Automotive

Skoda students turn boring Rapid into Atero Concept

Skoda students turn boring Rapid into Atero Concept
The Atero is the third concept car produced by Skoda's students
The Atero is the third concept car produced by Skoda's students
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The Skoda Students alongside their creation
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The Skoda Students alongside their creation
The Atero has a new bonnet and front bumper
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The Atero has a new bonnet and front bumper
The big change comes at the rear of the Atero
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The big change comes at the rear of the Atero
Skoda's student engineers have worked to make something more special out of the Rapid Spaceback
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Skoda's student engineers have worked to make something more special out of the Rapid Spaceback
Red highlights are scattered around the bodykit
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Red highlights are scattered around the bodykit
Power comes from a 1.4-liter TSI engine
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Power comes from a 1.4-liter TSI engine
Wholesale changes have been made to the car's back end
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Wholesale changes have been made to the car's back end
The Atero is the third concept car produced by Skoda's students
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The Atero is the third concept car produced by Skoda's students
There's just a hint of Honda CR-Z in the car's rear end
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There's just a hint of Honda CR-Z in the car's rear end
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Skoda mightn't be a favorite among the tuning community, but that hasn't stopped a team of students within the company from turning the Rapid Spaceback into the Atero, a coupe to make Fast & Furious fanboys weak at the knees.

Unlike the overwhelmingly sensible Spaceback, the Atero throws subtlety to the wind. The rear doors have been lopped off to make room for a swooping coupe roofline, a change which involved a complete rework of the B and C pillars. To make sure you can still access the back, the Atero has longer front doors fitted.

The shape is nice, although it's ruined slightly by the over-the-top detailing and paintjob.

In isolation, there's nothing really wrong with the red rear spoiler, diffuser, bonnet venting and front-bumper highlights. But when you learn there's only a 1.4-liter, 92 kW (123 hp) engine under the hood, the whole thing starts to look like it's trying way too hard.

The Skoda Students alongside their creation
The Skoda Students alongside their creation

Also filed under the "trying too hard" heading is the LED underbody lighting and headlamps, which could have come straight from a JC Whitney catalog. The icing on this boy-racer cake of a car is the 1,800 watt, 14 speaker audio system squeezed into the boot, complete with LED lighting.

Jokes aside, it is impressive to see the wholesale sheetmetal and chassis changes a team of 26 students has managed to make since the end of 2015. We just wished it was finished with a dose of old-fashioned subtlety.

The Atero is the latest car to come from Skoda students, following in the footsteps of last year's Funstar pickup.

Source: Skoda

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