A bespoke model of Ferrari’s first-ever fully electric car, the Luce, has sold for US$40 million, breaking the record for the most expensive new car ever sold at auction. The high bid for the tailor-made Ferrari Luce “Chassis 0” comes just months after the Italian luxury sports car maker’s share price fell by more than 8 per cent on the Milan stock exchange following the unveiling of the Luce in May. The EV, which sports a bubble-like design that radically differs from Ferrari’s typical angular car features, received unflattering reviews from some Ferrari fans at the time. Yet, in a charity auction during Monterey Car Week in California on Saturday, the Luce sold for 36 times its original estimate of $1.1 million, according to the collector car auction company RM Sotheby’s. “The bids kept climbing. Then, history was made,” Ferrari USA wrote in an Instagram post on Sunday, adding that the sale set “a new record for the highest-priced new car ever sold at auction.” All the proceeds from the sale will go to The Ferrari Foundation to support educational initiatives, the car maker said. CNN has contacted Ferrari for further comment. While the Luce (Italian for “Light”), which has an electric engine on each of its four wheels, has polarized fans, Ferrari said earlier this year that the car “really is a different sort of Ferrari for a different sort of Ferrari client.” The “Chassis 0” has an exclusive pearl-like, semi-gloss finish with a personalized pigment that allows the car’s exterior to produce shifting colourful reflections that change from green to violet when hit by light, according to RM Sotheby’s. The car’s interior also has a tailor-made material, Perla Le Mans metallic leather, and distinctive black elements amid its white background. Following the conclusion of the sale, the vehicle will return to the northern Italian city of Maranello, where it was built, before the car is delivered to the unnamed winning bidder in the first quarter of 2027, the auction house said. Deliveries for the publicly available Luce unveiled in May – which is priced at €550,000 (US$640,000) – is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2026. By Amarachi Orie, CNN
