Camouflage off, wipers on: Ferrari Luce reveals the detail nobody can unsee

A Ferrari Luce prototype was spotted on Italian roads, and the most talked-about detail isn't the polarising body but the huge wipers at the windshield edges.

Ferrari Luce has already been officially unveiled, but for some reason the brand keeps sending prototypes out in camouflage. One of them was spotted on Italian roads, and now the main talking point isn’t just the divisive bodywork — it’s the enormous wipers at the windshield.

The latest prototype has shed the «van»-style cladding that Ferrari used before the late-May reveal. Only a thin strip of camouflage is left, and it draws more attention than it hides. Against the unusual five-door silhouette of the Luce, the wipers really stand out: they sit vertically at the edges of the windshield and look far chunkier than anything you’d expect from Ferrari.

It’s not a designer’s whim. Ferrari chose this layout for aerodynamic reasons and even patented the wiper geometry: they generate micro-vortices at the pillars without disturbing airflow over the body. The company spent more than five years refining the car, ran around 6,000 CFD simulations, logged 250 hours of scale-model testing in the wind tunnel and another 80 hours with a full-size car. The payoff is a drag coefficient of 0.254 — the lowest of any road-going Ferrari.

The vertical wipers helped achieve that figure, but visually the solution is contentious. In the press shots the black A-pillars hid them well enough; on a real prototype the detail is impossible to disguise. The Luce had already stirred a strong reaction without their help: for Ferrari, this isn’t just an EV but a five-door car with a look that will take some getting used to.

The trick itself isn’t new. A similar layout was used by the 2004 SEAT Altea and the second-generation SEAT Leon, both penned by Walter de Silva. On the SEATs the wipers were tucked more neatly along the pillars and looked far less intrusive. On the Ferrari they’ve become part of the car’s character — if not the prettiest part of it.

None of that is likely to put Luce buyers off. Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna has said interest in the car is strong, including from new clients, and that after the reveal the company even received bank transfers from people wanting to buy one.