The Twisted TBug is a glorious Baja Bug with the cutest face

When you hear that a tuner or restomodder has doubled the power output of the original car for its latest creation, it probably conjures up dreams of monstrous turbo lag and possibly ludicrous torque steer.

That… probably won’t be the case here. Because while Yorkshire-based firm Twisted has doubled the grunt of the air-cooled flat-four Volkswagen Beetle engine in its new TBug, it’s still making less than 80bhp.

"It's about the connection between driver, machine, and terrain," said Twisted boss Charles Fawcett. "That sensation of working with the vehicle rather than merely sitting in it. Modern cars have isolated us from the driving experience. The T-Bug brings it back in its purest form."

It really does look like it’d be a riot to drive. Look beyond the cartoonish face with its new LED lighting and you’ll find a chassis that has been sealed and strengthened, long-travel suspension with Bilstein shocks, EMPI Baja wheels and proper off-road spec BF Goodrich tyres. And yes, Twisted’s pretty au fait with off-roading given its usual fare is old Land Rover Defenders and new Suzuki Jimnys.

There’s also a Baja-inspired bodykit, upgraded brakes and a ‘hand-finished’ interior that’s full of leather and gets a digital speedo, although we’re told each TBug will be unique to its owner so we’d imagine you could spec bucket seats and all of the Alcantara if you really wanted to test its desert racer credentials.No word on the price yet, though.

So, why has Twisted taken a break from its restomod Land Rovers to reimagine a Beetle?

“My sister Helen had these incredible Baja Bug posters on her bedroom wall when we were kids," said Fawcett. “There was something about those modified Beetles – rebellious, capable, and unashamedly fun – that captured my imagination.”