27 October 2009 - 10:00
Twingo goes V8
See more Twingo Trophy V8 pics
Are the French loons at Lazareth on a mission to make the most dangerous vehicle known to man?
Earlier this summer, they unveiled their V12 'Wazuma' quad bike… and now they’ve only gone and wedged a V8 into an original Renault Twingo.
Yes, in the same manner as the Clio V6 – and when, incidentally, is Renault going to get round to making a new one? – the Twingo has been transformed into a mid-engined monster.
The 3.5-litre V8 has been nicked from a Range Rover and mounted behind the front seats, shoving a couple of hundred bhps to the wide, wide rear wheels – 320s, if you’re taking notes. Lazareth had to add a rear tubular subframe to the Twingo, presumably to stop the engine from twisting the entire car into a neat twist of metallic DNA.
OK, so the output isn’t quite as prodigious as the insane Wazuma quad, but the Twingo Trophy should be an oversteery little monster nonetheless. And just look at those arches! The Romans would be proud of those arches, they would.
The guys at Lazareth will build you a Twingo Trophy for around 70,000 Euro, or £63,000. If the Mugen Honda Civic is worth £38,600, surely that makes the V8 Twingo a bit of a bargain. No?
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Oh and I notice you have been avoiding the subject of the Ultima GTR720?
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Not exactly new news Top Gear fellows, this things been kicking round the net for year. Still always nice to see it again - says the Twingo owner. Oh and check out their site http://www.lazareth.fr/ they do a wild 4.6 litre V8 Mini too.
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Just imagine what you would look like in that not-quite-inconspicuous white-hot hatch. Like a berk, I would image.
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what a waste of a v8, 180bhp and its Fugly.
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Holy mother! The wheel arches are as wide as a stock twingo!
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A possible candidate for the car most likely to hurt you on day one.
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Maximum respect to the idea of whackin a great 3.5-litre V8 into a Twingo but Im affraid those stupidly flared wheel arches ruin the car entirely. It looks like a chavs DIY project gone wrong.
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that has been completly uglyfied sorry Lazareth.
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I'm not sure on that bodykit - it's like they've wedged a Twingo inside a go-kart chassis. And I don't like the pretend-RS bumper and matt grey paint either. But 180bhp in a box like that? Reminds me of Huddersfield Spares' Hayabusa Turbo-powered Mini. Same basic concept, and that could donut on a dime!
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I like this, when is ford going to do a V8 powered fiesta with about 500BHP and the biggest bodykit and wing in the world? Maybe u could call it a Fiesta RS???
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This car I can just see myself driving on a track and just over taking everyone else and just looking at the faces of porsche drivers ;p
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I dream of this car! The Twingo mk1was quite funky but c'est complètement dément! That's why I love my country. Give us Top Gear and it will be Petrolhead Heaven!
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Rear arches are wrong. No styling (if it's possible to style a Twinky).
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The new Reasonably Priced Car... LOL!!!!!
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Assuming this is a tune-up job and you actually have to supply them with a Twingo to do up, £63k is a bloody rip-off. Given a Twingo costs around £10k, that's £53,000 on a V8 and a bodykit. You can buy a V8 lifted from a C6 Corvette AND have it fitted in by specialists for less than £10k. Where in all of this is the 'bargain' again?
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Excuse me while I go and throw up.
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Old hat. Been done with a classic Mini (albeit not by a tuning house) and it remained front wheel drive: http://www.v8mini.co.uk The wheelarches are similar though...
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it will simply explode. Great to watch! i think mall off us would enjoy seeing a little peice of france burning! i woulld!!
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I wonder who would they try these things with an even smaller car? A smart perhaps? (if possible?)
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its not bad. but here is the thing if tuners can make plastic jap boxes like the mitsubishi evo dish out 700bhp with 2l engines why does car makes that install v8s not do the same to show that you can get the fantastic sound and look of a v8 with the power that should be delevered from it. this has made the twingo better it was quite an ugly car that was good it did not come over here
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I don't mean to critisize but for a start it looks like Richard Hammond's Hyundai when he put the aftermarket bumper on, and has anyone noticed the bonnet like on a Peugeot 207? It looks good, but I wouldn't think they spent time designing it, however.
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*criticise :-).
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For a 3.5 V8 to produce just 180BHP is outstandingly rubbish!. What a waste of money!, to avoid seeing a rover 214 i would go to san-fransisco, but to avoid one of those, i would go past the moons of jupiter to the end of the solar system :-).
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The only reason sports cars are built like sports cars is because that way they wont have any problems. Now a renault twingo has a v8: I always loved the idea of hot hatches but... A V8 TWINGO! Not right i'm happy with my gti mk6
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I guess it also drives like a VW Golf W12? I mean putting a big engine in a feather weight car is going to be a car which is quick - to wrap itself around a tree, that is.
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Waaaay cool, yet quite disgusting. And for you prats criticising the miserable power, thats what it had when the British put it in the Rangey.
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I hate all renualt's even twingo, but this twingo is icredible. I like this. ;]
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Claiborn commented on this article
27 October 2009
This is what happens when a Gumpert Apollo mates with a twingo then?
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