Volkswagen Academy students build fire-fighting car

The students at the three-year Dual Apprentice course at the Volkswagen Academy have built a firefighting car for the carmaker's safety department at the Pune plant. The project, to build a car on a low budget, was undertaken as a part of the final year assignment of the debut batch, the academy said.

Fourteen students at the Volkswagen Academy were given a task to build a unique and exciting car - a firefightng vehicle that can be used at the Fire and Safety Department of Volkswagen's Pune Plant every day. Scrapped parts and components of the VW Vento and the Cross Polo were used to build this car to keep manufacturing cost at a minimum.

While the basic design remains the same as the Vento, various modifications have been made from the B-pillar to the tailgate to create a pick up and to make it into a fully functional firefighting car. The tailgate has been fabricated to get hinges at the bottom to ensure easy loading and uploading. The academy said that over 160 parts were specially designed for the car.

The project is been powered by a 1.6-litre petrol engine.

The firefighting car will be used for daily inspection around the plant as well as for the movement of material by the Fire and Safety Department.