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Volkswagen has announced details of a 272hp Amarok pickup to be unveiled at the annual Wörthersee celebrations. Sporting lowered suspension, wide arches and a Golf GTI-inspired interior, might this concept preview an Amarok R-Line?

Exterior

Set to share the Wörthersee stage with a 503hp Golf GTI and various concepts from SEAT, Skoda and Audi, the Amarok needs some visual kapow to draw the glances of the expected 200,000 attendees. And pack it the concept does. Riding 80mm lower than the standard truck and with six-inch arch extensions the Amarok Wörthersee will be displayed as a support vehicle for racing with go-karts, tools and spares in its 3.5-metre load area. In regular use the single-cab pickup is more likely to be seen hauling a pair of Euro pallets, but the race theme suits the arena in which it will be shown.

Rolling on 22-inch wheels with 295/35 section tyres the powerful gait of the concept is enhanced by sill extensions with integrated carbon plates ,a gunmetal roll bar, carbon diffuser and twin exhaust pipes.

Interior

The interior of the Amarok Wörthersee draws inspiration from its Golf GTI stable mate with a
matching black-red-white colour scheme across the racing bucket seats and door trims. The nubuck and leather trimmed dashboard is adorned in brushed aluminium while the dials include an integrated stopwatch for measuring acceleration times.

Being a show car the pickup sports a large sound system with two 380w amplifiers and a 500w subwoofer controlled via an integrated eight-inch touchscreen.

Mechanicals

To go with the sporting looks Volkswagen has seen fit to fit a sporting engine, in this case a 3.0-litre V6 TDI unit that has been tuned to deliver 270hp and 600Nm of torque. Fed to the tarmac via an eight-speed automatic transmission and permanent four-wheel drive, the Amarok can complete the 0-62mph sprint in 7.9 seconds. Not bad for a truck that is over five metres long and has a load capacity of 3.5 tonnes.

Anything else?

Volkswagen's Commercial Vehicles department has something of a Wörthersee tradition of serving as 'food carts' at the event. In the past, currywurst and barbeques have been served from the back of Type 2 vans but for this year's show the trucks were restored by a specialist in Hannover and will now serve as beer trucks, serving Beck's to the masses.

Paul Healy - 10 May 2013