Ferraris first electric car just fetched $40M at auction after getting roasted for being a massive fail

Ferrari’s first electric car has fetched a staggering $40 million at a charity auction — shattering expectations after the radical new model was savaged by critics who said it betrayed the legendary Italian automaker’s identity.The eye-popping sale set a record for a new vehicle sold at auction, according to Ferrari — and came less than three months after the five-seater priced at $550,000 sparked a fierce backlash following its unveiling in May.The Luce — Ferrari’s first fully electric production car — was developed with LoveFrom, the design firm founded by former Apple design chief Jony Ive and Marc Newson.Critics blasted the battery-powered Ferrari’s unconventional exterior and questioned whether the four-door grand tourer looked or felt like a Ferrari.The backlash was severe enough to rattle investors.Ferrari shares closed 8% lower in Milan on the first trading day after the exterior was unveiled, while its New York-listed shares were down 5% late in the session.Former Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo joined the pile-on, saying he hoped the company would remove its iconic prancing-horse badge from the vehicle.Ferrari later conceded that the intensity of the response caught the company off guard.Global marketing director Emanuele Carando said the automaker anticipated a polarizing reaction but “didn’t expect such a magnitude” of negativity.Ferrari product chief Gianmaria Fulgenzi separately said the Luce “needs to be digested.”Yet the auction showed that the controversy did little to deter at least one buyer from paying an extraordinary premium for the first production chassis.According to The Autopian, bidding began at about $1 million and quickly surged into eight figures before eventually reaching $40 million.The outlet, whose publisher Matt Hardigree witnessed the auction, reported that bidding appeared to stall around $30 million before climbing again, with the eventual buyer, who was not named, jumping from $36 million to the ...