The $640k silent shock: Ferrari’s Luce gets burned to the stake

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The internet has officially lit the match, and Ferrari’s first-ever all-electric offering, the $640,000 "Luce”, is currently burning at the stake.

The House of Maranello's latest creation – the covers of which were pulled off on Tuesday by Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton – is trending for all the wrong reasons, spawning a relentless tidal wave of brutal memes.

Let’s be real: if Apple had slapped a glowing fruit logo on this exact silhouette, marketed it with some sleek, minimalist font, and sold it for $80,000, tech bros would be selling their kidneys to pre-order it. It would have been a resounding, eco-friendly triumph.

But calling this a Ferrari? That’s like replacing Luciano Pavarotti with Alexa and insisting the opera experience is “basically the same.”

Ferrari fans don’t just buy speed – they buy noise, drama, vibration, irrationality and the feeling that the car might burst into flames out of pure passion.

Reacting to the car’s unveiling, former Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo held absolutely nothing back:

'If I were to say what I really think, I’d be doing Ferrari a disservice. We risk destroying a legend, and I’m truly sorry about that. I hope they at least remove the prancing horse from that car.'

So, purists are mourning, Twitter is roasting, and for $640k, buyers are realizing that the only thing "electric" about the Luce is the sheer shock value of the price tag.

Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.