At Twisted, they know a thing or two about modifying all and any classic Land Rover products. So when they turned their attention - every last nut and bolt of it - to reimagining the brilliance of the classic Range Rover, you'll be unsurprised to find that the result, pictured here, will take your breath away. And that's without pressing the elegantly refashioned accelerator to wake up the mighty V8 that now lurks under the famous clamshell bonnet in front of you. One for the very fast farmers, then.
Land Rover aimed the Range Rover at the more upscale farmer, who perhaps had a Defender or three to mind the acres, but wanted something a little more stylish for themselves, while retaining all of the off road ability for which every Land Rover is rightly renowned. The Range Rover's designers could not have known they were participating in the invention of that staple of contemporary roads, the SUV.
And they'd never have imagined their brainchild would have been taken apart and fastidiously rethought: chassis stripped, sandblasted, galvanised, complete body off panel by panel restoration and with paintwork in your selection of colourway. But that is very much the start. "Growing up in the Eighties, the king of the road was the Range Rover," says Twisted boss Charles Fawcett, "[our RRC] had to perform, it had to be communicative .. [so] we took our [Chevrolet] V8 conversion that we applied to Defender, 467 horse power with an eight speed auto. We adopted the fit to suit Range Rover .. you've got something that's sharp and super-drivable."
The prefect three-door Range Rover?
Suspension and braking are upgraded, the exterior look is unique, leather interior – again to customer's preference – more luxurious than any early Range Rover has ever been. References and indeed parts come from a variety of Range Rover eras - and that's not for the purists, as Twisted boss Fawcett notes using an example that speaks of attention to every detail: "I like the 70s front bumper but with our choice of lighting, I preferred the 90s grille and headlight surrounds .. so when you look at the vehicle it's a contradiction in terms, but for me it's the perfect classic three door Range Rover."
Gone is the time when you'd find an unmolested Rangie in a farmer's secluded barn. Solidly restored examples will set you back around £80,000, and for that you'll get all the elegance of a classic Range Rover that'll happily take you across your ploughed fields for years to come, or just as likely be the centrepiece at your next local car show.
But there's little fun in that compared to the obsessive joy of commissioning your very own Twisted RRC. Naturally being a bespoke restomod you'll have to raid your piggy bank a little more, but what's £350,000 when you have the ultimate everywhere weapon in your driveway? Cocktails when you're done with the high speed farmwork? Don't mind if we do.
