This is the new VW Amarok pickup truck that has just been released for sale in South America. It is coming to Australia next year.

There will be a choice of two VW 2.0-litre TDI engines, 91 kW/340 Nm or 122 kW/400 Nm, with six-speed transmission. It will have VW's full-time/switchable 4Motion 4WD system, Electronic Diff Lock, Off-road ABS, Hill Descent and Hill Hold Assist.

It has a payload capacity of 1.15 tonnes and a towing limit of 2.8 tonnes. The wheel arch separation is 1222 mm, which means it can fit a Euro pallet sideways. The cabin is like a VW passenger car and the rear seat can be folded.

A single-cab model will follow in 2011.

The Amarok will be used as VW team support vehicles in the 2010 Dakar Rally, which starts in January.

Get ready to trade in those Hiluxes and buy a VW!

Hello Phil. I would like to ask you a few questions on a seperate topic, however still VW related. I was wondering if you had any information on Antarctica 1? I have a few specific questions in mind, and hope you may have the answers for them:
-Last known location of the car
-know of anyone who drove/worked with the car
-Last known owner
-VIN Number

If you have any of this info, or any other, It would be greatly appreciated. I have been trying to track the car down for over a year, and now have gotten some good leads to you. Hope you can help me.

Thanks,

Don the bug guy.

Heh - not just Hiluxes getting traded in... my HSV Avalanche will be going for one of these too I reckon !!!

Pretty reasonable write up on them ...here...

I wonder how much they'd give me for my '91 wbxr panel, just run in with 370 000km ??????

Heh - dunno Matt - but providing it hasn't done the milkshake trick, prolly more than a Toymota dealer would offer !!!

I like your optimism Dave, I'll have to give em a go so I can at least tak one for a test ride.

ps No milkshake, the internals are like the day it left the factory.

Hi Don, yes you are considerably off-topic!

We made some preliminary enquiries about Antarctica 1 in the early 1990s, and found that after the '64 BP Rally the car was on display at various country Victorian VW dealerships for several years. There is a photo of Antarctica 1 at Seymour in about 1966, looking dilapidated, in the Rod and Lloyd Davies' book 'VW in Australia The Forgotten Story'. We couldn't find any subsequent info but the consensus seemed to be that it had been scrapped in the late 1960s. That photo shows its Victorian numberplate (I don't have it at work with me and I can't remember the number). I don't know if VicRoads has historical info on rego owners, or if they would release it if they did. Rally driver Ray Christie was the last serious operator, to my knowledge.

Steve Muller, Ray Black and Bill Moore made a replica in 2003 and shipped it to Germany. I know they did a lot of research on Antarctica 1, tried to find it and were unable to clarify its fate. You can contact them through the VWCVC at http://members.netro.com.au/~vwcc/,  or you can ring Steve at Kombi Rescue (0400 356057). They have more detailed info than I do.

Would be great to see all these VW fans trading in their non-VWs.

Hi

Didn't Barry Ferguson driving for Bruce Geddes rallycross Antarctica 1 or was that a later car?

Steve

Gee and for a sec there I thought they'd called it the Anorak. The VW Anorak - there's something pervy in that I'm sure.

Hi Steve, no it was Antarctica 2 that was turned into the Catalina Rallycross racer. That was sold to Ed Mulligan and scrapped in the early '70s.

Agreed, 'Amarok' is a weird name. Apparently 'Amarok' means 'wolf' in the Inuit language (eskimo), as well as 'lover of stones' in the languages of the South American indians - at least that's what VW's press releases say. When it was still a concept vehicle, it was called the 'VW Robust', which is probably a better name. I'm only glad it doesn't mean 'wanker', as our friends driving Pajeros would know...

Thanks alot Phil. I will let you know what I find.

Don

Oh, where would I find that photo of the car taken in '66? If I could see that I might get closer on the search.

Thanks,

Don

Yeah Matt - gotta be optimistic when Volkswagen FINALLY has a new car that suits what I need !!! It's a bit far from you at Cooroy obviously, but have got a good relationship with one of the sales guys at Boettcher's at Ipswich - has been sending me updates on them and stuff, so I think my test drive is already booked !!!



On the name, well I think Amarok kinda works, and it's in keeping with theme set by Touareg.

Almost everyone I know with a Hilux refers to it as "the 'lux"... and being able to call a ute "the 'rok" is kinda cool I reckon !!!

Hi

So hows this new name pronounced? The company I work for is going to trial Iloads and Caddys, maybe they will trial these as well.

Steve

Far as I know, it's pronounced "Am a Rock"....

we just got a new ute like that. funny thing ours has a toyota badge in the same spot in grill
ours even comes with cup holders in the tail gate

There will be a choice of two VW 2.0-litre TDI engines, 91 kW/340 Nm or 122 kW/400 Nm, with six-speed transmission. It will have VW's full-time/switchable 4Motion 4WD system, Electronic Diff Lock, Off-road ABS, Hill Descent and Hill Hold Assist.

It has a payload capacity of 1.15 tonnes and a towing limit of 2.8 tonnes. The wheel arch separation is 1222 mm, which means it can fit a Euro pallet sideways. The cabin is like a VW passenger car and the rear seat can be folded.

All that stuff will come in handy one day . if i am at the local shopping centre with a heap of groceries in the back and i need it to get out of the multi story car park.

Quote:

Originally posted by ian.mezzAll that stuff will come in handy one day . if i am at the local shopping centre with a heap of groceries in the back and i need it to get out of the multi story car park.

Forget the shopping center car park and the groceries... most important thing is that it's going to be available in Dark Blue, so I'll be able to have a Dark Blue VW ute as the tow vehicle for a Dark Blue VW race car !!!

Yeah Ian, they look too much like a 'Lux to me, still if their half as good as the Hilux as a work horse then they'l be bloody good.

Quote:

Originally posted by Sides Boettcher's at Ipswich -so I think my test drive is already booked !!!

dont laugh Ian its not the first time vw have done that

i give you the VW taro........cough.....Hilux

The Taro was a Toyota Hilux built under licence. The Amarok is VW's own design and has nothing to do with Toyota.

There seems to be some smugness over the Amarok looking a bit like the Hilux. It also looks like the same thing from Nissan, Holden, Mitsubishi etc. So what? Who copied off who? VW was one of the first makers of double-cab utes, in 1958 with the Kombi. What was Toyota doing in 1958?

It's a bit like saying the Corolla hatch looks like a Golf. Maybe it does, but they are not the same vehicle underneath. The Golf has won the World Car of the Year award, as well as the Drive, CarsGuide and NRMA Best Cars awards. The Corolla has won diddly squat.

And gee, Toyota would never design a vehicle that looks like someone else's, would they?

Ahh, yes - the good 'ol Toymota Mega Cruiser.... did they ever actually build any of those ???

My car for 2011

I never had a chance to have any one of that kind of pickup truck, the fact that it could really be an expensive truck. Our place is not really having a good amount of those pick up to buy. I just have some of ordinary pickup trucks.




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Well it is probably going to be slightly more expensive than a Hilux or a Navara or a Triton, in the same way that a VW Golf is slightly more expensive than a Corolla or a Tiida or a Galant. Lindt chocolate is also more expensive than No Frills. You gets what you pay for, and people don't mind paying a little more for a better product, which VW is delivering.

The Amarok is not due for Australian release until the end of 2010, so local pricing has not yet been confirmed. However the word from within VWGA is that they are chomping at the bit to get it on sale in Australia ASAP, and at a competitive price. And as VWGA is owned by VW Germany, not by Inchcape / TKM / Ateco / LNC like the bad old days, they can make this happen. Look at the Caddy small van - it is now the market leader in Australia, selling more than its three nearest competitors put together.