Onside | Page 20

ONSIDE / FEATURE “We’ve got a truly special product, and we’ve grown into the market leader at what we do. This also brings pressures. We’re always going to be the victims of imitation, but people don’t have the experience to achieve the same standard that Twisted reaches. We continue to strive to be the best you can get,” Alex said. and braking with adjustable dampers and Twisted by Alcon front and rear calipers, re-aligning of all panels and dual layer insulation fitted throughout the vehicle, hand-trimmed saddle leather upholstery, Italian audio and ICE system, full external protective roll-cage and aluminium roof rack, additional and upgraded lighting and bespoke paint. But one project that particularly stands out as an example of the business reaching new levels of quality is of a special build, Defender 90 Station Wagon, made for a private customer in Saudi Arabia. But the iconic Defenders rolling off the production line are to be the last, resulting in the current models fetching several thousand pounds more used than new according to researchers at CAP Automotive. The vehicle is based on Twisted’s T80 model, and fitted with the 500hp LS3 GM V8, and 6 Speed Auto, with various customer specific items. If you want to get your hands on your own version it will cost in the region of £162,000. Demand for the car is so high that dealers are reporting they have sold out of the last vehicles. Land Rover has announced plans to launch a replacement model in the future but will look very different from the iconic shape, and is not expected until 2018. The special build took 800 man hours to complete and saw Twisted upgrade 420 individual components. This included; an upgrade to the entire driveline, redesigned suspension 20 Fans of the Defender can still source vehicles through specialist companies like Twisted, who take the standard