Alpine has launched the GTA Concept, a virtual car design that will be offered with five different liveries exclusively as collectible non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
The GTA Concept started life as the personal project of designer Arseny Kostromin, who has previously worked for Renault, and is based on the Alpine A110 sports car.
The Groupe Renault performance marque has now developed five special liveries for the car, including one based on the the Alpine Formula 1 team’s livery. Each one will be turned into a single digital artwork in the form of an NFT, which will be available for purchase in an online auction that will run from 3-5 November.
NFTs are essentially unique units of data that are stored on a blockchain – an unalterable digital ledger – that allows for their ownership to be certified. That allows each NFT to be exclusively owned by a party, even if the image contained within it is freely available on the internet.
NFTs have so far been popular with the sports collectible and art markets, but the GTA Concept marks the first time that a car firm has offered one.
The GTA Concept has been created with the help of Nfast, an NFT hypercar designer, and Animoca Brands, which runs Revv Racing, a blockchain-based racing game. The five owners of the GTA Concept models will be able to virtually drive their machines exclusively in that game.
Cédric Journel, Alpine’s sales boss, said that the idea of the NFTs is to offer “a field of artistic expression to the designers of Alpine Cars and the Alpine F1 Team and show our appreciation for the work of independent designers who love our brand.”
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NFTs are surely the most flagrant example of the Emperor's New Clothes in modern times.
I would have considered an Alpine until this. I like combustion cars, so I'm sure some will call me a hypocrite, but these NFTs are not only incredibly energy consumptive- they're selling you the moon. Total scam. At least when you're burning dinosaurs in a car you're getting something of substance out of it.