A TWISTED DAY OUT

I haven’t had much dealings with Twisted Automotive over the years, in fact you can read that as none, not even when I wrote for the sadly missed Land Rover World magazine. So when I heard that after a two year hiatus due to the pandemic, they will once again be opening their gates for a customer open day, I figured it would a good opportunity for me to show up and acquaint myself with their wares.

The idea was for customers and fans alike to come along and discover what happens behind the scenes, to meet the team and explore their range of built and in-build Defenders.

Arriving at their premises in Thirsk, North Yorkshire, my timing couldn’t have been worse as I watched a large collection of Defenders driving off into the distance. Was that it? Had the open day concluded already?

It transpired that a group were departing on their annual Y300 trip - a customer drive spanning three days that takes in the best of Yorkshire. This year Sean Conway, the explorer, joined them in his Bahama Gold 110 named Colonel Mustard. There was also couple who had travelled all the way from the Netherlands to take part.

Once the dust had settled and some of the crowd had dispersed, I walked through their gates and was immediately confronted with a fine collection of late model Defenders waiting to be ‘Twisted’, and further back some that already had Parked in the middle of the car park was Twisted’s own fully electric Defender.

Priced from £225,000, Twisted has designed its powertrain from the ground up, with the 90 EV equipped with a 61kWh battery offering up to 140 miles of range. The 110 and 130 are powered by a larger 81kWh pack that gives them 180 miles of range.

Wandering into their premises and there were more fully built Defenders, and others in varying states of build. Taking a closer look at the latter it was interesting to see the detailed work that goes into creating a Twisted Defender. I shouldn’t been surprised as Twisted Automotive have been practising their craft for over 20 years, and continue to produce some of the best Defenders available today.

With hot food and refreshments available throughout the day, as well as a tombola and DJ, it was a busy and popular event, with members of the Twisted team on hand giving tours of the workshop and answering questions about the build process.

Although I didn’t get to speak to anyone on the day, exciting plans are afoot to spend a bit more time with the team, as well as their vehicles.

To find out more about Twisted Automotive follow them on: Facebook - TwistedAutomotiveLtd or check out their website at www.twistedautomotive.com