Image via mr.gotdamnit/Instagram
When an influencer posted on Instagram about getting to drive the custom Dodge Hellcat Widebody belonging to none other than Shaq. While his video clearly shows he was at least slowly driving the custom muscle car through Effortless Motors’ showroom, that’s not what users on Instagram were calling a lie.
Shaq paid an unbelievable amount for his custom motorcycle, too.
Instead, it’s the claim the influencer made that the build cost Shaq a whopping $1.4 million. Comments on the influencer’s post ran the range, but many joked about the car having a bag of $1.3 million in cash stashed in the trunk to achieve that ludicrous amount.
While some claim Shaq has lied, we don’t think he has.
We honestly don’t know how much Shaq dropped with Effortless to build the Widebody Charger Hellcat. He owns three of them, each one customized with some different touches. This particular one, which is white, has quite a few obvious cosmetic mods from the red headlights to extra lighting added, hood venting, graphics, and more.
In addition, we’re assuming the car has been tweaked for more power, something we know Shaq had done on at least one of his Hellcats, but we’re guessing he went for it on all three.
And, as the influencer shows off in the video, the driver’s seat bracket has been extended so the seat can slide all the way until it touches the backseat to accommodate Shaq’s large frame. That one detail some Instagram users latched onto above all else, exclaiming that such a modification doesn’t cost over a million.
This Instagram post demonstrates a few principles of social media and the internet in general. First, everyone is an expert at everything if they just decide they are. They will in turn mock anyone for posting anything that in their expertise they know isn’t true.
Second, influencers love to make wild claims to make themselves look cool. Has Shaq ever said his Hellcats cost him anywhere in the neighborhood of $1 million, let alone over that? We can’t find such an instance, but this influencer says the one set the big man back $1.4 million. Maybe it did, but that’s quite the claim with zero evidence to back it up.
Third, envy is rampant both online and in real life. But on social media people feel they can let it all hang out more than in the real world, trying desperately to tear down anyone who does or has or is something they desire.
We can look at Shaq’s Hellcat, admire the build, but not feel an ounce of envy. But we also have been in rooms filled with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of some of the rarest cars in the world.
To drive Shaq’s custom Hellcat, even for a short distance in a showroom, would be cool and brag-worthy. But haters are gonna hate.
Image via mr.gotdamnit/Instagram
