Crypto fans are paying more for NFT cars than real ones

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.

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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.

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.

𒄭/𒐤

𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐 $CAR:

𝟿𝟿𝟿 𝚎𝚡𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜
𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝙻𝚊𝚖𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚒 𝙷𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚊𝚗

𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚎 +
𝚊𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚙 𝟶𝟸.𝟸𝟻.𝟸𝟸 ➞ https://t.co/AV6YAO4wlP
͏ pic.twitter.com/wRIFP2M4kp

— 𒐪 (@SHL0MS) February 17, 2022

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.