We round off our two weeks of 2013 Johannesburg International Motor Show coverage with a pair of vehicles that weren’t even on display in the regular show halls. Volkswagen’s Commercial Vehicles stand proudly displayed the Volkswagen Amarok Wörthersee Concept and alongside it, a Volkswagen Amarok ‘Amarok Edition.’
The main Volkswagen passenger car stand was a sombre white and blue affair where the biggest highlight was the new Golf BlueMotion. Touted by Volkswagen as one of the most fuel efficient cars in its segment, it’s powered by the 2.0 litre new direct-injection TDI engine with 81 kW and a claimed fuel consumption of 3.2 L/100 km and CO2 emissions value of 85 g/km.
But if eco-ism isn’t something you get easily excited by the Amarok Wörthersee Concept and ‘Amarok Edition’ certainly spiced things up on the commercial vehicles side. SA Motorsport Uber-Legend Sarel van der Merwe, describes the former as, “The most exciting vehicle at the 2013 Johannesburg International Motor Show,” and we think he may have a point. Displayed for the first time in Africa, the Wörthersee VW Amarok boasts 200 kW and 600 Nm from its V6 TDI and scrambles to 100 km/h in just 7.9 seconds.
At about 5.25 m long, 2.22 m wide, the concept Amarok Single Cab looks menacing and the 6 cm wheel arch extensions and 80 mm lowering make it stand out even more than normal. The cargo area has loads of space to fit a racing kart with its workshop equipment; you can see Volkswagen are exploring a definite motorsports edge to this vehicle.
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicle designers fitted the Amarok Wörthersee concept with Bi-xenon headlamps with chrome inserts behind clear glass, a matte black grille with chrome slats and three large air intakes below the bumper. Sill extensions with integrated carbon plates and red pasting join powerful 22-inch wheels in Gunmetal colour with 295/35 tyres as well as a cab mounted styling bar, also in gunmetal grey for maximum visual clout. At the rear, there is a carbon diffuser with two chrome tailpipes and darkened LED tail lights.
On the inside, there is a definite Golf GTI-theme with designs in black, red and white continuing into the door trim, racing bucket seats, sport steering wheel and extra wide new centre console that is covered with black carbon leather. The instrument panel displays things like the torque and the boost pressure, while the stopwatch button measures acceleration. As expected from such a show car, it is fitted with specially designed sound system. The infotainment system has 8 -inch touchscreen with 2x 380 W speakers, amplifier as well as a 500 W subwoofer that is mounted between the racing clamshells.
We certainly approve of the most-uber Volkswagen Amarok yet: the Amarok Wörthersee Concept.
