Every year Volkswagen rolls in to the GTI festival at Worthersee with a full-fledge works concept to wow the crowds of the faithful, but it also lets its apprentices work up a show car of their own. The sixth such project has just been unveiled at the Austrian lakeside gathering, revealing a customized GTI convertible. Wearing the red and white colors of its host country, the Volkswagen Golf GTI Cabriolet Austria packs a thoroughly enhanced 2.0-liter turbo four that has been augmented from 207 horsepower to 330, mated to a dual-clutch gearbox.

The apprentices also redid the interior to match the two-tone body treatment, with Recaro racing buckets and a 2,250-watt sound system slotted in where the rear seats used to be. Outside, the red stripes flanking the hood and down the rocker panels contrast with the pearl white paint, and are complemented by red mirror caps and brake calipers hidden behind black modular wheels with polished rims. Not bad for a group of thirteen kids aged 17 to 23.