As aftermarket as it gets, this juiced-up overland pickup made waves at one of the world’s largest auto trade shows.
If you’re looking for a practical, budget-friendly camper upgrade for your trusty 1978 Datsun, just turn back now. There’s nothing for you here.
This beastly four-wheel-drive mod is as formidable as it is gorgeous. Affectionately dubbed the “Rule Breaker,” this trail-ready Nissan doesn’t look like it’s meant for family getaways. It looks like it’s designed to weather the apocalypse… in style.
SEMA-Build Nissan Titan XD
The off-road behemoth debuted last week at the international SEMA trade show in Las Vegas.
Hellwig Suspension Products presented the truck, a 2016 Nissan Titan XD, at its booth. Besides turning heads as a potential Optimus Prime stand-in, the Rule Breaker showed off Hellwig’s beefy 2,800-lb. capacity air springs.
Squatting atop those springs is a 1,800-pound Lance 650 camper with a very custom bumblebee paint scheme. We didn’t get a look inside the “Rule Breaker,” but Lance campers are definitely glamp-worthy.
Big Muscle, Big Bucks
Before you start Googling “Hellwig Super Camper,” you should know the Rule Breaker is not for sale.
“Hellwig is planning to do a lot with the camper, including taking it to all of its off-road and overland show appearances next year, and using it as a press vehicle,” Jon Barrett, a representative for Hellwig, told us. “As of this time there are no plans to sell it.”
Don’t feel bad, you probably couldn’t afford it anyway. The retail price of all the individual components, including the truck itself, is over $118,000 — considerably more than a tow-behind and a KOA stay.
Even if you could buy this whip, 100 grand just gets that rolling mountain into your driveway. The Rule Breaker weighs more than five tons. Even with the 310-hp diesel engine, the gang at Hellwig only managed 11 mpg on the highway drive back from the show.
I’m no math whiz, but with current fuel prices that comes out to around $4 million for a trip to Yellowstone (GearJunkie not responsible for calculation errors).
Not sure we’ll be able to get this bad boy in for testing, but if The Rapture devastates the earth and this thing drops 99 percent off MSRP, we just may have to buy one.
