Renault Twingo news - Twingo goes V8 - 2009

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? 

To find out about more stories like this, follow us on Twitter and become a fan of Top Gear on Facebook.