When we think of the most expensive cars in the world, names like Bugatti, Pagani, and Koenigsegg usually come to mind. These hypercars push the limits of performance, design, and exclusivity—and price tags. But what if we told you that the most expensive car ever made isn’t parked in a billionaire’s climate-controlled garage, nor does it roar down the streets of Monaco or the hills of Beverly Hills? Instead, it’s quietly collecting moon dust, some 238,900 miles away from Earth.
Yes, the most expensive car in the world is the Moon Buggy, as pointed out by Xataka. Officially known as the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV), it may not look like much beside a shimmering Bugatti Chiron Super Sport or a ruby-encrusted Richard Mille timepiece. But with an estimated cost of over $281 million ($38 million in 1978) per unit in today’s dollars, and with four units built, the Moon Buggy is a celestial price-buster. Add the cost of getting it to the Moon, and its price skyrockets—quite literally—into the hundreds of millions.
To put that in perspective, Bugatti in 2022, its best year ever, delivered 80 cars considering all of them were Chirons which is priced (its best year ever, delivered 80 cars, all of them Chirons priced) at $3 million each, its yearly revenue was around half of the LRV (bringing yearly revenue to roughly the cost of one LRV).
For context, the jaw-dropping $142.77 million paid for the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe—at a secret Sotheby’s auction in May 2022—looks like a bargain. That record-breaking sale made headlines worldwide, eclipsing any Bugatti La Voiture Noire or Rolls-Royce Boat Tail. But even that storied Merc can’t top the Moon Buggy’s interstellar sticker price.
Built by Boeing in partnership with General Motors’ Delco Electronics, the Lunar Roving Vehicle was designed for NASA’s Apollo 15, 16, and 17 missions between 1971 and 1972. The project was no small feat. NASA didn’t just need a vehicle that could move astronauts around the Moon’s surface—it needed one that could survive the brutal vacuum of space, wild temperature swings from -280°F to 260°F, and terrain filled with jagged rocks and deep craters. And oh, it had to weigh less than 500 pounds and fit snugly into the cramped cargo bay of the lunar lander.
So, what exactly did NASA get for its cosmic budget? First off, the Moon Buggy wasn’t just a glorified golf cart. It featured four independent electric motors—one for each wheel—powered by non-rechargeable silver-zinc potassium hydroxide batteries. That’s right, it ran on batteries before Tesla made it cool. Its lightweight aluminum chassis was collapsible, allowing it to fold up like a space-age lawn chair.
Despite its compact design, it had a payload capacity of 1,080 pounds—enough to carry two astronauts, tools, and moon rocks. Its top speed? A blazing 8 mph. But on a celestial body where gravity is just one-sixth that of Earth, that’s more than fast enough to stir up some lunar dust.
Its wheels were a feat of engineering on their own: woven mesh made of zinc-coated piano wire, with titanium treads for grip. They were designed to prevent sinking into the powdery lunar regolith, offering maximum traction in a zero-atmosphere environment. The LRV also had an onboard navigation system using a directional gyro and odometer, since GPS obviously doesn’t work on the Moon.
And while it lacked leather seats or carbon-fiber trim, it had something no other car could offer: a parking spot on the Moon. Three of the four LRVs remain on the lunar surface to this day, silently enduring the cosmic silence, untouched by time, air, or rain. The fourth was a test model used on Earth for training and engineering—and while it’s still here, its cosmic siblings are the true out-of-this-world masterpieces.
The Moon Buggy wasn’t just a technical marvel—it was a symbol of human curiosity and ambition. While modern hypercars chase 0–60 times and Nürburgring lap records, the LRV was part of one of humanity’s greatest adventures: the exploration of another world. It’s a car that went to the Moon and back—well, actually, it didn’t come back. But that just adds to its mystique.
So, next time someone flaunts their $3.4 million Pagani Huayra Codalunga or $5.5 million Bugatti Divo, remind them that the most expensive set of wheels ever made isn’t in a private collection or motor show. It’s up there on the Moon, quietly parked where no valet will ever scratch it. The Moon Buggy is not just the most expensive car in the world—it’s the most valuable vehicle in history, by virtue of where it’s been, what it represents, and the fact that no one is getting another one any time soon. After all, there’s only one showroom where this baby belongs: the surface of the Moon.
Note – Mark Zuckerberg’s 387 feet long Launchpad superyacht is valued at $300 million.
