A 12-cylinder rotation from the grave…

A friend and former stockbroker sent me a link earlier this week to story regarding an interesting development on a stock that I didn’t even know was publicly traded.

The story told how the stock price of exotic Italian carmaker Ferrari had tumbled more than five percent when the company announced its first fully electric vehicle, a $640,000 car called the “Luce.” And it’s not even a sports car — it is four-door sedan. But it’s gotten worse. The New York Times reported on Wednesday that the stock of Ferrari is now down eight percent.

The name of the car translates into English as “light” and reportedly was chosen to evoke “clarity and direction” as Ferrari embarks on a new path deviating from its internal combustion roots. Although I thought the vehicle design was rather striking, it looks to me like it could be just be next generation of a Toyota Prius — not a testosterone pumping Ferrari. And it apparently has offended Ferrari afficianados for both the styling and the fact that it doesn’t have a traditional 12 cylinder engine snarling under the hood.

The late Enzo Ferrari, who created the iconic brand in Italy once stated in no uncertain terms that a Ferrari “is a 12-cylinder automobile.” The Dino, a beautiful mass production sports car made from 1966 through 1976 by a division of Ferrari and named after his son Alfredo (nicknamed Dino), had a mid-mounted V6 engine. Because it did not have a 12-cylinder engine, Enzo apparently would not allow it to be called a Ferrari, even though some of his earlier race cars — also carrying the name Dino — had racing bred V6s mounted amidship.

According to one story about the plummet of its stock, Former Ferrari Chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo was so upset with the thought of the brand producing an untraditional looking electric vehicle, he told reporters: “I hope they at least remove the Prancing Horse from that car.”

He also added: “If I said what I really think, I’d harm Ferrari.” I suspect the indominable Enzo Ferrari would agree and is now spinning around in his grave at the thought of this new vehicle carrying his name.

A little more about the car. It is said to produce 1035 horsepower from four electric motors and can accelerate to 100 kilometers per hour (62 MPH) in 2.5 seconds. Top speed is estimated at 193 miles per hour. The shape of the car and the interior was done by “LoveFrom” a group comprised of former design stars from Apple. In choosing that team, Ferrari bypassed traditional Italian design gurus (another spin in the grave from Enzo.)

Yet another rotation in the grave for Enzo would be the sound of the vehicle. Many manufacturers now artificially introduce the sound of the engine into a car interior as it accelerates rapidly. Our new SUV does that through a feature the manufacturer calls “iconic sound.” I like it sometimes, but it seems a bit silly at other times when you know your ear is being tricked by a computer to make you think you’re driving a car with a racing engine when it’s just being motivated by a modest four cylinder. (I think there’s a way to reduce the artificial engine volume level If you flip through enough pages on the cumbersome touch screen, but I haven’t had the patience yet to do so.) So you’d think the Luce designers naturally would have wanted to have that mesmerizing and exotic sound of a Ferrari V12 piped into the cockpit. Not so. They chose instead to capture the mechanical sound produced by the car’s rear axle. They even patented it. (Maybe two spins for Enzo on that one.)

When you think of a Ferrari, the image of a grand touring vehicle snaking through hundreds of miles of scenic Tuscan hills comes to mind. With the Luce and its 280-mile range, you could barely make it from Las Cruces to Albuquerque on a mostly straight four-lane. Another twirl for Enzo.

When summing up the potential appeal of the car, Car and Driver magazine noted that “Even in today’s superheated market for ultra-high-end exotics, demand for electrics appears uncertain at best.” It noted that Italian supercar rival Lamborghini recently dropped plans for an electric variant.

Summing up their article, Road and Track quoted Ferrari Executive Chairman John Elkann saying “We are expanding what Ferrari can be, not losing what Ferrari is.”

Car and Driver concluded “We shall see whether the Ferraristi agree.”

And as I always do, I try to make a connection with my posts to anything New Mexico related. So how does Ferrari connect with the Land of Enchantment?

Almost a year and one-half ago, I wrote a story about how many exotic vehicles are registered in New Mexico. There are more than I thought. (But apparently not as many as there are in Montana, where a lack of sales taxes onpurchased vehicles has encouraged many multi-millionaires to register their high-priced exotics there — but that’s a story for another time.)

As for Ferraris in New Mexico, there were 565 registered in the state as of December 2024. And to my surprise, there were two registered in Catron County, where the vehicle of choice is likely to be a Ford F-250. As I said in that post, driving through downtown Reserve in your bright red Ferrari Testarossa would definitely go against the grain of a conservative county known for its desire to stay off the grid.

And thanks to my friend for sending me the article. I always appreciate comments from my readers and for giving me fodder for what might turn into a new post.