Mourning the car bodystyles that have died out

Shooting brake

The shooting brake is quite distinct from the rather more blue-collar two-door estate, being a full-on sports car with a smidgen of practicality, a rear door and a longer than usual body. Originally coachbuilt for moneyed shooting parties, it evolved into a gentlemen’s grand tourer, and even some mainstream manufacturers had a go – for example, Reliant with the Scimitar GTE and Lancia with the Beta HPE. More recently, there was a brief revival with the BMW Z3 M CoupeÃ, which was effectively an MGB GT on steroids. It survives as the occasional one-off bespoke build for those who can afford it (we’re talking Aston Martin and Ferrari).

Pop-out roof convertible

Manually pushing out a removable roof section was an integral part of the appeal of the Fiat X1/9, Datsun 280ZX and Ferrari 328 GTS. Porsche continues to build a Targa version of the Porsche 911, but these days the panel moves away automatically.

Three-seat coupé

No benches involved here, just individual buckets. The Matra-Simca Bagheera and its Murena successor flew the flag for the builder’s van seat layout. You could take one more person than in a Lotus, although there was inevitably less elbow room. The game-changer was the McLaren F1, which put the driver in pole position. No one copied it, and only McLaren returned to the theme with the million-pound-plus McLaren Speedtail.

Utility

These were faux or actual military vehicles sold to the public. They included The original Land Rover, of course, the Mini Moke, which was designed to be flat-packed and parachuted into battle, and the Rolls-Royce-powered Austin Champ. See also the Mercedes-Benz Unimog, Steyr-Puch Haflinger, Volkswagen Trekker (aka Thing), Volkswagen Iltis, very-Jeep-like Suzuki LJ80 and beachfront-friendly Citroën MeÃhari. These are certainly not crossovers.

Commercial

This has been a long-term ruse to dodge tax: offer a car in a van format with no side windows or rear seats so that it could be used as a business tool. Back in the old days, it was purchase tax that was avoided by some quite posh coachbuilt makes, such as Lea-Francis, so that it could become a station wagon or shooting brake for the hunting and fishing set. In modern times, it has been something for artisanal free-range sustainable egg-cup suppliers who can afford the Land Rover Discovery Commercial or the short-lived Mini Clubvan. Most recently, Suzuki has used it to circumvent the CO2 issue with the Jimny LCV.

Three-door hatchback

Ironically, the model that nuked so many other formats is partly under threat, partly because five-doors are more practical and partly because emissions regulations are making city cars financially unviable to build. You can’t even get a three-door Toyota Yaris or Vauxhall Corsa any more.

Amphibious car

Outside of military vehicles, such as the Alvis Stalwart and Volkswagen Schwimmwagen, there has only been the Amphicar (although you can still build yourself a Dutton Surf from a kit and an old Suzuki Jimny). The bottom line is that water and production vehicles really don’t mix.

Extinct

Four-door convertible

These were always a challenge structurally, even with a separate chassis. Many were around in the 1930s and 1950s, the most (in)famous being the Lincoln Continental Convertible. There might be the odd coachbuilt anomaly for an oligarch, but else they just aren’t worth the engineering bother.

Three-seat roadster

The bench seat has a lot to answer for. These were pretty much a thing only in 1950s Britain, where one could ride as a gooseberry passenger in such beauties as the Allard Palm Beach and Riley RMC. Two-seat convertibles and roadsters won out.

Two-door estate

This was a very regular sight from the 1950s through to the 1980s. It was a working-class precursor to the family hatchback, being a popular format for small cars such as Ford’s Prefect and Escort. From the Volkswagen Polo ‘breadvan’ to the Vauxhall Chevette, there was a ready market, including interesting oddities such as the faux-by-four estate in the shape of the Talbot Matra Rancho.

Two-door saloon

The simple two-door saloon was a staple from the 1950s onwards, being cheaper than the four-door saloons. Upmarket models like the BMW 3 Series morphed into coupeÃs. Across the board, saloons eventually became more fastback-styled and the upmarket ones were rebranded as coupeÃs. The Ford Escort, Vauxhall Nova and Volkswagen Derby two-doors were just victims of the all- conquering hatchback. Incidentally, the one-box saloon (see the original Mini) is also very dead.

Rebranded

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