DeLorean Celebrates DMC-12's 40th Anniversary With MADSTEEZ-Designed NFTs
A restored 1981 DMC-12 is also up for grabs.
DeLorean‘s DMC-12 celebrates its 40th birthday this year, and in honor of this, the automotive company has tapped the artist MADSTEEZ for a collection of animated NFTs — with one special edition including a 1-of-1 restored, original DMC-12.
Dubbed the “DMC-40 NFT” collection, MADSTEEZ has created 40 different animated 3D NFTs that celebrate each year of the car’s existence, tapping into monumental moments of the car’s life such as when it starred in Back To The Future.
Aside from collectible and non-fungible token artworks, there will be — as mentioned — one very special NFT up for grabs. Coming alongside a 1-of-1 DeLorean 40th Anniversary Montage NFT is a fully-restored original DMC-12 from 1981, which has been given a comprehensive overhaul and rare updates such as a gray interior, an automatic transmission, and an affixed one-of-a-kind 40th anniversary DeLorean steel tag.
Additionally, DeLorean will be offering the DeLorean ‘The Start of it All’ (1981) NFT, which comes with a slot for the DeLorean Redux program and is said to be “the only way to guarantee your place in line” to get your hands on what’s to come from the marque in the near future. Elsewhere, there’s the DeLorean ‘An Electrifying Future’ (2021) + Physical Motor Bike (DeLorean x Super 73-S2) NFT which, as the name states, comes with a one-off DeLorean Super-73 electric bike.
Other NFTs come with a pair of the Nike 6.0 Dunk SE “DeLorean”, an original Back to the Future movie poster in a steel frame and more, such as digital cars that can be raced exclusively in the video game, Riot Racers.
To understand why DeLorean thought NFTs was the way forward for the brand to celebrate and mark the DMC-12’s 40th anniversary, HYPEBEAST spoke to Cameron Wynne, GM of DeLorean, to find out more:
HYPEBEAST: Why was now the time for DeLorean to explore NFTs?
Cameron Wynne: DeLorean’s always been a brand that sits at the intersection of design, pop culture, tech, and fun, and these are all things we immediately recognized in this recent NFT phenomenon. Having it happen on a year that happens to be DeLorean’s 40th anniversary was really just a great stroke of luck in timing. The NFT collection allows us to really celebrate key highs and lows of the past 40 years.
What does DeLorean hope to achieve through this NFT launch?
DeLorean fans have so much passion and excitement for the brand, and we LOVE that. What we really want out of this NFT launch is a way to collectively celebrate the last 40 years of the car’s history and hopefully drive some fun in the market for DeLorean fans.
How will the future of the car industry be changed by cryptocurrencies and NFTs?
That’s a big question! Off the bat, I think we’re going to see a lot more car companies — and really, any [company which] relys on a ticket-sale or waitlist spot model offering NFTs as a way to hold a place in line, because it’s really the only way to give the brand owner [the] ability to participate in the secondary market. On a longer-term thought, I think that new NFTs will now start to accompany new cars or high-end collectibles that are manufactured as a way to drive more value for overall product and secondary markets.
The main auction is open now until June 27 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, while special NFT auctions will end on June 28 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. Head over to the dedicated website to find out more. And note, only Ethereum is accepted.
For a car you can get your hands on, check out this 1-of-1 Ford Shelby Cobra Concept that’s up for auction.
