While the Financial Times called it a “polarizing design,” French magazine Automobile Propre said “purists will hate it.” The project was entrusted not only to the Ferrari Style Center headed by Flavio Manzoni, but also to Jony Ive and Marc Newson’s LoveFrom, an American collective of designers and creators founded in 2019 and based in San Francisco, California, with a team of 60 people.
Ive’s pen has shaped Apple’s most coveted products, from the iPhone to the iPad to the MacBook. A merit that convinced Ferrari to entrust him with the most difficult challenge: designing the first electric car in its history. The reason? To create something completely different, disruptive. Ferrari itself explains the choice of this new and radical approach in a statement: “Luce has taken on such a specific identity precisely because the designers were given the freedom to conceive a disruptive and coherent form,” it says. “By approaching the design of the car, LoveFrom enjoyed the philosophical and design autonomy necessary to present a complete global proposal, whose research also extended into areas beyond pure car design.”
An approach, as we were saying, that certainly does not please everyone, not even the stock market, which saw Ferrari lose more than 6% at the opening. “Love From was an excellent partner in a difficult exercise,” Ferrari Chairman John Elkann explained to Corriere.
“It was a choice that paid off, allowing everyone to learn and be encouraged to do better. The goal was not to make the most beautiful car, but the highest-performing Ferrari possible, using design to achieve that.” The guiding principle was simplicity, with stylistic elements reminiscent of closed shapes and smooth, clean lines. Then, during the development phase, LoveFrom worked with the Ferrari Design Studio, developing the concept while respecting its original intent and ensuring that every solution was consistent with the company’s functional objectives, architectural constraints and homologation requirements for a mass-produced road-going sports car.
“I believe that with this model,” Elkann continues, “we will be able to bring closer those who would never have imagined buying a Ferrari.” In short, after years of announcements and denials, few could have imagined that the first Apple car in history would have the Prancing Horse on its hood.