Ferrari made history in the automotive industry with the sale of its first fully electric car, but the headline is not just about the vehicle itself. A one-off Ferrari Luce ‘Chassis 0’ fetched an extraordinary $40 million at a charity auction, making it the most expensive new car ever sold at auction.
The historic sale took place during Monterey Car Week in California through RM Sotheby’s. The money raised from the auction will be donated to The Ferrari Foundation, which supports educational initiatives. The result also smashed the previous record for a new car sold at auction: a customised Ferrari Daytona SP3 that fetched $26 million last year.
The auctioned vehicle is the first production chassis from Ferrari’s Luce program. Ferrari unveiled the Luce in May, marking its entry into the fully electric vehicle market. The regular Luce carries a starting price of about €550,000 ($636,000), making the $40 million auction result more than 60 times the announced price of the standard model. The extraordinary figure reflects the car’s unique status rather than the normal market value of the Luce.
The Luce is also an unusual Ferrari in several respects. It is a four-door, five-seat model and produces more than 1,000 horsepower. The vehicle was developed with design studio LoveFrom, founded by former Apple design chief Jony Ive, adding another high-profile name to the project.
The auction car received an exclusive specification through Ferrari’s Tailor Made personalization program. Its exterior features a special Madreperla Semi-Gloss finish with an iridescent effect that can shift between green and violet depending on the lighting.
Ferrari also created a bespoke interior using specially developed leather and distinctive colour combinations. Dedicated wheels, brake calipers and Ferrari badges further separate the auction car from future production examples.
The vehicle's ‘Chassis 0’ designation is particularly significant for collectors. As the first production example of Ferrari’s first all-electric model, it represents a piece of the company's history at the moment it begins its transition into a new automotive era.
“The Ferrari Luce has nothing to do with electric cars you have seen from other players,” Ferrari Chief Executive Officer Benedetto Vigna said. “You have to see it and drive it to understand that it wasn’t copied, not the interiors, not the exterior, not the performance,” Vigna added.
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The $40 million result comes at an important time for Ferrari. The luxury automaker is entering the electric vehicle market while trying to preserve the performance, exclusivity and design identity associated with its combustion-engine cars.
Luce may be available for customer deliveries later in 2026, with Ferrari positioning the model as a completely new interpretation of its grand touring philosophy. For the collector who secured Chassis 0, the purchase is more than an acquisition of an electric car. It is ownership of Ferrari’s first chapter in the fully electric era and a record-breaking one at that.