2004 VGD Arnage Shooting Brake

The VGD Shooting Brake is a luxury estate wagon in the true spirit of the personalized Bentley road cars of the last century. Created using a 2003 Bentley Arnage this upgrade can be recreated on a number of chassis or models as a base, the VGD Shooting Brake is named after the sporting estate wagons favored by Europe’s landed gentry for hunting parties in the 1920s and 1930s. VGD’s Shooting Brake is a modern interpretation of the classic – a fully handcrafted, custom-designed estate wagon that serves as an elegant option for today’s discriminating buyers with active lifestyles.

The VGD Shooting Brake can be customized to any degree desired for business persons, outdoor enthusiasts, skiers, equestrians, even travelers making grand auto tours who will not surrender luxury, nor compromise their desire for individuality. Integrating the latest CAD/CAM workstations with time-honored English shaping wheels and shaping equipment, VGD can create any styling cue, design feature or specialty configuration and deliver the appropriate and integrated look and feel its astute automotive clients demand.

“Today, our customers are looking for more personalization in their vehicles, luxury auto manufacturers have opted for fewer and fewer personal touches, even at the highest end of the market,” says Mark Gerisch, President of Genaddi Design Group, Inc. “The Shooting Brake meets the needs of persons who demand the skilled craftsmanship, luxury appointments, performance of the finest Bentley motor cars, and the functionality the Shooting Brake design affords, rather than opting for a cumbersome four-wheel-drive vehicle, which is essentially a truck.”

Options include a best in class length sunroof, electronic rolling bed, custom paint, custom leather and ultra suede interior, special audio DVD, VHS, CD Satellite receiver, XM tuner, rear-seat plasma screen and surround sound, As well as a removable luggage rack, special wheels and tires and an all-wheel-drive option (on the Arnage version only). It should be noted that the prototype had a fold down door and back window, while the production model has an electrically lifted door. The idea to embrace is that being a truly coachbuilt vehicle you can request any option that you can dream of from level four ballistic armoring to seats custom fit to your body.

“Our goal is to capture the ultimate luxury, hand-built quality and Old World craftsmanship that only a master coachbuilder can deliver,” says Gerisch. “We create vehicles that are a natural evolution of an automobile by seamlessly expanding upon the factory model vehicle to produce a unique design with added functionality, reliability, refinement and safety.”

Through a network of unique partnerships, Genaddi Design Group offers virtual and rapid prototyping and design, engineering, fabrication, testing, manufacturing, and production capabilities of the very highest quality, in keeping with the finest Bentley tradition.

Webasto Products International of North America and Dutch Divisions worked closely with VGD to develop the best in class length sunroof that takes advantage of the flowing expanse of the roof of the shooting brake design. This relationship is a demonstration of precision engineering on a limited production item that you will find nowhere else in the industry.

Taking safety to a new level, on the VGD Shooting Brake, the Bentley’s fuel tank is relocated from its original placement high in the car and behind the base of the rear seat, and moved to the lowest portion of the rear of the vehicle. In the event of a rear-end accident, the tank is positioned to submarine under the floor, avoiding the cockpit and passenger areas.

In addition, VGD adds a product called FirePanel™ to all of its vehicles. In the event of an accident, FirePanel™ suspends a powder upon impact that keeps the car’s fuel from igniting. This product currently is used in law enforcement vehicles nationwide and is being evaluated for NASCAR™ racecars in 2004.

VGD has been licensed the technology gained by Texas Armoring’s thirty years of experience. Trent Kimball, President of Texas Armoring has established a relationship with VGD to help ensure the drivers and passengers of these specialty vehicles.

The partnerships that VGD has established are either with current suppliers to Bentley or the most appropriate vendors to bring the highest level of safety and quality to the projects with which they are involved.
Story by Genaddi Design Group