Collectors & Aficionados
Ferrari Luce Chassis Zero: The $40 Million Charity Auction at Monterey
At $40 million, the Ferrari Luce Chassis Zero became a charity auction record – and a masterclass in brand stewardship.
A 30-second advertising spot during the television broadcast of the American Super Bowl final costs $10 million. Thirty seconds that guarantee spectacular exposure for the product being advertised. An audience, however, that essentially covers the American market.
The extraordinary sale, for the sum paid, of a Ferrari at the annual auction most eagerly awaited by major collectors – RM Sotheby’s during Monterey Car Week – instead reaches an audience perfectly targeted to an international luxury product such as the new Ferrari Luce. The news, in fact, reaches collectors and enthusiasts all over the world. Basically, anyone who can afford to buy a Ferrari will hear about it.
Those who have regarded the sale of the Ferrari Luce Chassis Zero, officially the "first of the first" to be sold for $40 million, as a marketing operation are not wrong. But a well-conceived and well-structured marketing operation contributes to the overall value of the market. The figure is, indeed, so high as to leave one almost speechless, yet it confirms that the automobile itself represents value.
