Names Like BugattiFerrari or pagani They usually occupy the first positions in the most expensive car lists in the world. However, there is a vehicle whose cost far exceeds Ferrari 250 Gto that, according to Forbesit was sold for 51.7 million dollars.
However, despite all that luxury exhibitionfirst engineering and leather, none of the current supercoches has yet surpassed a car made in 1971 that does not appear in auctions and can not even drive on earth.
Lunar roving vehicle (LRV) was the first convertible electric off That only astronauts have had the privilege of driving and their test track was nothing less than the surface of the moon.
There were no luxuries, but it is still the most exclusive
Far from being a whim of millionairesthis vehicle was designed to survive in a completely hostile environment, without air, without roads and with a much lower gravity than the land. The most expensive car in history ended up being a lunar buggy that changed space exploration forever and whose price places it at an unattainable level for any other car.
He Lunar Roving Vehicle It was developed by NASA and manufactured by Boeing and Delco Electronics for Apollo 15, 16 and 17, and only four units were built, although only three arrived at the Moon; The fourth was reserved for spare parts.
This simple car was an authentic miracle of technology for its time. It was a Electric SUV of four motor wheels, each with its own independent engine. In 1971 he already had the same traction technology that some currently use luxury electric cars.
However, unlike the exclusive Bugatti or the McLaren, the LRV never exceeded 14 km/h, although its maximum speed was 18 km/h. Its speed was limited for security reasons. 384,400 km away of the closest workshopany caution is little.
This speed limit was only disabled in 1972, when astronaut Eugene Cernan managed to reach 18 km/h during the Apollo 17 mission, establishing the Lunar speed record. Good luck speed radars They have not yet reached the moon.
The LRV did not have a conventional steering wheel, but a joystick -type command that allowed control and speed. It worked thanks to two non -rechargeable batteries of 36 volts and could travel up to 90 kilometersmore than enough for the objectives of the Apollo missions.
With 3.10 meters long and 1.80 meters wide, the LRV weighed only 210 kg empty, but was able to transport twice its weight, including two astronauts with their scientific costumes and equipment.
Among its technological innovations, the Lunar Buggy had front and rear cameras, a navigation gyroscope and a remote controlled television camera from Houston. As he collected The avant -gardethanks to LRV, astronauts of the Apollo 15 mission They could explore 27.8 kilometers of lunar surface, greatly expanding the scope of scientific research.
The most expensive car ever built
The development and construction of the lunar Roving Vehicle was a colossal investment. In 1971, its cost amounted to 38 million dollars, a figure that, adjusted to inflation, is equivalent to approximately 281 million dollars in 2025.
This means that the Lunar Buggy cost almost the triple of the 100 million dollars that cost the development of the Bugatti La Vaiture Noirewhich ended up selling at an auction for 16.3 million dollars, widely exceeding any other known supercar.
The three units that arrived at the Moon with the three Apollo missions remain parked there since the 70s. NASA did not contemplate its return due to the excess weight it would add to the lunar module takeoff.
Thus, these vehicles, with a current value close to 300 million dollars each, are still parked on the lunar surface converted into unique pieces in the history of engineering and space exploration.
The equivalent to Your parking ticket It would be an invoice of about 93,000 million euros, which is what the NASA budgetedFor the Artemis missions that will take man again to the moon. All that China forward And they parquer your double row electric lunar rover.
In Xataka | This 1,000 hp electric supercar is a wheel vacuum. And to demonstrate it they have put it to do the pine
Image | Wikimedia Commons (Nasa/Dave Scott, NASA LRV Stowage, Alejandro Migl)
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