Some of the items we use everyday come in a staggering array of choices from the downright affordable to the laughably expensive. Let’s look at the most expensive and least expensive item in some common categories of items you might buy.
Production Automobile
The lease expensive new car in the US is the Hyundai Accent GL. You can pick one up for $10,735 or less if you’re a master haggler. It comes with a 100,000 mile powertrain warranty and those old fashioned cranks that let you roll the windows up and down even when the car is off. It’s a 2 door hatchback that will zip you along with all 110 of its horses.
The Bugatti Veyron on the other hand will set you back $1.7M. That’s roughly 158 times the cost, but you do get ten times the horsepower. The Veyron does have power windows and a dual automated manual transmission that shifts faster than any person could ever hope to get the clutch down and the lever thrown.
Median Single Family Detached Home Price
When you’re looking for a place to park your Hyundai Accent there is no more fitting place than the lowest priced metropolitan statistical area to buy your dream home, Youngstown, OH. The median price of a plot of land with a roof over your head in 2010 was $67,200. Before all you fancy NYC people tell me about how you can’t buy a doormat for that much, this is for single family detached homes so condos, coops, townhouses and other attached structures don’t count. Real Americans have a yard to mow and live in the heartland.
If you want to get your Veyron to the most expensive place to buy a home you’ll need to have it shipped by boat, unless you own an airplane that can accommodate a super-car. Honolulu, HI has a median home price of $607,000 which is down considerably from the peak of the housing bubble. You’ll get to live on Oahu, go surfing, complain about the people from the mainland and maybe become a private detective in your fancy sports car.
High Definition Television
Everyone has a HDTV already right? If you’re one of the holdouts and you’re going shopping then be prepared for a confusing number of options. If you’re starting at the low end though and want to make sure every room in your mansion is stocked with a HDTV then you’ll want to head on down to budget street and pick up a Coby 15″ LCD TV for a very modest $84. Sure the colors are washed out, the screen is tiny and the remote only has 4 buttons, but it’s not like you’re going to be watching Blu-ray movies on this thing.
But nothing goes with your lifestyle quite like the PrestigeHD Supreme. This 55″ television is literally encrusted with diamonds and accented with alligator skin. It will set you back $2.2M. I’m sure The Donald is the target market for this gaudy beast. Now, if you want to find a TV that your local electronics retailer can sell you then the most expensive is the Pioneer 60″ Kuro class for $5,995.
Production Motorcycle
In your leisure time you probably like to get out and feel the wind in your hair and the bugs in your teeth. For that you’re going to need a motorcycle. If you’re looking for something that gets great mileage and has a name you’ve never heard of then you can’t go wrong with the cheapest bike, the American Lifan LF 200 Sphinx. This Chinese made machine sells for $2,095. It has a top speed of 75 MPH and can only carry 330 pounds so check the scale and speed limit before you head out to look for a dealer.
You’re probably not the kind of person who likes to limit their potential so you may want to look at the Ecosse Titanium Series RR Limited Edition instead. As the name implies this motorcycle makes use of titanium everywhere it can. Titanium is a very strong yet light metal often used in aircraft. Other areas use carbon fiber to reduce weight. All of this gives the rider a great power to weight ratio for the bike’s 200 horsepower engine. If you have $275,000 laying around and a need to impress bike-geeks then meet your new ride. It should be noted that the Dodge Viper inspired V10 does cost more, but was never a production bike.
Elements, of the Periodic Kind
All this talk about titanium makes one wonder what element can you pick up on a budget and which one should you dream about hoarding. Sure you can go grab a hand full of dirt or breathe in some air, but what if you want your stuff pure? At $0.20 per gram, calcium is the most affordable and has the added benefit of not killing you on contact like some less friendly elements.
But the most expensive element is something you might find in a nuclear reactor. Californium-252 was forced into existence at the University of California, Berkeley in 1950. It’s thought to perhaps exist in nature but nobody is sure. If you want to buy some (you probably can’t buy it) it will cost you $1,000,000,000 per gram.
