Nissan Canada will auction its first non-fungible token (NFT) featuring artwork of its GT-R created by artist Alex McLeod. The sale of the one-of-a-kind NFT has a reserve price of CA$280,000 ($220,000), which is a lot for a digital version of a real life car.
The artwork features the GT-R in three ‘supernatural’ environments. Each environment incorporates vibrant colors and holographic effects.
“When designing the NFT, I wanted to create a piece that has a sense of familiarity, but which is also totally imagined and exciting,” said McLeod.
“I really thought about how the GT-R NISMO Special Edition not only transports us physically, but emotionally and psychologically, and aimed to capture this feeling through my work.”
To sweeten the deal, the NFT comes with a real life version of Nissan’s latest GT-R NISMO Special Edition.
The physical car features a 3.8-liter twin turbo V6 that produces 600hp. This is coupled with a lighter body, exclusive 20-inch wheels and the largest carbon ceramic brakes ever fitted to a Japanese performance car.
So, depending on how you look at it, it’s either an expensive picture or a fair price for one of the most extreme GT-Rs Nissan currently offers.
But, with second-hand car prices through the roof this year, and the hype around NFTs and other crypto technologies on the rise, which aspect of this auction is more enticing?
Given the choice, would you prefer an NFT featuring artwork of a GT-R, or a real life GT-R to hoon around for a few years?
In 2019, Jalopnik found that the GT-R has one of the highest resale values off the back of a study into the depreciation of new cars. But, 10-year-old examples of the car on offer today have still lost a fair share of their market price and can be picked up for $70,000 or more.
NFTs on the other hand are volatile, and there’s seemingly no logic to what digital tokens could make you your millions. In recent months, everything from cartoon apes to NFT rocks have raked in the big bucks.