At Least It's Not a Cybertruck

The Enzo. The F40. The Testarossa. LaFerrari. The 488. The GTO. 

What do all of these vehicles have in common? Beauty, design, and history. Each of the vehicles listed above are some of the best Ferrari has to offer. Years of work went into making each of those models, and for good reason. Ferrari is arguably the most recognizable and iconic auto brand ever created. They’ve been staples in Formula One, the 24 Hours at Le Mans, and dozens of other racing competitions. They’ve created some of the coolest vehicles ever designed, and fed the dreams of young men and women for decades. Their brand speaks to class, performance, and Italian luxury like no other. 

Until yesterday. 

If you haven’t heard, Ferrari unveiled their first ever Electric Vehicle yesterday, and I gotta say, I wish they didn’t. I know it’s basic to hate on a brand when a product meant to spark innovation is initially revealed, but this feels warranted. The Ferrari Luce may bear the Prancing Horse logo, but it doesn’t deserve it. 

Everything about the Luce feels off. I can’t tell if it’s supposed to be a sports car, a luxury vehicle, or an SUV. It’s a four door, with Coach Doors a la Rolls Royce. It has what seems like a hatchback in the rear, and it seats five. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say this was a clone of the Tesla Model 3, (a car I despise) with a few tweaks and the Ferrari badge slapped onto it. 

I will say, the exterior of the vehicle is…fine. But that’s kind of my problem with it. If you’ve ever seen a Ferrari on the street, or driving past you on the freeway, you know exactly what you’re looking at. You might not know the specific model since you’re not a nerd, but you can definitively say: “That’s a Ferrari.” The Luce is too rounded. Its older brothers and sisters, such as the LaFerrari or the Enzo are sharp. They look like fighter jets, striking fear into the nearest toddler when their owners rev the engine. The Luce however, looks like a Lucid Air that couldn’t afford the full hood. Not to mention the cheap LED brakelights they embedded into the rear, clearly modeled after the iconic F40’s, but worse. Everything about the exterior of the Luce just screams, “We tried. But also we didn’t really feel like it.” 

But that isn’t the real issue I have with this car. The interior is what really bugs me. Simplicity is boring folks. I know I’ve touted subtlety in my Summertime Setup for Getup series, but that is with men’s fashion. All rules of subtlety can be thrown out of the window while designing a car, especially a Ferrari. Which is why I’m so disappointed Ferrari went the way of the Tesla on this vehicle. There is barely a dashboard, the bucket seats are basic as all hell, and the center console might as well have been ripped out of the Rivian R2. (I actually really like Rivian’s cars. I’m not an EV hater, I just think they need to be done right to gain my respect.) Did you know that the LaFerrari doesn’t even have a center console? They removed it to save weight and improve performance. That is the Ferrari attitude that everyone fell in love with years ago. Ferrari blatantly said, “Screw you, we don’t care about your water bottle,” and it worked. The LaFerrari is regarded as one of the “big three” cars of the 2010s. (Alongside the McLaren P1 and Porsche 918 Spyder, respectively.) Which is why I’m shocked that the direction they’re pursuing now centers around an electric sedan. With 5 seats. And coach doors. Not to mention the digital display that looks like the computer in a police car. The entire design just seems really messy and poorly thought out. 

I know Jeremy Clarkson is regarded as kind of a bad person now after some controversies shook his career, but I’d give almost anything to be in the room to see his, James May, and Richard Hammond’s first reactions to the Luce. I can’t imagine the laughs and what they’d say regarding the brand they all know so well. I’m excitedly waiting on their individual reviews that should be coming out in the next few months. 

I’ll always love Ferrari, (despite not being a fan of their F1 team, go Mercedes) but this just seems like a step in the wrong direction. If you watch the reveal video you can tell that Lewis Hamilton feels similarly to most people about the look of this car, and I don’t blame him. I wouldn’t want to be a part of that reveal either.

That’s about all I have to say on this matter. You’ll notice I didn’t discuss the price in this article, ($640,000 base price for the record) that’s because I can’t afford it, and probably never will. Still, that doesn’t mean I don’t reserve the right to criticize something I think deserves it. Hope you enjoyed this one, I certainly didn’t. Thanks for reading.