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We’ve shown you some unorthodox drag racing matchups here from different YouTube channels. You’ve seen two of the fastest EVs in the world race each other. We’ve shown you a McLaren racing a 1980s station wagon. We even filled you in on a three-way race with an F1 car, sportbike, and 911 Turbo. As strange as all those races were, we think the drag race we’re putting a spotlight on today is easily the most unique.

Leave it to the Hoonigan crew to come up with a drag race that is as entertaining as it is head-scratching. The irony of it all is that the competitors are essentially what Hoonigan had laying around their vicinity. In a display of pure genius (or boredom), the crew decided to race their tricked-out merch truck against their producer’s Porsche 718 Cayman coupe. As silly as it might sound, we would wager that such a combination would be nearly impossible to think of in any other situation.

Honestly speaking, how many of you have actually wondered if a Porsche can beat a muscled-out delivery van in a drag race? We would wager that very few people have ever pondered the concept.

Let’s take a closer look at the competitors, shall we?

2019 Porsche 718 Cayman

A sliver Porsche 718 Cayman which is similar to the Porsche featured in the drag race video in this article.
Porsche 718 Cayman | Porsche

Those in the know can trace the Cayman’s linage to the original Porsche Boxster. The original Boxster was released back in 1996. Back then, the Boxster had an unfair reputation and was wrongly ridiculed for reasons that aren’t even worth getting into here. The point is, the Cayman has had a long journey from those days to now, where it is lauded as a respectable double-duty daily driver and track car.

Hoonigan’s videos’ producer owns the 2019 Porsche 718 Cayman in this drag race, and he is not exactly what some would call a “gearhead.” He just happened to like Porsche’s and picked up his car when it was new. It is effectively stock, but a stock 718 Cayman is still armed with a 300 horsepower, turbocharged engine, 8-speed automatic transmission, and a weight of just 3,000 lbs. Very respectable numbers indeed. It is by no means a muscle car, but its power-to-weight ratio should make the 718 Cayman formidable in a straight line.

1969 Chevrolet P10 Step Van

The Hoonigan 1969 Chevrolet P10 "merch van" seen here just before its drag race with a Porsche 718 Cayman.
1969 Chevrolet P10 Hoonigan “merch van” | Hoonigan YouTube channel

Leave it to the Hoonigan crew to take an obscure, classic van and turn it into something that blows minds. When the Hoonigans needed a vehicle that they could use to sell their merch out of at events, they found this 1969 Chevrolet P10 van at a swap meet in Pomona, California. They purchased the van and immediately got to work modifying it into their vision of the ultimate “merch van.”

Those modifications include a 420 horsepower LS6 V8 engine, a custom 4-speed transmission, airbag suspension, and multiple layers of “Steel-it” polyurethane coating applied to the entire body of the van. The van weighs in at 3,300 lbs but has a 120 horsepower advantage over the Porsche. That power differential can make all the difference in a drag race.

Drag race: 2019 Porsche 718 Cayman vs. 1969 Chevrolet P10 Step Van

Which of these vehicles will come out victorious in a straight-line battle? The 718 Cayman is 300 lbs lighter than the P10 van, but the van has more horsepower and fewer gears to put that power down. The van has also defeated vehicles much more powerful than the Porsche in the past. Including Ken Block’s “Hoonicorn” custom Ford Mustang. Does the Porsche even stand a chance? We will not spoil the results. Instead, we highly encourage you watch it all unfold for yourself in the Hoonigan video above.

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