When Ferrari Chairman John Elkann drove to Castel Gandolfo recently to present the Ferrari Luce to Pope Leo XIV, the symbolism was impossible to miss. The delegation to the pontiff’s residence included CEO Benedetto Vigna and other Ferrari executives. The top Ferrari brass presented Ferrari’s first-ever EV for the Pope’s blessings, and even donated the car’s steering wheel (arguably the best designed part of the Luce) to the pontiff. Now, read that again. A papal audience for an electric car. Whether it reads as genuine reverence or very expensive PR is, honestly, a matter of perspective.
Ferrari and the papacy have history. In 1988, Pope John Paul II visited the Maranello factory, where thousands gathered to see him tour the grounds and take a ride in a Ferrari Mondial Cabriolet. That same pope was later offered something far more valuable. In January 2005, Ferrari executives presented him with the 400th Ferrari Enzo, a car built outside the standard production run.
The Pope declined to keep it personally, though, and instead asked that it be sold and the proceeds donated to tsunami victims. Ferrari eventually handed the check to Pope Benedict XVI after John Paul II’s passing. So this isn’t purely a stunt. There is a real, if informal, tradition of Ferrari seeking something like a blessing from Rome.
The Luce needs all the goodwill it can get. Ferrari shares fell nearly 8 percent in Milan trading following the reveal, with investors and critics questioning whether the four-door, five-seat $640,000 car stays true to the brand’s identity. Former Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo was blunt, calling the Luce a betrayal of the company’s history and saying he hoped they would remove the prancing horse logo from the car. The Luce means “light” in Italian. Right now, Ferrari is still searching for theirs in what seems to be the start of a very dark tunnel.
