One of the things I’ll always remember from the beginning of 2022 is auction house RM Sotheby’s announcing it would bring the Cizeta-Moroder V16T prototype under the hammer (how can you not love a “secret” 80s Italian supercar with 16 cylinders?). The rolling sculpture found a new owner earlier this week, but with an NFT having been included in the transaction along the way, Jeremy lan Thomas (he goes by “Soulajit”), the artist behind the digital work showcasing the car, explains the buyer completed the deal for the NFT.
The Cizeta-Moroder was born in the late 1980s, just as Lamborghini was making the transition from the Countach to the Diablo. And if you feel there are a few styling cues that remind one of the Raging Bull here, that’s because the supercar was penned by Marcelo Gandini, the iconic designer who drew the Miura, the Countach, and came up with the initial design for the Diablo.
The carmaker, who only enjoyed a few years on the market, was founder by former Lamborghini test driver and engineer Claudio Zampolli, who received funding from music producer and composer Giorgo Moroder (aka the Father of Disco).
The idea was to pull a Lamborghini on… Lamborghini—just as Ferruccio Lamborghini had set out to one-up Enzo Ferrari, the Cizeta-Moroder aimed to beat the Raging Bull, so it featured four pop-up headlights and the said V16 engine delivering 520 naturally-aspirated horses (for those keeping score, that’s two more headlights, four extra cylinders and a 71 hp premium compared to the Countach).
Alas, the two parted ways after the driving prototype was completed (this was first showcased in December 1988). Moroder kept the tester, while Zampolli went on to assemble another nine units (these would simply be called “Cizeta V16T”), albeit with the company filing for bankruptcy in 1994.
The sale
After the sale of the prototype was announced by the auction specialist, the auction lot was augmented with a one-of-one NFT including a Giorgio Moroder four-track music EP exclusive to the car (you’ll find the artist talking about it in the first Insta post below), a 3-D artistic rendering of the car in collaboration with digital artist Jeremy Ian Thomas, a 3-D scan of the car, as well as digitized provenance documentation.
The sale took place on January 27 over in Phoenix, Arizona, with the lot grabbing $1,363,500, which is roughly double compared to winning bid on the 1993 Cizeta V16T that RM Sotheby’s sold last year.
The seven-figure sum is owed to multiple factors: we’re talking about the prototype that was still owned by the music legend who founded the venture, full documentation and all, and the vehicle had been fully restored by California-based Bruce Canepa in 2018 (it has some 200 miles/322 km on the odo and comes in running/driving condition).
The NFT was reportedly the item that secured the deal
In the description of the second Instagram post below, you’ll notice Soulajit, who attended the sale and even celebrated his 44th birthday at the event, talking about the buyers getting in contact with him after the hammer fell and mentioning that the NFT was the item that secured the deal.
The artist was obviously thrilled by the news, but, as he points out on social media, the takeaway is that the digital art market has reached this height.
“The wildest part was the buyers came up to me after and filmed me – saying they bought this for the NFT. More than an ego trip it’s just evidence this market is where it’s at,“
You can check out the short video showcasing the Cizeta-Moroder in the post and we take great joy in seeing the “rivalry” between this and Lamborghini coming to the digital realm (Sant’Agata Bolognese also announced it first NFT on January 27, with this set to be handled by the same auction house next month).
As for the buyer reportedly choosing the lot mainly over the NFT, we can only assume that a unique piece of digital artwork, secured via blockchain, is easier to display, maintain and guard compared to the actual car. Then again, you can only get out there and enjoy driving one of the two and hopefully, such values won’t be set aside as we head further into the metaverse.
PS: There’s also a third post below—coming from facilitator Jim Carter (aka jimbochini), this brings us live bits from the auction floor in Arizona (check out the first image in the gallery, with the rest showcasing the NFT).
