Why would anyone spend a million dollars on the Ferrari the internet loves to hate? That's the question hanging over RM Sotheby's Monterey sale this Saturday, 15 August, where the very first production Ferrari Luce ever built is going under the hammer.
Of course, when Ferrari first revealed its all-electric future to the world, the response was, well, divided, to say the least. For many, it represented the reluctant death of a car marque that had inspired every other in the auto space; the Maranello home of the Testarossa and the F40; the carmaker that counts Sir Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc as their Formula 1 drivers; where V12s rage through cobbled streets with inherent Italian theatre.
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Designed under Sir Jony Ive, it’s the first electric vehicle to leave Ferrari’s new e-building, equipped with four electric motors returning 1,036 bhp, wrapped in SUV practicality and a familiar Apple shine. It’s different, sure. But it still wears the marque’s iconic badge. It still shares the same lineage as the industry’s most revered models. It’s still a Ferrari, right?
Sotheby’s is hoping so, giving collectors the chance to pick up the keys (or sleek fob) to the brand’s first production chassis of the Ferrari Luce program: Chassis 0. Even if the jury’s still out on the Luce’s design, owning a rare piece of auto history – the first-ever model of an all-new Ferrari collection – may be too attractive a proposition to turn down.
Built through the Tailor Made program, this particular example is built entirely around light – how it's absorbed, reflected. It means that the exterior Madreperla Semi-Gloss finish has been specifically developed to throw off iridescent flashes of green and violet depending on where the sun sits throughout the day.
Similarly, inside, the seats are trimmed in Le Mans metallic leather in a shade called Perla, made from Swiss hides chosen for how they catch and scatter light around the cabin. Ferrari has also swapped the usual black secondary trim for Grigio Corvara for the first time.
The car is being sold without reserve, and Ferrari has waived the buyer's premium, so every dollar of the estimated US$1.1 million (~AU$1.55 million) hammer price goes straight to the Ferrari Foundation's education initiatives rather than back into the company.
The winning bidder won't take delivery until the first quarter of 2027, at which point the car heads back to Maranello before making its way to its new home. And with that, let’s start the bidding.