Starting at just $130,000, the all-electric Tesla Model S Plaid is the world’s fastest production car barring a handful of hypercars worth well over $1 million. But can it hold its own against an adversary as fierce and ruthless as this built Chevrolet Caprice?
The retro coupe is over half a century old and tuned to the hilt for the drag strip. As a donk car, it rides unusually high on comically oversized 26-inch wheels, which underplays its real strengths.
The thrust comes from an LS7 eight-cylinder engine, the likes of which were installed in the Corvette Z06 two generations ago. The mill is extensively tuned and slams the wheels with 2,500 horsepower (2,535 PS; 1,864 kW). The Tesla has only around 40 percent of that number, but benefits from electric instant torque.
The race was held in two stages. The first one saw the Plaid jump the start and get disqualified while the Chevrolet struggled to get traction. The second one was a fair victory of one over the other, although the gap was less than one-tenth of a second. Make sure you see it with your own eyes!