Students from Skoda’s Mladá Boleslav trade school have revealed the Skoda Sunroq – a one-off roadster based on the Karoq. The 23 students envision the open-top car as a rival to the Range Rover Evoque convertible in the crossover-convertible segment. Volkswagen’s T-Roc cabriolet will also be joining this segment in 2020.
The Sunroq keeps the Karoq’s five-seat layout and is powered by VW Group’s new 1.5-litre TSI petrol engine that pushes this car from 0 to 100kph in 8.4sec, all the way to a top speed of 204kph.
The standard car's B and C pillars have been removed and the tailgate has been replaced by a bespoke item that incorporates a high-set central brake light.
The car is a permanent open-top roadster, with a bespoke white and red leather interior to match the red body colour and wheel finishes. Other high-end elements include puddle lighting underneath the doors and an illuminated Skoda badge at the front.
It’s the latest in a slew of manufacturer-made one-offs in recent weeks, which saw a Honda Civic Type R Pickup Truck concept completed by specialists at the brand’s Swindon factory; a Nissan Leaf Open Car concept created to celebrate 1,00,000 Leaf sales in Japan; a 1,196hp Schaeffler-modified Audi RS3 saloon with four electric motors; and Volkswagen’s apprentice-made Wörthersee Golfs.
Though the Sunroq will never make production in this guise, Volkswagen will make a T-Roc convertible in 2020, making a Skoda-badged sibling a remote possibility.
Suraj Viswanathan
Glenn Noronha
Dhruv Dhaka
Dipan Sur
Uday Singh
