Monday 26th October 2009

Renault Twingo V8 Trophy

French city car gets extra 'Va-Va-Hoon' from mid-mounted Rover

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Now that's our idea of a City Rover...

Those crazy French folk at Lazareth who brought us the Wazuma V12 quad bike earlier this year have obviously not stopped taking the happy pills.

The latest fruit of their deranged imagination is this Twingo V8 Trophy, under whose radically extended bodywork lurks a mid-mounted version of that hot-rodder's favourite, the ubiquitous Rover V8. Sadly, Lazareth is only quoting 180hp for the lump as installed, which we can't help thinking misses the point just a little bit - a front-engine transplant from a Clio 182 donor would have delivered just as much performance with a lot less work!

...although not much room for shopping!

Still, judging by the company's previous efforts, we reckon this 180hp version is probably just the starting point and the Twingo V8 Trophy definitely looks the part with those enormously flared arches, matt grey paint and minimalist interior.

The V8 is mounted on a custom built tubular subframe, and the front suspension has been replaced with an independent set-up, while the rear end features a five-speed racing transaxle.

The car runs 18ins alloy wheels, with 230mm and 320mm wide Yokohama slicks at the front and rear respectively. The price for this piece of motoring mayhem is a cool £65,000, says Lazareth, which specialises in one-off vehicles for film and promotional work.

 

[brutal deluxe]

Shame the pics aren't working at the mo?
Sounds like a fun little car. Regardless of HP you wont expect a twingo to sound like a V8 plus I reckon the engine will be more fun than the 2litre 182 lump in a light car like that, v8's add a different vibe to almost any car they are installed in.

[ThirdShift]

Always was curious by the Twingo, firstly by replacing the running gear with that of a 182 cup :-) also if it is the same platform, could you replace the rear subframe with that of a clio v6?!?!?! Not sure why id rather do this than simply buy any of the above mentioned Renaults, but just a thought

[flashygee]

http://www.evo-cars.de/kurioses/renaulttwingov8tro...

Here can you see Vids about the Car.

[Jeffmaniac]

seems a bit OTT but like the idea

6/10

[Agent Orange]

Only saw a Twingo Sport on the road yesterday and thought it might be a bit of fun.

Love this but 180bhp?? I'm no engineering techie but wouldn't something like an RST-V8 be far better? Compact V8 with decent hp?

[t84]

Needs more LS1

[loomx]

cool idea, but...

1. Needs more power.
2. Should have probably painted it before showing it off...

[LuS1fer]

Rover V8 is very light, lighter than some fours TBH and anyone even thinking of comapring a four with the aural delight of a V8 needs emasculating. Peak power doesn't tell the story of the torque either. I once drove a trans Am with 145hp and it felt like twice that.

[eurojay]

It's pony TBH, st engine with poor bhp output. Not to mention the not inconsiderable £65,000 price tag!

[CypherP]

Those last two photos look completely ridiculous.

I'm struggling to understand what they have achieved from this, when it could be done much easier, cheaper and better using something else. Those arches are hideous!

[LuS1fer]

I prefer the V8 Fiat 126s to be honest. Far more subtle. If I win the lottery, look out for a Daewoo Matiz running an LS9.

[ThirdShift]

Was hoping it would be the new shape Twingo :-( Well done to this mad guy who built it. The world isnt really crying out for a v8 Twingo but now its been done. What makes it trophy worthy thou?

[1000TCR]

The back end looks ridiculous plus it needs far more power. Apart from that, great idea. 4/10

[SirClarke]

+the price is ridiculous and it's underpowered....

[xj6executive]

Nice idea, looks good too, but underpowered for the price

[emicen]

LuS1fer said:

Rover V8 is very light, lighter than some fours TBH and anyone even thinking of comapring a four with the aural delight of a V8 needs emasculating. Peak power doesn't tell the story of the torque either. I once drove a trans Am with 145hp and it felt like twice that.

Didnt PPC fairly recently pitch the Rover V8 against various rivals though and conclude what some (myself included) have thought for some time, most others are better? (Toyota, Chevvy etc etc)

[radlet6]

Great engineering exercise, but why go to the trouble of fitting a mid mounted motor if you are going to restrict it to 180 bhp?

Unless this is he start of bigger things.

[mybrainhurts]

I quite like it...

When we invade France, he can stay...

[hornetrider]

WTF! Those arches are ridiculous! Kudos for the engineering achievement though

[brutal deluxe]

The RV8 engine is well capable of way more than that and seeing as these guy's seem to be engineers rather than a bunch of stoats working out of a lock-up I am thinking there is a good reason why they have kept the BHP down to (a respectable amount for size of vehicle) 180. Perhaps the thing actually drives better with useable power rather than having fitted a 400hp lamppost, hedge, brick wall, magnet. If they wanted huge power from a V8 they'd have fitted a chevy more than likely.