Ferrari just broke the internet. Or maybe it broke their reputation. The Luce, the brand’s first five-seater EV, dropped this week. Everyone hates it.
It wasn’t just car bloggers complaining.
Luca di Montezemolo, the former Ferrari boss who practically saved the company from the ashes, went public. He told Italian media that his real opinion could damage the brand.
We risk the destruction of a myth.
He served as president from 1991 to 2014. Before him, Ferrari was bleeding. Under him, it printed money. Now? He’s looking at this EV and shaking his head.
“If I am truly sorry,” he said, “I hope they remove the Prancing horse.”
He added that China certainly wouldn’t copy this car. That’s not a compliment. It’s a warning.
History suggests di Montezemolo might be right to suggest hiding the badge. Enzo Ferrari didn’t put the Prancing horse on the Dino back in the day. He felt a cheaper V6 sports car wasn’t worthy of the main name. A distinction.
Ferrari seems to think the Luce deserves the name now. Matteo Salvini doesn’t think so.
The Italian transport minister took to X for some harsh words. He quoted the price tag. 550,000 euros.
“Electric,” Salvini wrote. “Incredibly expensive.”
He asked what innovation looks like when it looks nothing like a Prancing horse car. He wondered what Enzo would say.
Enzo is dead. But he’s haunting this launch.
Carlo Calenda isn’t done. An opposition lawmaker, Calenda used to work at the company from 1998-2003. He called the Luce an “aesthetic and technological insult.”
Then he pivoted.
He laid into John Elkann, the head of the Agnelli dynasty. Elkann is chair of both Ferrari and Stellantis. Calenda listed every other thing Elkann has supposedly dismantled or sold off. Marelli. Iveco. Alfa Romeo. Even the football team Juventus.
“And now he is taking a chance on Ferrari,” Calenda wrote.
The market reacted instantly. Ferrari’s shares dropped 8% after the reveal. They opened at €309,20 and sank to €284,05. People don’t like looking foolish.
The design comes from LoveFrom. Jony Ive. Marc Newson. Apple’s old design chief is mixing paints for the car brand that refuses to make normal cars. It’s bold. Is it good?
“It speaks for itself,” Salvini said.
The numbers on the Luce are fine, technically. Seven motors? No. Four motors. 772 kilowatts. 990 Nm of torque. Zero to 100 in 2.5 seconds.
It’s an EV. Of course it’s fast.
An 800V architecture sits behind an 18 kWh battery? Wait, that sounds low for a sedan. Ah, right, a 122 kWh pack. 530 kilometers range on WLTP. Fast charging at 350 kW.
Specs matter less than feelings here.
About 20 comments out of nearly 200 on one article liked the looks. Twenty. That is not a wave of enthusiasm.
Memefication began immediately. The Luce has become a punchline online. It will likely remain one.
It is coming to Australia eventually. Pricing and launch dates are MIA.
We wait. We watch. We wonder if a logo really protects a myth anymore.
Di Montezemolo fears destruction. Maybe he’s just tired. Maybe the era of the internal combustion purist is over and nobody asked us how we felt.
But looking at that grille… it doesn’t scream speed. It screams apology.
Who exactly are we trying to impress with this?
