Suppose you had millions of dollars to spend. If you’re a car enthusiast, you might want to buy the latest Ferrari or a 1956 Aston Martin. But would you spend an exorbitant amount for a car that you cannot physically drive?
It may sound illogical, but research by Vanarama shows that people dig deep into their pockets to buy auto-related NFTs. This means they own the digital representation of the cars (although anyone can view and download it), but they will never be able to put a hand on the vehicle.
In fact, according to the research, buyers are willing to pay even more for the NFT version than for the actual car.
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Let’s look at four ridiculous examples:
1. A Nissan GT-R
In September, a 3D rendering of the Nissan GT-R sports car was auctioned for more than $2.3 million – ten times the price of the actual car with a $200,000 price tag.
2. A video of an exploding Lamborghini
A brand new Lamborghini Huracan will cost you about $200,000. That’s still cheaper than the crazy $250,000 a video of one bursting into pieces before was sold.
/𒐤
𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐 $CAR:
𝚎𝚡𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚏𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜
𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝙻𝚊𝚖𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚒 𝙷𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚎 +
𝟶𝟸.𝟸𝟻.𝟸𝟸 ➞ https://t.co/AV6YAO4wlP
pic.twitter.com/wRIFP2M4kp— (@SHL0MS) February 17, 2022
The artist behind it, under the pseudonym Shl0ms, stated: at the time when his creation was a protest against “cryptoculture” rather than an attempt to make a profit.
3. A DeLorean DMC-12
Fans of the Back to the future franchise can buy the “time-traveling” DeLorean for a minimum of about $50,000. To be NFT counterparthowever, is priced at $183,000.
4. The Car Man Logo
That’s really just a logo – and then just a 2D logo.
Surprisingly, it is the most expensive auto-related NFT, currently priced at a whopping $8,562,450 million. You could instead buy an original Aston Martin DB5 – one of the most desirable classic cars around – for $6.9 million, and still have money left over.
If you’re not already shocked, here’s the full list of the most (unreasonably) expensive auto-related NFTs:
Personally, I see nothing worthwhile in buying a car NFT other than a weird bow, ignorance or recklessness. So I stick to paying for a good old physical car.