Land Rover restomodder Twisted has turned its attention to the Range Rover Classic, adding modern performance, luxury, and build quality to the great British 4×4. At the heart of the update is a 6.2-liter, 507-hp Chevrolet LT1 crate engine, driving through an eight-speed automatic transmission. Suspension and bushings are upgraded, there are new differentials, and a more powerful braking system is installed, featuring six-piston front calipers and four-pot units at the rear.
The donor vehicle is a two-door 1990-1992 Range Rover two-door, which Twisted will source and then put through a full body-off restoration. When it’s time for the panels to be put back on, Twisted fits its own hammer-formed front and rear rolled arches, color-coded C-pillars, and a new front splitter with integrated driving lights. Also at the front is a backdated bumper that evokes the Rangie of the 1970s. The fit and finish is a far cry from the bad old days of British Leyland with what Twisted calls “obsessive panel tolerances.”
Moving inside, Twisted not only adds leather trim to all interior surfaces, but it also lowers the front seats to improve the driving position. Climate control and audio systems get the 21st-century treatment, and there’s been a big effort to improve refinement by sealing the cabin and introducing extra soundproofing.
Founder Charles Fawcett says that it was the cars he grew up with that inspired the Twisted Range Rover Classic. “When I think back to the 1980s, my father always seemed to have a two-door Range Rover, and there was one particular one that stood out,” he says. “It was terracotta brown with fiberglass extended wheel arches and white Weller eight-spoke wheels shod with General Grabber road-oriented tires. On the front, he’d fabricated a valance out of an MGB GT front spoiler. To me, it was just iconic. Today, the TRRC exists out of unapologetic nostalgia, recreating something I remember from when I was a tiny boy. I think many customers will relate to that feeling.”
With just 12 build slots available per year and priced from £350,000 ($464,000), there won’t be that many customers, although it will be available in the U.S.
“The Range Rover Classic is a British icon. It’s not for everyone, and that’s the point,” admits Fawcett. As with all Twisted products, not everyone will want one, and of those that do, not everyone will get one.”
Report by Nik Berg
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