Hunters Prestige 2026: A Year of Events, Builds & Big Milestones

September 25, 2026

2026 has been a huge year for Hunters Prestige.

From travelling across the Irish Sea to build new partnerships, to some of the biggest Land Rover shows in the country, our second Defender Gathering, our biggest-ever Goodwood project and reaching 100,000 YouTube subscribers, it's been a year packed with events, new builds, new products and plenty of time spent doing what we love Defenders.

Rather than simply looking back at the year as a list of events, we wanted to revisit some of the moments that have made 2026 such a memorable year for the Hunters team.

March – Beyond Performance: Northern Ireland

We kicked off 2026 with a trip across the Irish Sea, heading to Northern Ireland to meet our trade customer, Beyond Performance, in Belfast.

For the journey, we wanted our company Defender to stand out. Our V8 Defender was wrapped in a vibrant orange by Gavin at AVWUK, finished with contrasting gloss black Hunters Prestige products to create a look that was impossible to miss.

From 16th–20th March, Tristan, George and James made the trip across to Northern Ireland, using Portrush as our base for the trip while making the journey down to Belfast to spend time with the Beyond Performance team.

The journey itself was just as important as the destination. With the Defender in its new orange wrap, we travelled along the Northern Irish coastal route, stopping along the way to capture some of the incredible scenery and put together some of the first content of the year.

Once we reached Belfast, we spent time with the team at Beyond Performance, getting an insight into how they operate and how they approach their own vehicle builds and customer projects.

We also had the opportunity to share some of our experience with the team, showing them tips and tricks for fitting Hunters Prestige products and helping them get familiar with the products and installation processes.

The trip was documented across a two-part YouTube series, giving viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the journey, the orange V8 Defender, our time with the Beyond Performance team and the incredible scenery along the Northern Irish coast.

What started as a trip to meet a fellow business in the Land Rover industry has since developed into an important partnership for Hunters Prestige. Beyond Performance are now our trusted partner in Northern Ireland, giving us a local presence and helping us support customers across the water.

It was a brilliant way to start 2026 — combining a road trip, new content, business development and, of course, plenty of time behind the wheel of a Defender.

April – Great British Land Rover Show, Bath

On 25th and 26th April, we headed to Bath for the Great British Land Rover Show, taking two very different but equally important Defenders with us.

The first was our recently reborn V8 Defender, giving visitors the chance to see one of our own vehicles and some of the latest Hunters Prestige products up close.

Joining it on the stand was a Defender owned by one of our loyal customers — a 75th Anniversary Edition, fully kitted out with Hunters Prestige products.

Having a customer vehicle alongside our own builds was a great way to demonstrate how our products can be used to create a Defender that is personal to its owner, rather than simply following a set formula.

Lukas, Tristan, George and James were at the show throughout the weekend, meeting customers, answering questions and talking through the different ways the latest Defender can be customised.

Away from the stand, George also headed out to explore the showground, taking a look at everything from legendary classic Land Rovers through to the latest Defenders.

From timeless icons to modern Defenders and serious upgrade potential, there was plenty of inspiration on display — and plenty of ideas flowing for future projects.

One of the most interesting things for us throughout the weekend was the amount of interest from Land Rover owners who were either considering making the move into a new Defender or simply wanted to understand what was possible with the latest generation.

There was a real mix of people at the show. Some were already experienced Land Rover owners, while others were discovering the new Defender for the first time.

For many, seeing the level of customisation available was a real eye-opener. From relatively simple styling upgrades and accessories through to much more involved retrofits and OEM-style upgrades, the new Defender offers an enormous amount of scope for personalisation.

That made the Great British Land Rover Show in Bath a great opportunity not only to showcase what Hunters Prestige does, but also to speak to people who could potentially be joining the new Defender community for the first time.

July – Goodwood Festival of Speed

If there was one event that stood out above everything else in 2026, it was the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

For Hunters Prestige, Goodwood was a huge milestone. It was the first time we'd taken on a project of this scale, and months of planning went into making sure we could create something that properly represented where Hunters is heading.

While the stand itself had been in the planning process for at least four months, the Defender builds were a very different story. We pushed the vehicles right up to the last minute, with the entire Hunters team involved in getting everything finished and ready to leave for Goodwood.

Two Defenders. One question: why not?

For the project, we bought two brand-new Defenders directly from a Land Rover dealer.

The first was a high-specification Defender Commercial Hard Top. The second was a brand-new Black Edition Defender OCTA.

It didn't take long for the team to start thinking about what we could do by combining the two.

Why not take the OCTA seats and put them into the Commercial?

That simple idea became the starting point for what would become the only OCTA Commercial build in the world.

At the same time, we wanted to demonstrate just how far we could take our recently developed commercial-to-passenger conversion.

The second Defender was converted into a passenger vehicle and fitted with the OCTA seats, before becoming the showcase for several new and exclusive retrofit developments from Hunters Prestige.

New retrofits revealed at Goodwood

Goodwood became the first opportunity for us to publicly showcase three major retrofit developments:

Body & Soul Seats
Massage Seats
Rear Seat Entertainment

These weren't simply aftermarket additions. They were part of the wider OEM-style retrofit work we have been developing at Hunters Prestige, with the systems integrated into the vehicle and controlled through the Pivi Pro environment.

The Body & Soul Seats were particularly significant, incorporating speakers directly into the seats to create a more immersive audio experience.

The massage seats added another level of comfort, while the Rear Seat Entertainment system brought a completely new level of functionality to the rear of the Defender.

Together, they demonstrated just how far a Defender can be taken after it has left the factory.

Rather than simply converting a Commercial Defender into a passenger vehicle, we wanted to show what was possible when you combine a properly developed conversion with genuine Land Rover technology and specialist retrofit expertise.

Making sure nobody missed them

With the two vehicles complete, there was still one more decision to make — the colours.

The passenger-converted Defender was going to be displayed outside on a plinth in the middle of the Goodwood sun, so we wanted something that would immediately grab attention from the walkways.

The answer was Citrus Fury, a bright, sparkling green wrap from Oracle.

We knew it wouldn't be a colour that everyone loved.

In fact, that was partly the point.

We wanted people to stop, look twice, talk about it and, ideally, disagree about it.

And it worked.

The reaction was surprisingly positive, with far more people loving the colour than we'd expected. But whether people loved it or hated it, it achieved exactly what we wanted — it got people talking and pulled them towards the vehicle.

The OCTA took a slightly different approach, finished in Bluetiful, a more universally likeable colour that still made the vehicle stand out without being quite as divisive as the Citrus Fury.

The reaction at Goodwood

Once the doors opened, the reaction to both vehicles was incredible.

Visitors were impressed by the range of Hunters products on display, but there was also genuine surprise at how much could actually be changed and upgraded through our retrofit work.

The newly revealed Body & Soul Seats, massage seats and Rear Seat Entertainment generated plenty of interest, with visitors getting to see first-hand what is possible with our genuine Land Rover retrofit work.

The OCTA Commercial in particular caused plenty of confusion.

People would walk up to the vehicle, look at it, look again and then ask why we had built an OCTA as a Commercial.

Our answer was simple:

Why not?

It was exactly the sort of reaction we'd hoped for.

The build wasn't created because there was an obvious demand for an OCTA Commercial. It was created because we wanted to see whether we could do it.

And standing at Goodwood with the only OCTA Commercial build in the world on our stand made all those months of planning, development and last-minute work worthwhile.

For the Hunters team, Goodwood was about more than displaying a couple of Defenders.

It was a chance to show people what we are capable of — from developing our own vehicle conversions to integrating genuine Land Rover technology and creating completely unique vehicles that simply wouldn't exist without the ideas and expertise of the team behind them.

What started with two brand-new Defenders from a Land Rover dealer ended up as two vehicles that looked and felt completely different from where they started.

And for Hunters Prestige, that was the real achievement of Goodwood.

Great British Land Rover Show – Newark

After the scale and intensity of Goodwood, the Great British Land Rover Show in Newark was a very different kind of event — but just as enjoyable for the Hunters team.

Rather than the huge production and months of preparation that went into Goodwood, Newark gave us the opportunity to get back to what we love about Land Rover events: putting our vehicles on display, meeting enthusiasts and having conversations with people who share the same passion for these vehicles.

We took the two Defenders created specifically for Goodwood along with us, giving visitors another opportunity to see the builds up close and discover some of the work that had gone into them.

It was also great to see some familiar faces.

Having already attended the Bath show and Goodwood earlier in the year, we started to recognise people we'd met at previous events. Customers and enthusiasts we'd spoken to earlier in the year were now coming back to talk to us again, catch up on the latest developments and, of course, talk all things Land Rover.

For us, that's one of the best parts of attending these events.

The conversations don't necessarily end when the show does. As Hunters Prestige continues to attend more events across the country, we're building relationships with people who follow our work, own our products and are interested in what we're developing next.

Newark was another great opportunity to showcase what Hunters Prestige can do, but more importantly, it continued to build the community around the brand.

August – The Defender Gathering 2026

On 15th August, we hosted the second ever Defender Gathering at Elveden Estate — and once again, it was a fantastic day for the Hunters team and the wider Defender community.

After the success of the first event in 2025, we were excited to bring the Gathering back for its second year and build on what we'd started.

The idea behind the Defender Gathering has always been simple: bring together Defender owners, enthusiasts, businesses and like-minded people for a relaxed day centred around the vehicle we all love.

And this year, that's exactly what happened.

Putting the Defenders to the test

One of the biggest attractions of the event was the opportunity to get off the tarmac.

The Explore 4x4 team joined us again, giving visitors the chance to take part in a supervised off-road trail across the Elveden Estate.

It was great to see so many people making use of the trail throughout the day, with Defenders being put through their paces under the guidance of experienced instructors.

For some owners, it was an opportunity to experience what their Defender could actually do off-road, while for others it was simply another excuse to get behind the wheel and have some fun.

Food, coffee and a great atmosphere

Of course, no Hunters event would be complete without some good food and drink.

We were joined by the Suffolk Pizza truck, alongside a bar providing refreshments throughout the day.

We were also really pleased to welcome &Kaffein back for their second year. Their converted Defender coffee truck was once again a real feature of the event, serving coffees and sweet treats to keep everyone going throughout the day.

Adding to the atmosphere was our DJ, who kept the music going throughout the event and helped create the relaxed, social feel we wanted the Defender Gathering to have.

The Hunters community

We were also joined by a great selection of trade partners, including Sheffield Defender Works, Pro-Vans Ltd, AVWUK, Carseats Plus UK and more.

Having these businesses at the event gave visitors the opportunity to discover even more products, services and specialists within the wider Defender community.

Over at the Hunters stand, we also ran a major discount across our products, giving attendees the opportunity to pick up some of their favourite Hunters upgrades at special event pricing.

Defenders everywhere

The biggest highlight, however, was simply seeing the number of Defenders arrive.

With more than 50 Defenders lined up across the field at Elveden Estate, the scale of the event was a brilliant sight for the team.

The variety of vehicles and the number of people who turned up was a great reflection of just how strong the Defender community has become around Hunters Prestige.

And that's exactly what we wanted the Defender Gathering to become.

It's not about having the most expensive Defender or the biggest list of modifications. It's about bringing people together who share an enthusiasm for the vehicle and giving them somewhere to enjoy it.

Year two complete

Our second Defender Gathering was another success and a brilliant reflection of how much the Hunters community has grown.

Seeing more than 50 Defenders gathered together, watching people make the most of the off-road trail, meeting our trade partners and seeing everyone enjoying the food, coffee, music and atmosphere made all the planning worthwhile.

After two years, the Defender Gathering is already becoming an important part of our own calendar — and we're excited to see how we can build on it in the future.

September – LRO Show, Belvoir Castle

On 5th and 6th September, we headed to the LRO Show at Belvoir Castle for another weekend surrounded by the Land Rover community.

Following a busy summer of events, including Goodwood, Newark and our own Defender Gathering, the LRO Show gave us another opportunity to take the Hunters builds on the road and meet even more customers and enthusiasts.

We once again brought along the two Defenders originally built for Goodwood, giving visitors the chance to see the vehicles up close and discover some of the work that had gone into them.

It was also great to see familiar faces from earlier events in the year, while meeting plenty of new people who were discovering Hunters Prestige for the first time.

As always, a huge part of the weekend was simply talking all things Land Rover — from products and accessories to the latest Defender builds and the possibilities offered by genuine Land Rover retrofits.

The two Goodwood builds continued to attract plenty of attention, particularly the OCTA Commercial and the extensive retrofit work carried out on the passenger-converted Defender.

With another event ticked off the calendar, the 2026 event season continued to give us the opportunity to showcase what we've been working on while building relationships with the wider Land Rover community.

100K YouTube Subscribers – The Johnny Fisher Collaboration

2026 was also a huge year for Hunters Prestige online, with our YouTube channel reaching a milestone we'd been working towards for years — 100,000 subscribers.

To celebrate, we wanted to do something a little different.

Rather than simply marking the milestone with a thank-you video, we decided to build something completely unique and bring someone from outside the Land Rover world into the Hunters universe.

That person was professional heavyweight boxer Johnny Fisher.

The result was our 100K YouTube Special, centred around a Defender build created specifically for Johnny — a heavyweight Defender to match its new owner.

The collaboration gave us the opportunity to combine two very different worlds: professional boxing and heavily modified Defenders.

Johnny came down to Hunters, got involved with the build and gave us an insight into his life away from the ring, while we set about creating a Defender that suited him.

It wasn't just about handing over a finished vehicle. The video followed the process of building the Defender and Johnny's reaction to seeing how it came together, giving our audience a different type of Hunters video and introducing the brand to a completely new audience.

For us, the collaboration was also a great example of how far the Hunters YouTube channel has come.

What started as videos documenting Defender builds and installations had grown into a platform where we could collaborate with people outside of the traditional Land Rover community and create content that appealed to a much wider audience.

Reaching 100,000 subscribers was a massive achievement for the whole team, and being able to celebrate it by creating something as unique as the Johnny Fisher Defender made the milestone even more special.

Watch the 100K Special:
The Heavyweight Defender Build Nobody Saw Coming | 100K Special

And, fittingly for Hunters, it wasn't just a 100K subscriber special — it was another excuse to build a Defender that you wouldn't see anywhere else.

Beyond the Events – A Year of Development

While the events have been some of the most visible moments of 2026, a huge amount has happened behind the scenes at Hunters Prestige too.

The year has seen us continue to expand our range of products, develop new genuine Land Rover retrofit solutions and push further into areas that go well beyond traditional Defender accessories.

Our retrofit work has continued to grow, with developments including advanced infotainment upgrades, digital dash conversions, ClearSight mirrors, ambient lighting, deployable steps, fridge installations, Meridian Signature audio and a growing range of comfort and technology upgrades.

We've also continued to expand our work beyond the Defender, with genuine retrofit and activation solutions for the new Range Rover and Range Rover Sport.

One of the biggest developments has been our work on commercial-to-passenger vehicle conversions, an area that came to life publicly at Goodwood with the OCTA-seated passenger build.

Alongside the physical products and vehicles, our content operation has continued to grow rapidly. The Hunters YouTube channel reaching 100,000 subscribers is a reflection of years of creating content around the vehicles, the team, the products and the people who make Hunters what it is.

For us, that's an important part of the story.

Hunters Prestige has never just been about selling a product. The content, events, builds, partnerships and community have all become part of the brand.

Looking Back at 2026

Looking back, 2026 has been a year of pushing things further.

We travelled to Northern Ireland and developed a new partnership with Beyond Performance. We met customers and enthusiasts across the country at Bath, Goodwood, Newark and Belvoir Castle. We hosted the second Defender Gathering at Elveden Estate and brought more than 50 Defenders together.

We took on our biggest event project yet at Goodwood, built the only OCTA Commercial in the world, publicly showcased new retrofit developments and pushed our commercial-to-passenger conversion further than ever before.

And, alongside all of that, we reached 100,000 YouTube subscribers and celebrated the milestone with a collaboration with Johnny Fisher.

None of those things happened individually.

They were the result of a team continuing to develop, experiment, build and — occasionally — ask the simple question: