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Meanwhile, Lewis Won!

I can understand and empathize with your comments regarding the Luce. May I propose a compromise? In the days of Prancing Horse12 cylinder Ferraris, Enzo blessed the V6 246GT with the Dino moniker. Why not have Ferrari create a subset similar to the Dino for the Luce? The Dino was beautiful unlike the appliance shape of the Luce, but there’s also the swinging dicks who must have it just for bragging rights, as it fades into history. It will sell no matter the badge.

Meanwhile, LEWIS WON!

Jack J.
Melbourne, Florida



One is the loneliest number.

We always wondered when Apple was going to build a car. For a long time, we thought Sony or some other consumer electronics company would be involved.

No one ever thought it would be... a Ferrari.

I just returned from the New Caanan Caffeine and Carburetors car show. The best of the Green Leafy Burbs took over that CT town, literally everything imaginable. Fun, no Judging... Montana-plated Exotics, loved muscle machines, crazy niche cars, JDM 25-year rule rides... and one electric.

One.

It was a converted classic Fiat 500.

Casey Raskob, Esq.
Green Leafy Burbs, New York City



The Luce.

The last time I felt that way about a car design was when Chevrolet introduced the front-wheel drive Impala in 1997-- and they both shared the same taillight design.

Imagine studying Transportation Design at CCS or Art Center for years and then turning THAT in as your thesis project for a future Ferrari. If you listen closely, that faint turbine noise you hear is Marcello Gandini spinning in his grave at 7500 RPM.

Andre V.
Toronto, Ontario, CANADA



The Nissan Luce.

So good the have you back Peter! The Ferrari Leaf shouldn’t beat anyone or anything, much less our beloved AE!!

If you haven’t seen the Nissan roast of the Luce, and its shared lines with the new Leaf, look it up.

Good to have you back!

Tony W.
Lanky Lank, Pennsylvania



That's it!

It came to me exactly what is the greatest feature of the new Ferrari Luce:

ANY automotive reporter or 'influencer' who wants to stay in the good graces of Ferrari and be included in their press invitees pool MUST sing the praises of this Italian Dust Buster or risk excommunication.

You don't want to wake up with a Prancing Horse head...

J Wilson
Nashville, Tennessee



A Faustian Bargain.

Stellantis is aligning itself with Trump, and Ram was one of the main sponsors of the White House Cage match. As a former, proud, employee of Fiat Group and PSA/Citroën, I am disgusted, that the soul and heritage of legendary automotive legends Agnelli, Citroën and Peugeot are being disgraced. I enjoyed working with Olivier Francois at Fiat. His infectious positivity and marketing savvy were real assets. And I am sure he will justify this by his alignment with the overall "America250' slogan. In more normal times, an "America Made Us" tagline would make perfect sense for the Stellantis US brands. However, the current "American"(Trump) administration and everything associated with MAGA is a cancer that will only hasten their death. Very depressing. The transition to an electrified future is difficult enough without committing brand suicide.

SDS
Toronto (via Trollhattan/Russelsheim/Torino/Paris)



We don't need no stinkin' technical marvels.

Ooohhh... the Luce is a "technical marvel," eh? Do you suppose we could just pause the technical marvel stuff in automobiles for a while? Looking at the past few years, the "technology" has not weathered well. I propose that customers are sick to death of "technical marvels" being dead in the driveway for unfathomable reasons.

DJV
Wilmington, North Carolina



More Technical Marvels.

LED front and rear lights, very expensive to fix. And on "work" trucks too. Remember the good old days when we went down to local auto parts store, looked up your vehicle in a greasy catalog hanging on a chain, found the correct bulb part number and picked it off the peg board display of the standardized auto light bulbs? Fast, cheap, and you would fix it in the parking lot with a Philips head screw driver. Was fun to putter around with such cars. Now? Well don't touch, it's on back order, and that will be hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

DG
Berwick, Maine



Here to stay?

Personally, I think the only reason that Lexus you mention will be a success is because it has a Lexus badge on it. Like nearly all Lexus and Toyota products, it will be lifeless and devoid of passion. These days it seems like blasphemy to say it on the internet, but if you remove the Toyota/Lexus reputation, you're left with probably the most mediocre products in the industry. I would bet they wouldn't even sell that well.

In my eyes it's Toyota that has inadvertently killed the passion in the industry. They've proven that if you design something that works and is cheap to own, you'll have people lining up to get it. In fact, they'll pay nearly new prices for a three-year-old example when cars with passion behind them have lost 50% of their inflated value in three years. As a shareholder I want Toyota's business model; as a car enthusiast I don't care, but a corporation is there to make money. Car makers make money by selling cars and maximizing margin, which they do by efficiently building as many of the same cars as possible. Selling a few halo examples that took bundles of cash to design, which ultimately have to be given away at a discount, doesn't make financial sense anymore.

Since few people care about driving anymore, and Toyota has proven that fact to be true, here we are, selling cars with no passion - and selling LOTS of them. Unfortunately, the market has spoken, and I think that market, at least for those of us who don't have $150k to burn on a car, is here to stay.

KAR
Mukilteo, Washington

Editor-in-Chief's Note: There is nothing mediocre about Lexus/Toyota products; they are excellent in every way. Are more than a few of them devoid of passion? Perhaps, but not nearly as much as the stereotypes suggest. (Lexus LC500, Toyota GR Supra, GR86, anyone? -WG) It turns out that durability, reliability and quality of execution are selling points that are hugely attractive to people, and Toyota/Lexus has delivered that consistently, year in and year out. Which is why these particular Japanese brands will continue to be very successful. -PMD