TWISTED T90 EV

Restomodder of classic Land Rover Defenders turns its attention to electrification

- MATT SAUNDERS

TESTED 5.4.22, LONDON ON SALE NOW

TESTER'S NOTE

Twisted's range estimate seems pretty realistic. On a 95% charge, our test car indicated just over 120 miles and, both through town and out of it, used power as it anticipated. MS

It has been an eventful time for Twisted. When last we checked in on the Yorkshire-based Land Rover Defender modifier, in 2018, it had not long launched its first Chevrolet V8-powered model. It has since been sued by Land Rover twice over trademark infringement and won both times. But neither that nor the wider business challenges of the last few years has held up the firm's expansion much.

There are now Twisted Defenders being sold under license in the UAE and the US, and the firm has new UK dealerships in Kensington (London) and Salcombe (Devon) to go with its headquarters in Thirsk.

Of the 240 last-off-the-line Defender Commercials that Twisted founder Charles Fawcett bought up back in 2016 (and if Land Rover had a problem with his business model, which was already well established by that time, you might wonder why it sold them to him), apparently, only 40 'new' chassis remain as a departure point for anyone who comes through the door without a donor car for a restomod build.

And the firm's latest introduction is likely to bring a whole new kind of buyer through the door. That's because, as an alternative to one of the company's top-level Chevy V8 and 2.3-litre Ford Ecoboost-powered models (or just a birthday upgrade for your hard-working Defender diesel), you can now have an electro mo.