Shmee and the Awain Phantom Bugatti Chiron Key
There are things about the auto industry that are just beyond reason. A $550,000 key fob counts as one of them.
The center area of the key fob is covered in leather, though at this point do we even care about the leather when every other part of the key fob is made from enough diamonds, gold, and precious stones to stock a high-end jewelry store for an entire year?
On a more serious note, the Awain Phantom Key is no joke. It’s a one-off piece that literally costs more than the average family’s house. It’s located in the Car Vault showroom in Dubai and, judging by the care and safety that went into handling it when it was taken out of its glass encasing, I’d gander a guess that not a lot of people have actually touched it, let alone used it.
But YouTube personality Shmee is not like most people. As one of the foremost YouTube-based auto vloggers in the industry, Shmee gets access to places that most people don’t. He gets to drive cars most people can’t even afford. Most importantly, he gets invited to see things that a lot of people don’t even know exist. Not one to turn down an invitation to see the world’s most obscenely expensive key fob, Shmee was even given the keys to the kingdom. He cradles the fob in both hands, careful not to even put a scratch on it.
As an added treat, Shmee was invited to use the key fob on the Bugatti Chiron that it’s synced with. Mind you, this isn’t your typical Chiron, either — as if there are “typical” Chirons.
Pop the hood open and you’ll even see a plaque that mentions its unique status.
Shmee managed to step inside the Chiron, and with tremendous love and care, he pushes the Chiron’s start/stop button, bringing the Chiron’s 8.0-liter quad-turbocharged W-16 engine to life. He didn’t rev the supercar for obvious reasons, but the sound of the Chiron’s engine springing to life is a treat in its own way.
None of that pales to the most important part of Shmee’s video: as expensive as the one-off Awain Phantom Key is, it works, too.