The Lamborghini Aventador Ultimae heralds the end of an era as the Italian automaker turns toward electrification to boost performance. It's been around for a long time and has become the best-selling V12 Lambo ever, but while the Ultimae was punted as the final Aventador, it actually isn't. Sant'Agata's pride last month teased something that we couldn't quite decipher before revealing to us that there would actually be one more example made. This final variant doesn't get a special name, just a unique color scheme, an NFT (non-fungible token), and a lot of bragging rights. To maximize profitability and marketing value, Lamborghini approached auction house RM Sotheby's to handle an online bidding process. That has just been completed, with the hammer falling at a scandalous $1,603,125.

This is far more than Lamborghini may have been reasonably expected to sell the car for through regular means, as an Ultimae sells for less than a third of the winning bid. That lucky buyer gets the car as well as "VIP utilities" including exclusive virtual previews of future limited edition Lambos (which is great for all those cars that are sold long before they're revealed to the public). In addition, you'll get a private tour of the Lamborghini museum and a virtual meet and greet with recording artist Steve Aokia and digital artist Krista Kim. There's more to it, but only the lucky buyer will get to find out what these additional drawcards are specifically. Whatever these may be, you can be sure that they will be special and unique to this specific Aventador.

Steve Aoki created the bespoke track for the NFT and an exclusive soundtrack for the car itself. He also consulted on the design of both the NFT and the car. Krista Kim's influence is apparent in the unique livery she created for the car. She was also responsible for creating the NFT itself and her signature touches can be found in the interior trim too.

As Lamborghini's first car for the metaverse, this was an unusual project for the Italian automaker, but with the project fetching over $1.6 million, we're confident that it won't be the last. The future is digital, even in mechanical machines like this.