New Italian coachbuilding company Ares Design, founded by former Lotus boss Dany Bahar, has launched a special edition Land Rover Defender that majority of the body has been modified, but Ares will only built 53 examples of this limited edition.

The exterior upgrades feature plenty of weight saving carbon fibre body parts, including hood, wheel arches, front grille and headlight surrounds. Then there are the protections for off-road driving such as front and rear bumpers for heavy duty use, front side protection and side steps, as well as new front and rear bumpers and LED lights. The interior is handcrafted with artisan panels in leather, carbon and aluminium. The steering wheel is also redesigned, and in fact the interior is where Ares allows customer design request.

The Land Rover’s V8 is boosted from 4.5 to to 4.7-litres and produces 278 hp and 439 Nm of torque. The engine has been modified with new camshafts, revised cylinder heads, larger injectors and a bespoke exhaust manifold. Additionally, there is a supercharged version that generates 475 hp and 649 Nm of torque. Both versions are paired with six-speed tiptronic auto transmission.