1500

Make
Ram
Segment
Sports Car

If you were born with a smartphone in your hand or lulled to sleep by the sounds of Baby Shark, you likely have no idea what the American automaker Packard was. Briefly, it can be described as a company that used to build exquisite luxury automobiles that eventually couldn't compete with what Europe and the rest of America were offering, much like Studebaker. It doesn't exist anymore and its old production plant is now a go-kart track, but you may still find one or two of its models lying in a barn somewhere. The Packard you see below, however, is the kind of monstrous abomination that would flatten such a barn.

It started off life as a regular sedan, before it decayed and got forgotten about. At some point, someone decided to restore the car, but it still ended up in its cliche residence somewhere in a field. Since nobody wanted to continue the project, a company called Garage Bound decided that rather than trying to find ultra scarce parts for it, readily available parts should be fitted - even if they have nothing to do with a luxury car, or even a car at all. Under the skin of this lifted off-roader are parts from Ford, Dodge, and Chevrolet, but they all serve a purpose: getting to almost inaccessible locales to perform repairs on other off-roaders.

Dubbed the Packard Rescue Pig by its owner, Michael Brandt of Garage Bound, the vehicle was built with the goal of doing "any welding or fabricating and some mechanical repair work while on the trail." Thus, it features a 1996 Dodge Ram chassis shortened by nine inches, a Ford transfer case, the dually rear axle off a school bus, a big-block Chevy V8 from a motorhome, and 37-inch Falken off-road tires. The additional components for repair work include a hydraulic shelf with a MIG welder, plasma cutter, and generator. Compressed air tanks reside beneath the vehicle, while the roof rack also carries extra tires, tools, and welding gear, along with a cutting torch. Getting rescued from a breakdown has never been so strange.