If you’re heading
to a Portuguese beach this year, then you might see a Volkswagen Amarok with a
colorful look and some extra gear. It’s not owned by a local surfer, as it’s
actually been tasked with saving lives and is part of a fleet that counts 28
such units of the pickup truck.
Supporting the
SeaWatch project of the Portuguese Life Saving Federation, the fleet of Amaroks
will be used on the country’s coastline. They’re equipped with special systems
for different jobs, from rescue materials to surfboards, spineboards, life
jackets, flashlights and emergency lights. Each one also carries a defibrillator
and sports bright decals.
In between them, the
pickup trucks are expected to cover nearly 300,000 km annually.
Powering them is the range-topping 3.0-liter V6 diesel, which puts out 258 PS and 580 Nm of torque. The mill is matched to an
eight-speed automatic transmission that output to the permanent 4Motion
all-wheel drive system.
The SeaWatch
project kicked off 8 years ago. Since then the Amaroks have been involved in
more than 2,100 missions, saving over 400 lives. Such vehicles are also being
used on beaches in Germany.
