VW's 'Enthusiast' Concept Range Includes Slammed Arteon And Lifted Atlas

It’s likely you haven’t heard of SOWO: The European Experience. We certainly hadn’t, and in any case, it’s now a little irrelevant, since the show - held on Hutchinson Island, Savannah Georgia - has now been and gone.

But what we want to talk about is the cars that VW decided to build for the show, as they’re all conspicuously awesome, and it sounds like they’ll be wheeled out at other events.

Let’s start with our favourite: the Arteon R-Line Highlight. Why is it our pick of the bunch? That’s obvious: it’s VW’s gorgeous Arteon luxo-barge, but slammed and wrapped. How can you not be on board with that? Once the earliest examples of the big hatchback have depreciated some more we’ll no doubt be seeing many Arteons like this, but right now, this is quite a treat.

It’s been dropped three inches on H&R ‘Ultra Low’ coilovers, has been fitted with 20-inch Hybrid Forged HF-2 wheels from Vossen, and is nicely finished with a fluorescent yellow wrap.

We’re big fans of the Atlas Tanner Foust SEMA concept too. It’s been worked over by the rally and racing driver with an overlanding theme, now sporting chunky off-road tyres, light bars and a roof rack with access ladder. There’s a new front bumper design intended to give a better approach angle, and the bottom parts of the bodywork now feature tough plastic cladding.

But if you thought the Atlas was an unlikely candidate for extensive mods, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Yep, VW has even worked over the family-friendly Tiguan, to create this R-Line Aero concept.

Here, we have an air suspension setup that can drop the ride by anything up to 4.8 inches. There’s a 20-inch Rotiform Monoblock CCV wheel at each corner, plus a camouflage wrap that covers both the car and part of the Thule roof box.

The line-up wouldn’t be complete without a Golf, of course, and that box is ticked by the R Abstract. It has a ‘camouflage print wrap’ plus 20-inch wheels and a body kit from ABT Sportsline. It’ll sound fruitier than a standard R too, thanks to a new stainless steal exhaust system.

Last but most certainly not least, we have the perfect car for the Fast and Furious remake we just hope Universal isn’t (but no doubt is) mulling over. It’s the Jetta R-Line SoCal, and it’s been blessed with KW coilovers that lower the ride height by three inches, along with many fluorescent yellow touches. This one isn’t quite finished, with VW noting that, “additional design elements will be added later in the season.”

Which of these concepts is your favourite?