle car treatment in our digital rendering.
History’s Shooting Brakes And Sports Car Wagons
Creating a hybrid consisting of an enthusiast car and wagon in one isn’t new. Plus, the execution of the shooting brake has resulted in many awesome sports car concepts and real models.
The modern powerful wagon like the Audi RS6, Chrysler 300C SRT8 provide power, but the elegant proportions of the sports car can bring about some awesome practical hybrids. Aston Martin’s DB5 shooting brake, Ferrari’s 365 GTB/4 shooting brake and others show that a grand tourer or sports car with the right design can combine performance with style and elegance.
Most shooting brake models were one-offs, prototypes or commissions, but some become fully-fledged models like the Ferrari FF or BMW Z3M Coupe.