{"slug": "ferraris-first-electric-car-fetches-record-40-million-at-monterey-auction", "title": "Ferrari’s first electric car fetches record $40 million at Monterey auction", "summary": "Ferrari's first all-electric vehicle, the Luce, sold for $40 million at a Sotheby's charity auction during Monterey Car Week, making it the most expensive new car ever sold at auction and surpassing the previous record of $26 million for a customized Daytona SP3. The one-of-a-kind 'Chassis Zero' model, designed with LoveFrom, the studio founded by former Apple design chief Jony Ive, was bought by Florida-based billionaire Herbie Wertheim, with proceeds benefiting the Ferrari Foundation's educational initiatives.", "body_md": "**Getting your**\n\n[Trinity Audio](//trinityaudio.ai)player ready...By William Shaw, Bloomberg\n\nFerrari’s first all-electric vehicle defied criticism to sell for $40 million, making it the most expensive new car ever sold at auction.\n\nThe Sotheby’s charity auction of the Luce “tailor-made” at [Monterey Car Week](https://www.montereyherald.com/2026/08/16/photos-pebble-beach-concours-delegances-four-wheel-eye-candy/) in California broke a record posted last year, when Ferrari’s customized Daytona SP3 sold for $26 million, the carmaker said in a statement.\n\nFerrari in May unveiled the Luce, priced at €550,000 ($636,356) to a wave of criticism and a drop in the company’s share price. The vehicle marks a break from Ferrari’s heritage of combustion-engine sports cars.\n\n“Tailor-made” cars are one-of-a-kind vehicles customized to a buyer’s precise specifications.\n\nThe car sold in Monterey, dubbed “Chassis Zero,” is the first production chassis from Ferrari’s Luce program. The car combines more than 1,000 horsepower with four doors. It features an iridescent finish that shifts from green to violet depending on angle and light.\n\nThe model was designed with LoveFrom, the studio founded by Jony Ive, Apple’s former design chief and a key figure behind the iPhone and iMac.\n\n[Automotive website Motor1.com](https://www.motor1.com/news/805168/herbie-wertheim-40-million-ferrari/) identified the buyer as Herbie Wertheim, a Florida-based billionaire inventor, investor and philanthropist known for early stakes in companies including Apple.\n\nThe full $40 million from the sale will benefit the Ferrari Foundation’s educational initiatives.\n\nFerrari’s Chief Executive Officer Benedetto Vigna said in May that the model was getting orders from old and new customers.\n\n“The Ferrari Luce has nothing to do with electric cars you have seen from other players,” he said at the time. “You have to see it and drive it to understand that it wasn’t copied — not the interiors, not the exterior, not the performance.”\n\nFerrari raised its full-year guidance late last month, as demand for limited-run models like the F80 and a more expensive version of its Purosangue four-seater drove higher second-quarter results.\n\n©2026 Bloomberg L.P.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ferraris-first-electric-car-fetches-record-40-million-at-monterey-auction", "canonical_source": "https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/08/17/ferrari-electric-auction/", "published_at": "2026-08-17 15:14:08+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-17 15:41:48.663532+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["autonomous-vehicles"], "entities": ["Ferrari", "Sotheby's", "Monterey Car Week", "Luce", "Daytona SP3", "LoveFrom", "Jony Ive", "Herbie Wertheim"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ferraris-first-electric-car-fetches-record-40-million-at-monterey-auction", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ferraris-first-electric-car-fetches-record-40-million-at-monterey-auction.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ferraris-first-electric-car-fetches-record-40-million-at-monterey-auction.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ferraris-first-electric-car-fetches-record-40-million-at-monterey-auction.jsonld"}}