Ferrari Removed the Engine From Its Most Radical Gamble—Then One Collector Paid a Record $40 Million
MONTEREY, California — Ferrari's controversial leap into the electric era has just produced an extraordinary result: US$40 million for a single car.
A one-of-a-kind version of the Ferrari Luce, the Italian marque's first fully electric production vehicle, sold for US$40 million at a charity auction during Monterey Car Week, establishing a record for a new car sold at auction.
The result is particularly striking because the Luce arrived amid debate over whether an electric, four-door Ferrari could preserve the character that made the company famous.
Now, one collector has placed a US$40-million bet on Ferrari's electric future.
Not Just Any Ferrari Luce
The car auctioned by RM Sotheby's was no ordinary production Luce.
Officially identified as “Chassis 0,” it is the first production chassis from the Ferrari Luce programme and was given an exclusive configuration through Ferrari's Tailor Made division.
RM Sotheby's described the car as an “unrepeatable opportunity” and offered it without reserve, initially listing its value at more than US$1.1 million.
Instead, bidding ultimately pushed the price to an astonishing US$40 million.
The special Luce wears a Madreperla Semi-Gloss exterior finish developed specifically for the car.
Its cabin uses Perla Le Mans metallic leather, paired with Grigio Corvara secondary elements, while Ferrari created dedicated wheels, bespoke brake calipers and special white-background Ferrari badging for the one-off configuration.
Who Paid $40 Million?
Reuters identified the winning bidder as American billionaire and longtime Ferrari collector Herbert A. Wertheim.
Wertheim is no stranger to exceptionally valuable Ferraris. Reuters reported that he was also the buyer of a Ferrari Daytona SP3 that previously fetched US$26 million.
The US$40-million Luce therefore pushed the benchmark dramatically higher.
The winning bidder will also have to wait.
According to RM Sotheby's auction documentation, after the sale the vehicle is scheduled to return to Maranello, Italy, with final delivery planned for the first quarter of 2027.
The Money Is Going Somewhere Bigger
Ferrari isn't keeping the US$40 million.
The company said all proceeds from the auction will benefit future educational initiatives through The Ferrari Foundation, its US-based charitable organisation.
That charitable element likely added another dimension to the bidding because collectors weren't simply competing for the first production Luce—they were participating in a high-profile Ferrari fundraising event.
Why the Luce Is Such a Radical Ferrari
The Luce represents one of the biggest departures from Ferrari tradition in the company's history.
Instead of the screaming V8 or V12 engines associated with Maranello, the Luce relies entirely on electric propulsion.
ANSA reported that the battery-electric Ferrari uses four electric motors producing roughly 1,050 horsepower.
The production model is also far removed from the conventional two-seat Ferrari supercar formula.
It is a five-seat, four-door EV, positioning Ferrari's first battery-powered model as something broader and more practical than many enthusiasts initially expected. Reuters reported a standard price of about €550,000, or roughly US$638,000.
That makes the US$40-million Chassis 0 result even more remarkable.
The auction winner effectively paid more than 60 times the reported price of a regular Luce, although the comparison is imperfect because Chassis 0 combines first-production provenance, one-off Tailor Made specifications and a charitable auction.
And Then There's Jony Ive
The Luce also attracted enormous attention because of the design talent involved.
The Financial Times reported that the car was developed with Sir Jony Ive, the celebrated former Apple design chief whose work helped define products including the iPhone, iPod and Mac.
His involvement helped make the Luce one of the most closely watched automotive design projects of Ferrari's modern era.
But the radically different aesthetic was never guaranteed to please Ferrari traditionalists.
The Luce received mixed reactions following its unveiling, with critics questioning whether its minimalist appearance and unconventional proportions looked sufficiently like a Ferrari. Reuters noted that the car initially faced skepticism because of how dramatically it departed from Ferrari's traditional combustion-powered designs.
Ferrari's $40 Million Answer to the Skeptics
Whatever enthusiasts think about its styling, the auction has delivered Ferrari an extraordinary piece of publicity.
The Luce's US$40-million result reportedly surpassed the previous record for a new car sold at auction.
But there is an important distinction.
It is not the most expensive automobile ever sold at auction.
That broader record remains far higher: the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR “Uhlenhaut Coupé” famously sold for €135 million in 2022.
What the Luce has demonstrated instead is something potentially more important for Ferrari's future: collectors appear willing to assign extraordinary value to a Ferrari even when the traditional combustion engine disappears.
That matters because Ferrari has spent decades building its identity around mechanical emotion—the sound, vibration and drama of high-revving engines.
Electric propulsion changes that equation completely.
Ferrari Isn't Abandoning Combustion
The Luce also shouldn't be interpreted as Ferrari suddenly becoming an EV-only manufacturer.
The company continues to pursue a multi-powertrain strategy involving internal-combustion, hybrid and fully electric vehicles, giving customers different choices while Ferrari experiments with electrification at the highest end of the luxury market.
That makes the Luce less of a replacement for the traditional Ferrari and more of an expansion of what the badge can represent.
And Ferrari has another reason to move cautiously: scarcity remains central to its business model.
The company has built enormous pricing power by producing fewer cars than demand could support, allowing exclusivity, personalisation and waiting lists to remain part of the ownership experience.
The Luce now gives Ferrari another platform on which to apply that strategy.
From Controversy to a $40 Million Statement
The irony is difficult to miss.
Ferrari's first electric car arrived carrying one of the greatest risks the company has taken: removing the very engine sound many customers consider inseparable from the Ferrari experience.
Some enthusiasts questioned the design.
Others questioned the concept.
But during Monterey Car Week, one collector answered those doubts with a paddle.
US$40 million.
That doesn't prove every Ferrari enthusiast is ready for an electric Prancing Horse.
It does prove that Ferrari's first EV has already achieved something extraordinary before many customers have even taken delivery.
And the bigger question is no longer whether Ferrari can build an electric car.
It's whether the Luce marks the beginning of an entirely new kind of Ferrari collector.