why don't they call it a 'stationwagon' that it is?

 

Sportbrake is posh for station wagon.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting-brake

 

The term 'station wagon' (not stationwagon) is not commonly used in the UK or anywhere else in the world other than North America.

 

And the whole of Australia, well it was when I lived there.

 

It's always been station wagon and nothing else in Oz.
Coz guess what we call our sheep and cattle "ranches" - sheep stations and cattle stations.
The station wagon was originally a ute with a cover on the back, and the ute was designed so cockies (farmers) could cart animals, fodder, produce you name it in the back.

 

Station wagons here in New Zealand too , sports break will never catch on here .

 

And the irony is that although the Sportbrake was only ever made in RHD, it was never exported to Oz! Maybe the beancounters thought the silly name would turn prospective buyers away.

 

I remember when they tried this with the X-Type, the dealer I worked for in the Houston only sold 1. Here in NZ I've only seen a few. As for the Sportsbrake, haven't seen too many around either, although I think it looks better than the BMW's, Audi's, etc. However here in NZ, it was only offered with 3.0L Diesel, and 2.2L Diesel, no petrol V8, which is a shame really.

 

As far as I know the only V8 version of the Sportbrake ever made was the XFR-S, so top of the line, it would have been quite expensive in NZ and almost no demand, so no wonder you never got it.

 

I suspect its more on the demand side. We've sold several XFR S's and XKR S's, not to mention several Vogue Autobiography's which run over 300k. Too bad, it would have been good competition. Jaguar must have known it would crush the competition, let the little bmw's and audi's hash it out on there own.