Bonkers Rolls-Royce Wraith Shooting Brake revealed
Rolls-Royce and tradition are words that coexist very comfortably in the same breath, with hunting, fishing and shooting being among the favoured pastimes of the elite clientele that have chosen the prestigious British marque for over a century and more. Such pursuits meant that, on many occasions, a Rolls-Royce with more space was required, leading to the creation of various Rolls-Royce ‘shooting brakes’.
It’s a style that hasn’t been seen for quite some time, but now a partnership between renowned Dutch vehicle modifier Niels van Roij Design and established Belgian coachbuilder Carat Duchatelet has revived the practical Rolls-Royce sportsman’s formula with the new Silver Spectre Shooting Brake.
Based on the Goodwood-crafted Wraith coupe, just seven examples of this new Benelux Shooting Brake will be made, rivalling Zagato’s recent Aston Martin Vanquish and Touring’s Bentley Continental GT-based sporting ‘estate’ conversions, as well as Niels van Roij Design’s own in-house three-door Range Rover-derived Aventum Coupe, as exclusively first revealed by GRR six months ago.
In creating this sporting three-door Rolls-Royce hunting estate variant, the Benelux partners have elongated the Wraith coupe’s roof, seamlessly extended the rear side glass surface area – accentuated by an elegant chrome surround – and harmoniously incorporated an opening ‘hatch’ tailgate. Opening up the latter gives a glimpse of a chest tastefully dressed in leather with chrome rails, better suited to holding an expensive set of golf clubs, hunting guns or luxury luggage, rather than some flatpack self-assembly Scandinavian furniture!
Despite this coachwork transformation, the Wraith’s line, although large, has not been distorted with the Shooting Brake retaining a natural elegance, neatly incorporating the donor car’s ‘signature’ suicide doors.
Apart from its artisan exterior modifications, this Wraith-based Shooting Break keeps some of its original mechanical specification, using the same, powerful 632PS (456kW) 6.6-litre twin-turbo V12 motor with 800Nm of torque, but now increased to 700PS (515kW) and 900Nm torque.
Much of the Rolls-Royce’s high-quality interior also remains unchanged with the finest leathers, precious wood, aluminum and chrome, all matched by the reworked extended luggage compartment. Pricing for the seven Silver Spectre Shooting Brakes has yet to be announced by Liege-based Carat Duchatelet.
Practical coachbuilt ‘shooting brake’ estate conversions to Rolls-Royce models were traditionally a popular coachwork option pre-war, with the likes of coachbuilders Henry Binder, James Young and W.H. Nibbs of Manchester undertaking a number of tastefully extended wooden ‘wagon’ modifications to 20/25 and 40/50 Phantom chassis’ in the 1920s.
Post-war, South Kensington coachbuilder Harold Radford briefly revived the once-fashionable Rolls-Royce shooting brake format with his Silver Wraith- and Silver Cloud-based Countryman conversions during the 1950s and early ‘60s.
Rolls-Royce
Wraith
Niels van Roij Design
