Ferrari unveiled the Luce today in Rome, completing a three-act reveal that started with specs last October and continued with the Jony Ive-designed interior in February. The Italian automaker flew me to Rome for the launch, and I got about 30 minutes to explore the vehicle up close, though I couldn’t drive it.
What I found was a car that challenges just about every assumption of what a Ferrari should look like, who should sit in it, and how it should sound, while being unmistakably, stubbornly Ferrari in the ways that matter most: emotions.
A Ferrari that takes a second to register
The first time you see the Luce in person, it takes a few seconds to register the fact that you’re looking at a Ferrari. If it weren’t for the Prancing Horse badge and the unmistakable Rosso Corsa paint option, I doubt one in three people would guess the brand correctly.
That’s not because it’s the legendary marque’s first electric vehicle. The fact that this is Ferrari’s first five-seater and its first sedan — if you can even call it that — has far more to do with the cognitive dissonance. It’s also the first Ferrari co-designed by LoveFrom, the design firm led by Jony Ive and Marc Newson, and notably their first time designing a vehicle of any kind.
