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$40M Luce Record
Ferrari’s first fully electric vehicle, the Luce, sold for $40 million at a charity auction during Monterey Car Week in California, with Sotheby’s conducting the sale for the one-off customised “Tailor Made” version.
“fetched $40m (£29.5m) in a charity sale”
The BBC said the Luce fetched $40m (£29.5m) in a charity sale, setting a record for a new vehicle sold at auction, and noted that Sotheby’s did not name the buyer of the custom car.
Ferrari’s electric debut had drawn backlash when it was launched in May, and the BBC reported that Ferrari’s share price dropped the day after the Luce’s launch following that backlash.
The Luce’s auction result also surpassed the previous record of $26 million set in 2025 when a specially customised Ferrari Daytona SP3 fetched $26 million, according to Storyboard18.
Sotheby’s said all proceeds of the sale will be donated to the Ferrari Foundation’s educational programmes, and the BBC described the sale as a “tangible expression of innovation, responsibility, and long-term vision for future generations,” quoting Sotheby’s.
Backlash to Bidding
The BBC reported that among those criticising the Luce were Italy’s deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini and former Ferrari chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, who said the car was "risking the destruction of a legend".
In May, Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna said the company was seeing interest in the Luce from both existing customers and new buyers, and he argued that the model was designed as a distinct Ferrari product rather than simply another electric vehicle.
Storyboard18 said the auction car was a “tailor-made” version, meaning it was individually configured to the buyer's specifications, and it described the Luce as Ferrari’s most expensive new car ever sold at auction.
BigGo Finance said bidding opened at $1 million and jumped to $5 million before continuing climbing to $10 million, then $25 million, ultimately hammering at $40 million.
The BBC also reported that the Luce faced backlash because it strayed from the marque's traditional designs and lost part of the brand's identity by being battery-powered and having five seats.
Charity, Design, Delivery
Sotheby’s waived the buyer’s premium so that all $40 million is headed to The Ferrari Foundation, and Road & Track said the recognized 501(c)(3) charity would use the funds for future educational initiatives.
“The automaker says the complexity of applying the paint means no two examples will look quite the same”
Road & Track reported that the car is headed back to Maranello before its scheduled first-quarter 2027 delivery, while Electrek said the buyer doesn’t get it yet and that the car goes back to Maranello for final assembly with delivery scheduled for Q1 2027.
The Guardian said European fashion retailers are facing fresh questions over supply chain oversight after a fire at a factory that supplied them killed at least 33 garment workers in Bangladesh, but this article’s focus here remains on Ferrari’s Luce auction result and its record-setting price.
Ferrari Tailor Made developed the car around the idea of light, and Road & Track described the exterior paint as Madreperla Semi-Gloss with a dedicated pigment that shifts from green to violet depending on the angle and intensity of the light.
BBC reported that the Luce has special wheels, customised brakes and a white finish, and that Ferrari’s chief design officer Flavio Manzoni said critics are part of the innovation process and that he believed people would come to appreciate the Luce.
