A Pound Of Your Car Is Probably Worth A Lot Less Than A Pound Of Cheese

I’m a huge fan of cheese. Hey, not all of my paychecks go toward rent and the care and feeding of depreciated European automobiles. As a mid-afternoon pick-me-up, there’s nothing like a bit of aged cheddar or a baked brie or some lovely Oaxaca, especially when served with crackers and grapes and consumed within view of a beloved car.

Cheese, however, is a fairly expensive hobby. Certainly not by the standards of premier cru wine or private flight, but it can definitely be pricier than film photography if you aren’t careful. Don’t believe me? Check this out:

A user by the name of Andrew McCalip on the social media network formerly known as Twitter posted a fascinating bar graph comparing the prices of cars per pound against the prices of various cheeses per pound, and the results were enough to stop us in our tracks.

Since we’re talking manufacturing this week…

I think a lot about the price of cheese vs vehicles per pound pic.twitter.com/QWyAVdbQvs

— Andrew McCalip (@andrewmccalip) April 12, 2025

A bar graph is a great visual, but there’s room here to really get into the nitty-gritty, so let’s break a few cars and cheeses down to actual dollars and pounds, and see where the value lies.

Porsche 911 Carrera

With a starting price of $129,950 including freight and a base curb weight of 3,424 pounds, the latest 911 Carrera works out to $37.95 per pound. Admittedly, high-end sports cars are going to fare better against cheese in this price-per-weight metric because they pride themselves on reasonable curb weight, but that’s just the nature of the game, and a comparable cheese may be a whole lot cheaper by mass.

Roquefort

You know, something like a Roquefort. Canadians of a certain age know this cheese thanks to Bran Van 3000’s hit “Drinking In L.A.,” but this sheep-milk blue cheese is something special. It’s actually geographically protected, being exclusively aged in the Combalau caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon. For example, if you’re craving Roquefort Societe Bee from Gourmet Food Store, you’re looking at paying $31.09 per pound. Now that’s some premium dairy, costing more by weight than one of the world’s leading luxury sedans.

Mercedes-Benz S 500

Ah, the S-Class. Transport of choice for plutocrats and heads of state for generations. While you can option it up to be a bit garish with Magic City ambient lighting and carbon fiber trim, there’s still something so right about a base S 500 with proper woodgrain on the dashboard. With a base price of $119,100 including freight and a curb weight of 4,784 pounds, it works out to $24.89 per pound.

Gorgonzola

Here’s another cheese that’s fun to say. Gorgonzola’s the cheese that made Italy reek, and gorgonzola piccante is the firmer, sharper counterpart to the soft gorgonzola dolce. If you want a pound of that crumbly stuff, it’s gonna cost you $21.74. A delicacy to be enjoyed every now and then, but if you don’t have a solitary living situation, those around you might want to keep it rare.

Chevrolet Corvette

God help me, I’ve got myself a race car. Alright, so there are a few steps in between a standard Corvette and a C8.R endurance racer, but America’s sports car should do fairly well at this game because it’s ever so slightly on the tubby side of the sports car segment and solid value for what you get. At a base price of $70,195 including freight and a curb weight of 3,535 pounds, you’re looking at $19.85 per pound of Corvette. Yeehaw.

Fontina Tedesco

Looking for something to elevate your French onion soup? How about a Belgian-style Fontina? It’s a smooth, semi-sweet melter perfect for applications like fondue, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it worked on pizza too. This particular Fontina Tedesco will run you $18.99 per pound, making it a bit cheaper than a Corvette by weight, but still a somewhat pricey culinary proposition. Actually, there’s a flagship luxury sedan that’s arguably a better value.

Lucid Air Pure

Nearly five years after the public first saw the Lucid Air, it’s still one of the best-looking sedans on sale. Sure, the A-pillar blind spot is huge, but in a world of jellybeans and monsters with overwrought grilles, there’s a certain elegance to the Air. The base Pure trim is fantastic too, giving up standard rear-wheel-drive for a perfectly manageable amount of power and a reasonable base price of $71,400 including freight. With a curb weight of 4,564 pounds, that works out to $15.64 per pound. Not bad, but we can go cheaper.

Smoked Gouda

What’s Gouda, my man? Well, it’s a firm Dutch cheese that pairs well with beer and develops an interesting caramel-like note as it ages. Now, young gouda doesn’t do that, instead being slightly nutty, which is why I prefer my mass-market gouda smoked. It goes great on a grilled bratwurst, although it’ll run you a bit of coin if you’re in America. This particular variety retails for $13.16 per pound.

Toyota GR86

The Toyota GR86 is still one hell of a deal. I mean, here’s a rear-wheel-drive 2+2 coupe with a manual gearbox and a limited-slip differential for $31,135 including freight, and it’s a world-class driver’s car that feels like a reincarnated Porsche 944. Part of that nimbleness is thanks to a curb weight of 2,833 pounds, meaning this everyday sports coupe works out to $10.99 per pound. Now that’s a damn good deal.

Paneer

I don’t want to be the one to tell you this, but your mozzarella sticks are pretty boring. Sure, the melt of the mozza inside the breading is textbook and they are the official food of ska-punk, but if you really want to spice up your next potluck, pick up some paneer. This South Asian non-aged soft cheese is the platonic ideal of spice-it-bread-it-and-deep-fry-it, partly because it’ll soften without melting and partly because it provides fantastic contrast to crispy breading while still maintaining structural integrity. Walmart’s selling an eight-ounce pack for $5, which means a pound will run you $10. Find a paneer pakora recipe, get yourself some decent chutney, and get ready to blow some minds.

Nissan Versa S

Can we go cheaper than $10 per pound? Of course we can. Take the cheapest 2025 model year car on sale in America, the Nissan Versa S. It starts at a mere $19,470 including freight, and with a curb weight of 2,598 pounds, this subcompact sedan works out to $7.49 per pound. Yeah, that’s cheap. Best of all, it’s a new car with a warranty, port injection, natural aspiration, and a row-your-own five-speed manual transmission, meaning it’ll get you where you need to go no problem.

Cheddar

Mind you, the Versa S has nothing on mass-market cheddar. Sure, pricier varieties exist, such as delectably sharp two-year aged cheddar or Applewood smoked cheddar, but we aren’t talking about those. You can get a one-pound block of sharp cheddar for $4.43 at Walmart, which feels like a damn good deal. Shred it or slice it, put it on burgers and over salads, eat it as a snack, it gets the job done. Even more so than pizza, all cheese is good cheese.

So what have we learned here? Well, cheese is expensive by weight, but we already knew that. Perhaps in the context of cheese, cars are actually cheaper than we expected. The C8 Corvette certainly seems worth its weight in gorgonzola, and I’d take a GR86 in the garage over smoked gouda, at least at U.S. pricing. While it’ll take ages for a cheese habit to catch up with the price of a new sports car, that day might eventually come. Priorities, right?

Hat tip to the Odd Lots Discord. Top graphic images: Chevrolet; depositphotos.com

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