Once the conversation shifts from performance to prestige and image, you're back to my original statement, which is about something existing primarily to have i

Once the conversation shifts from performance to prestige and image, you're back to my original statement, which is about something existing primarily to have its purchase price shared. Your car example is perfect. If performance was the only metric the buyer of a Pagani cared about, he'd have bought a ZR-1 Corvette. But because anyone with a six figure income and a 730+ FICO can buy a Vette, the gazillionaire buys the Pagani, something that exists (in part) because it projects the buying capability of it's owner.