Ferrari F76 is World’s First Digital Hypercar, Exists Only as an NFT

Ferrari has just unveiled the world’s first digital hypercar – a car that lives solely as an NFT, a digital file permanently embedded in the blockchain. However, the automaker insists that the F76 gives us a true taste of what to expect from future real-world models. It commemorates 76 years since Luigi Chinetti and Lord Selsdon won the 24 Hours of Le Mans with their 1949 166 MM Barchetta.

The F76 has two narrow cockpits side by side, separated by a somewhat deep tunnel right in the middle. Air enters from the front, splits around the occupants, and escapes via the back between the two tail fins. Ferrari refers to this design as a “wing,” and it is a fairly ingenious bit of magic. The tunnel floor descends so low that it creates a suction effect, pulling the car down towards the earth just through wind. Then, another “wing” connects the two tail fins, allowing wind to rush in and feed into a diffuser that has been painstakingly sculpted out to resemble a canyon. Classic Ferrari-style, four circular taillights sit right in the center of that bridge, glowing against a matte red background.

The front end appears to be really angry, as Ferrari is known to do on some of their vehicles. A thin band hovers above the splitter, with no evident means of support. Down below, the body folds in on itself, generating ramps that go into the tunnel and side ducts. The retractable headlights are scarcely visible beneath this band; when needed, they flip up in pairs. Then there are these vertical slashes etched into the sides, similar to those found on the new F80 hypercar, but they are deeper and expose the underlying structure, similar to staring at exposed bone.

Ferrari built this special F76 just for a bunch of its Hyperclub members – a private group that’s pretty keen on following the 499P Le Mans racing effort. These buyers get to choose from a few different liveries, wheels and interior trim options – but only at set times. Once they make their selection, the digital file gets locked down as a unique NFT. No two of them are the same, and trust us, none of them will ever be given the key to life in the real world.

When you sit in the F76, the driver gets the controls – and the passenger gets the same controls, all linked up through software. Every single steering input, every pedal press – it’s all mirrored in real time between the two seats. Ferrari believes this is the ideal approach for both occupants to feel the same forces at the same moment, despite the fact that there are no forces to speak of. The dashboards in the images are quite plain, with no fancy screens or gauges to be found – just waiting for a game engine that may never be built.

Generative software shaped every surface. Algorithms grew the structure outward from a skeleton of requirements: minimum drag, maximum downforce, cooling for invisible engines. The result carries patents Ferrari plans to file. Metal versions of those ideas could appear on road cars within a decade. The result is a car that’s got a whole bunch of patents waiting to be filed – and who knows, maybe one day we’ll see some of these ideas turn up on road cars.

Ferrari has dabbled in digital art before, but never a complete vehicle like the F76 before. This time around, they’re really crossing that line from just a fancy poster to a full-on product. Owners can keep it locked away safely in a digital wallet alongside their cryptocurrency, sell it to someone else on the secondary market or just park it in a virtual garage. The company’s not saying how many of these things are out there, or what they cost either. Membership to the Hyperclub is by invitation only – and it looks like getting invited is a bit of a tricky business.