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.
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.