Man who bought 240 Land Rover Defenders in 2015 reveals Land Rover tried to block the deal from happening

Twisted Automotive, a tuning company that specializes in Land Rover Defenders, was created with an incredible business model.

The founder took a huge risk by purchasing 240 old Land Rovers in a one-off deal to modify each vehicle and resell it as a premium product.

It was a huge investment, but it paid off big time.

The problem was that at some point Land Rover tried to renege on the deal.

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How Land Rover tried to renege on the deal

In a video shared on the Resto Revival ~ Car Stories YouTube channel, Twisted founder Charles R. Fawcett explained how Land Rover tried to change the cards on the table.

After some tough negotiations, Fawcett agreed to buy 240 Defenders for about £8 million – equivalent to over $10 million – to start Twisted Automotive.

There are several reasons why he managed to get that deal, chief among which was the fact that Land Rover was about to discontinue the Defender. So the company was more than happy to get rid of old stock.

However, as Fawcett recounted, at some point, Land Rover started slowing down deliveries.

“The contract [we signed with Land Rover] said the vehicles had to be modified, and after they’d delivered 120, they ceased deliveries.

“They said we had to define ‘modifications’. So we had to meet with them and agree what modification was,” Fawcett said.

“[They said that] not because we’d broken the contract, just because they were trying to find ways to not deliver.”

In the end, Land Rover did deliver all 240 Defenders – as agreed – but it wasn’t easy.

No one knows what’s going to happen when they run out of Defenders

Fawcett purchased the 240 Defenders back in 2015 and put them in a ‘secret’ bunker.

The company started modifying each one individually, before selling it on at a premium.

In the first few years, Twisted Automotive was selling vehicles for around $100,000 each.

Now, some models Twisted sells can cost as much $200,000 or even $300,000.

Between 2015 and 2024, as reported recently, Fawcett said the company’s revenue exceeded £50 million – equivalent to around $65 million.

The problem is that Twisted is running out of Defenders.

At the time of writing, as Fawcett confirmed, the company has 21 vehicles left.

What’s worrying is that Twisted has no idea what it is going to do next.