12 trainees from Volkswagen have revealed their 400 PS Golf GTI Heartbeat at the international meeting of GTI fans.

Celebrating 40 years of the Golf GTI - or ’40 years of hearts beating faster’ - the one off concept is also joined by a Golf R Variant Performance 35 with 350 PS (257 kW) built by trainees from Saxony.

The interior and exterior design of the Golf GTI Heartbeat is inspired by the ‘emotion of the GTI’ and features a contrasting colour scheme, a honeycomb design and heartbeat symbols as well as a sound system with seven speakers. The concept is based on a standard Golf GTI Performance and was created in just under nine months on the basis of ideas developed by apprentices aged between 20 and 26 training in five different vocations.

The two-door Golf is painted in reflex silver metallic with the roof and front end covered in a contrasting dark grey foil. GTI honeycombs in bright tornado red with contrasting dark and light grey provide further design accents on the bonnet, the roof and on the wings, marking the transition from dark to light. In addition, an individual high-gloss body kit and 20-inch wheels featuring wide tires on BBS aluminium rims with exclusive paintwork, accentuate the car’s sporting presentation.

On the inside, the front of the passenger compartment is dominated by two folding bucket seats from the Golf GTI Clubsport S - revealed yesterday – but decorated by a crystal grey embroidered “40“ emblem on the headrest and honeycomb perforations with a red background on the back rests. These are repeated on the door insets while heartbeat symbols on continuous lines decorate the strips above the door trims and the trim strip below the glove compartment. Instead of rear seats and luggage space, the rear end of the car features the high-end sound system with 1,360 watts and a special HIFI system with LED lighting and engraved glass covers.

The trainees are all budding vehicle interior fitters, vehicle paint technicians, automotive mechatronics technicians, a technical product designer and a process technician specialising in plastics and rubber engineering. By working on the Volkswagen Vocational Training project, the young talents gained considerable specialist expertise and skill and grew into a strong team.

“During the creation of their dream GTI, our apprentices learn about the complexity of automobile production,” says Peter Christ, Head of Automotive Technology Training in Wolfsburg. “We select especially talented young people and give them an opportunity at an earlystage to learn from experienced colleagues from the entire company – for example from the design departments, the MultiMedia Centre, the pilot hall and the paint shop.”

The Golf GTI Heartbeat is the ninth GTI project vehicle of Volkswagen Vocational Training to be presented by apprentices and to make its world debut at the Wörthersee meeting since 2008.