Let us face it, passenger cars are an endangered species, and it is all due to the assault of crossovers, SUVs, and trucks, of course. However, we are still lucky enough to see a few exceptions.
For example, Renault’s famous Alpine brand is only selling the modern A110, a rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive sports car reintroduced by the French automaker no less than six years ago. It is a true celebration of the purest spirit of motorsport, complete with San Remo 73 or Tour de Corse 75 special editions, among others.
If we are on the subject of automobile brands starting with the first letter of the alphabet and clad in sporty glory, one can never get past the likes of Alfa Romeo without mentioning a thing or two about its cabrio or coupe ethos. Sure, the Italian brand currently only has the first-ever, all-new Tonale compact CUV, Giulia executive sedan, and Stelvio luxury SUV on sale. But they are coming to their senses, as a new sports car is diligently preparing to come out this year, and soon the next-gen Giulia sedan will grapple with the EV kingdom’s rulers, aka the Tesla Plaids.
But why are we talking about Alpine and Alfa Romeo in the same context, since they are owned by different companies (Renault and Stellantis, respectively) and they also originate from different countries – France and Italy, respectively? Well, there is an amazingly simple reason for that – aka some of the latest novelties flaunted by the imaginative realm of digital car content creators.
Across the land of imagination, a couple of pixel masters decided that it would be for both Alfa Romeo and Renault to become true open-top foes, all in their own ways! First, the virtual artist better known as Theottle on social media, has resorted to a bit of CGI slicing and dicing of the F23 BMW 2 Series Convertible for his Alfa Romeo bidding. Basically, he took the defunct two-door Convertible, which is still waiting for a G4X replacement, and used it as the canvas for making the latest behind-the-scenes making-of video of a potential Alfa Romeo Tonale Cabriolet.
The posh convertible was created from the design spreadsheets of the first-ever electrified Alfa Romeo – aka the Tonale CUV – so it would be interesting to imagine it with plug-in hybrid capabilities for silent operation when the wind blows in the driver and passenger’ hair. Alas, for now, at least, this is merely wishful thinking, and the CGI POVs only showed the Italian open-top while standing still.
On the other hand, the ‘Renault Spider’ (aka the Alpine A110 Convertible, if it better suits our CGI dreams) is not idle and also not just the work of the digital creator tucked behind the automotive.diffusion moniker on social media. Instead, the pixel master offers the world some “automobiles that never existed, created by artificial intelligence.” Hence the quirky feeling that something is not exactly as per the natural order. Or maybe those were just the LOLs from the ‘REARLI’ moniker tucked under the Renault logo?!
Oh well, it does not matter that much. What is really of utmost importance is the following question. So, do we give any of these creations our CGI hall pass or is none of them worth spending over a night of dreams?
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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