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Spy Shots: 2012 BMW 1-Series Three-Door 'Shooting Brake'

 
3 5,632 views Aug 10, 2010
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2012 BMW 1-Series three-door 'shooting brake' spy shots

HI-RES GALLERY: 2012 BMW 1-Series three-door 'shooting brake' spy shots

The shooting brake (or Shooting Break, as Mercedes-Benz styles it) is a design concept which, though not widely known or exercised, gets car freaks all hot and bothered--and for good reason. Combining the practicality of a hatchback with the compactness of a coupe and a look all its own, the shooting brake is a unique take on the "best of all worlds." And now it looks like BMW is planning its own, based on the 2012 1-Series.

Some would argue BMW has already done a small, sport shooting brake in the form of the Z3/M Coupe and the Z4 Coupe. Those cars are, by most metrics, shooting brakes. But with the slightly-sloping roof of the Z4 version, it's not quite as useful as a true 'brake would be, and being a Z4, it's not all that affordable, either. That's where the 1-Series comes in.

We have no confirmation that the shooting brake variant of the 1-Series will be coming to the U.S., but at the same time, we don't have any official denials, either. That leaves the door open for hope, though with the 5-door hatchback not being sold here and America's presumptive dislike of hatches in general, we may never see it except from afar.

The 1-Series three-door should get the same powertrain lineup found in the rest of the 1-Series when it does come (to Europe at least) likely meaning a naturally-aspirated 3.0-liter inline six, a twin-scroll, single-turbo inline six, and, for those lucky Euros, a four-cylinder diesel. The twin-turbo inline six found in the 1-Series M Coupe isn't likely to make the translation, though we have to admit: an M Shooting Brake would be incredible.

Whatever comes of the 1-Series three-door hatch/shooting brake, we're just glad it's on the apparent road to production.

For more on the 2012 BMW 1-Series, check out our spy photos of the M coupe and five-door, too.





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Comments (3)

  1. By Ross Militz Posted: 7/26/2010 4:04pm PDT

    That actually doesn't look like a 3 door to me. I think it could be a 5 door but the back two are suicide doors. would be interesting to see if they pulled this off because it would make it 10x more practical and really ease production because there would only be 1 model.
     
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  2. fb_702489086 avatar Paulo Pinto Posted: 8/10/2010 4:12am PDT

    But there's already a 3 door version of the 1 series on sale in Europe... This one just seems to be the same version of the future model; or one with the suicide doors, somewhat in the same fashion as the Mini Countryman 3rd door or the Mazda RX8
     
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  3. fb_702489086 avatar Paulo Pinto Posted: 8/10/2010 4:16am PDT

    I meant the Mini Clubman and not the new Countryman... my bad
     
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