A team of 23 young apprentices from Volkswagen’s Czech Republic-based Skoda division have turned the humble Fabia city car into a mean-looking mini pickup called FUNstar. The one-off model will be presented to the public later this month at the annual GTI Meeting that will take place in Wörthersee, Austria.
The FUNstar is almost identical to the standard Fabia from the tip of the front bumper to the B-pillar. Beyond that, the apprentices have chopped off several feet of sheet metal, welded in the rear doors and sealed off the passenger compartment in order to create a pint-sized pickup with a tiny stainless steel-lined bed. The Fabia’s hatch has been cut in half and turned into a tailgate.
The concept further stands out from the Fabia thanks to a specific front bumper, bright green trim around the radiator grille, dark green LED daytime running lights, and a custom hood fitted with a pair of vents. 18-inch alloy wheels sourced from the regular-production Octavia RS sport sedan do a better job of filling the wheel arches than the Fabia’s stock steelies.
Skoda has not published pictures of the FUNstar’s interior but it promises the pickup is equipped with a sports steering wheel, bucket seats, a sprinkling of white and silver trim pieces that echo the two-tone paint job, and an insanely powerful 1,400-watt sound system.
Mechanically, the FUNstar packs slightly more grunt than the standard Fabia thanks to a Volkswagen-sourced 1.2-liter four-cylinder TSI engine that generates 120 horsepower. The four-banger spins the front wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission controlled by shift paddles.
Like most of the wild concept cars that are presented every year at the Wörthersee show, the Skoda FUNstar will remain a one-off model destined to spend the rest of its life in a warehouse or, at best, a museum.
