Say you had millions of dollars to spend. If you’re an automotive enthusiast, perhaps you’d buy the latest Ferrari or a 1956 Aston Martin. But would you spend an exorbitant amount for a car you can’t physically drive?
It may sound illogical, but research by Vanarama shows people are digging deep into their pockets to buy car-related NFTs. This means that they own the cars’ digital rendering (although anyone can view and download it), but they’ll never get to lay a single hand on the vehicle.
In fact, as per the study, buyers are willing to pay even more for the NFT version than the actual car.
Let’s take a 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 — 10 times the cost of the actual car’s $200,000 price tag.
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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 was sold for.
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The artist behind it, under the pseudonym Shl0ms, stated at the time that his creation was a protest against “crypto culture,” rather than an attempt to make profit.
3. A DeLorean DMC-12
Fans of the Back to the Future franchise can buy the ‘time-traveling’ DeLorean for a minimum of around $50,000. Its NFT counterpart, however, is priced at $183,000.
4. The Car Man Logo
That’s actually a mere logo — and only a 2D one at that.
Surprisingly, it’s the most expensive car-related NFT, currently priced at a whopping $8,562,450 million. You could instead buy an original Aston Martin DB5 — one of the most sought-after classic cars in existence — at $6.9 million, and still have money to spare.
If you’re not shocked yet, here’s the full list of the most (unreasonably) costly car-related NFTs:
I personally don’t see anything worthwhile in buying a car NFT other than a weird flex, ignorance, or recklessness. So I’m sticking to paying for a good ol’ physical car.
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