Perfect symbol: Record price for a car

The very different realities facing the world’s population are framed in many ways. We, living in the south of Ireland today, are among the richest, most comfortable humans ever though we may not celebrate that as freely as we might, especially as it does not require exceptional perception to see that many millions live in far less attractive, far more challenging circumstances.

It is always difficult to evaluate things beyond the everyday. Who can easily be comfortable with the idea that Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi sold for $450 million to a Saudi prince last year or that Coolmore Stud in Tipperary paid €56m for Fusaichi Pegasus in 2000 — unfortunately, its stud career was not spectacular.

That exceptionalism — there are other words — continued yesterday when a record was set for a car. The Bugatti La Voiture Noire, was unveiled at the Geneva International Motor Show, and sold to a mystery buyer for $27m. Its top speed is 420km/h which makes it a perfect symbol for the unsustainability of ever-increasing private motoring.