With the summer enthusiast season just around the corner, Volkswagen of America unveiled its enthusiast show fleet for 2017 at SOWO: The European Experience on Hutchinson Island, Savannah, Georgia. These five specially prepared show vehicles are inspired by the diverse interests of Volkswagen enthusiasts.
Beetle Post concept
This concept highlights the top Beetle R-Line trim and championship-winning BMX rider, Alise Post, who has outfitted the car with two custom GW bikes for the project. The car rides on 19-inch Mr. Drama Queen wheels from an up-and-coming company, Radi8, and uses an H&R Springs Street Performance Coil Over system that lowers the stance and highlights the performance potential of the Beetle. Habanero Orange paint and the vintage lettering on the doors give an added retro vibe to this Beetle.
Jetta GLI Nardo concept
The GLI has been a staple of the Volkswagen brand since the Mk 2 generation of the Jetta. It’s something of a stealth performance car and the Nardo concept builds on that, adding a few simple touches to make the car shine. The car is wrapped in Nardo Grey, a popular colour at sister brand Audi, which brings out the lines without looking flashy. Over the course of the show-car season, the car will feature different sets of HRE wheels, beginning with the FF01 Flow Form series, finished in Tarmac. The Nardo has an H&R Springs Street Performance Coil Over system and BFGoodrich G-Force Comp-2 A/STM tires for a more road-hugging appearance.
Golf GTI RS concept
Sam Dobbins, creative director at Vossen Wheels, is a great force within the enthusiast scene and a longtime Volkswagen owner. His Golf GTI RS concept is a fascinating amalgamation of different car cultures with a particularly heavy Japanese influence via the Rocket Bunny widebody kit. To set his car apart from many others with similar body modifications, Dobbins put a lot of effort into making sure that the sheet metal was honed to eliminate wheel rub, making the car comfortable to drive on a daily basis. The interior is stripped down, but the polished aluminum floorpan, race-inspired seats, and other accents reflect the exterior design. The GTI RS Concept rolls on Vossen wheels and features a Thule carrier box with custom, low-profile roof crossbars.
Golf R Heritage concept
The Golf R Heritage concept features an homage to the car’s German heritage with a striking stripe package in the colours of the German flag and a white, lower rocker accent stripe pattern. Vossen has provided the wheels, starting with the VWS-1 finished in matte gunmetal and polished anodised silver. The wheels are shod with G-Force Comp-2 A/2 tires from BFGoodrich and the car has been lowered on a sport spring package from H&R Springs. The simple touches highlight the already great platform of the Golf R model, while leaving the car close to factory specification—which is what most R owners tend to do.
Golf Alltrack Country concept
The third-generation Golf Country special edition inspired this year’s Golf Alltrack Country concept. The Golf Country, which was sold only in Europe, was designed for medium-duty off-road driving and equipped with more suspension travel than a traditional Golf, Syncro four-wheel-drive, higher ground clearance, and brush guards. The stock Golf Alltrack is already equipped with 4Motion all-wheel-drive and has more ground clearance than the Golf SportWagen, but the Golf Alltrack Country concept features a further 2-inch suspension lift and 15-inch wheels fitted with BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2 tires.
Additional foglights are integrated into the lower bumper and a hitch-mounted Thule T2 Pro XT bike rack carries two Trek Stache 9.6 mountain bikes. Off-pavement adventure continues with a roof-mounted tent system, topped with flexible solar panel, a curved LED light bar, and a solar-heated shower. In the trunk, an integrated entertainment system complete with media computer is mounted into the spare-wheel well, and a custom LED light bar is integrated into the liftgate for additional visibility. Three batteries hidden under the trunk floor are charged via the solar power system to keep the media centre and USB power ports at full charge.
A custom topography graphic wrap finishes the Golf Alltrack Country Concept. With its well-crafted customisations, this vehicle is ready to keep up with the demands of even the most daring weekend adventurer.
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