► GTI concept to be created by apprentices aged 17-25
► Premiere will be at 2015’s 34th Wörthersee meeting
► VW says they’ve picked an ‘innovative’ colour scheme
Every year, VW fanatics flock to the picturesque shores of Lake Wörthersee in Austria for the annual GTI Meeting. As well as a general love-in for all things Volkswagen, in recent years it’s turned into an event in which the company spoils fans with mad concepts. Think of 2014’s wild GTI Roadster study, for example, or the 493bhp super-Golf of 2013.
This year won’t be an exception.
The brand has confirmed that work is underway on a special edition of the Golf GTI for the 2015 Wörthersee Meeting. The twist this time, however, is that its design has been entrusted to a group of 13 apprentices, all aged between 17 and 25, split between several departments within the company. So it’ll be a GTI with a particularly youthful flavour.
VW is keeping a tightly held veil of secrecy over the project, so very few details have been revealed so far – not even a shadowy teaser picture yet. What you see in the main picture here is the body-in-white, awaiting its modifications.
So what do we know about the 2015 GTI concept?
One of the few hints VW has dropped so far is that the show car will have an ‘innovative’ colour scheme that will call for ‘considerable skill and precision’ to apply. Sounds like they’ve made a rod for their own backs, since the apprentices will be painting the car themselves as part of the project. But it will be much more than an elaborate paint job.
Since the apprentices collected a body in white from the Golf bodyshell production unit last autumn, as well as mixing paint they have been developing an idea of how their dream GTI should also sound and feel, with extensive work promised to the engine and running gear, interior, seating and sound system.
We’ll have to wait until 13 May 2015 to see the result. Let’s hope it follows in the wild tyre tracks of previous GTI concepts such as the Vision GTI and the GTI Roadster Concept for Gran Turismo 6.