The Škoda Yeti study car was presented to the public at the Geneva motor show in the spring of this year and it produced a positive response. The design of this friendly and compact SUV which intentionally does not include aggressive features has gripped the imagination of the audience. And now Škoda is presenting an open pickup version of the Yeti at the International Motor Show IAA in Frankfurt.
Definitely one of the most attractive features of the study is its variable roof system with a number of combinations making the Yeti a true master of transformations. The original enclosed version with its pure and simple design was a positive contrast to the displayed cars. And now this time, an open version, shows that a car that appeals to the emotions does not have to be low and fast. The open pickup Yeti is ready to go on safari in the jungle of the city.
Roof system
The variable roof system has been designed in cooperation with the design department of Karmann and manufactured in its prototype workshop. A combination of a hardtop and soft-top (canvas roof) provides various alternatives of "open-air" driving. The driver and front passenger can see open skies above them if the hardtop is removed in the front. Removing the soft-top in the rear will give the car a standard pickup appearance and make it just as useful. Front passengers can enjoy the shade and the pleasant cool breeze flowing from the open rear section. If both parts of the roof are removed and the rear side windows are lowered into the storage compartments behind the upholstery panels of the side walls it provides the maximum joy of driving an open car. In addition the front doors have frameless windows as in a standard cabriolet.
The hardtop
The hardtop includes a front white half. It is anchored to the upper part of the windshield and the protective arc of the B column. The outer ends can be folded up to the central part and the entire roof can then be easily removed and stored in a special box in the luggage compartment floor.
The soft-top
The canvas roof can be either rolled down or completely removed. Crosswise it is secured by pulling devices mounted in depressions on the side columns. The soft-top is fixed or released by locking or unlocking them. If the roof is completely removed it can be stored lengthwise between the rear seats.
Interior
The interior has been designed particularly to avoid using anything too fragile and difficult to control. The use of new generation materials and synthetic fabrics shows how progressive and young the fashion of sports wear and product design can be when applied to the automobile industry.
The tailgate of the Yeti study has been redesigned to an open version: a perfectly flat loading area, as in a pick-up, which moreover has lengthwise rubber ribs, can be created by folding down both rear seats. The car has hinged inner sidewalls and the compartments thus created are used to store the rear side windows. The back wall can be folded down as normal. And when folded down another part of the floor extends over the gap that is created. This produces a perfectly straight and extended loading area almost two meters long. A particularly interesting solution is the back wall control switch integrated in the letter "O" of the "Škoda" inscription on the car's tailgate
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The central console has two dominating features: an innovative gear lever and the sound system. The gear lever has a special gate with an extremely elastic fabric which keeps it permanently strained in all gear lever positions. The removable sound system between the front seats has the controls on the top. It also includes integrated removable speakers.
Source: Skoda
