The Czinger 21C leaves no question that it is a hypercar. Aside from four-figure horsepower and lap-record-shattering performance, this vehicle's sheer presence reflexively slackened our jaws. Factors like its carbon-fiber-intensive construction, bespoke hybrid powertrain, extreme downforce, and fighter-jet-like seating mean that the 21C checks all the boxes—and then some—in its application to the hypercar club.
Czinger 21CYet in Czinger's grand vision, these accolades are essentially trivialities. As Kevin and Lukas Czinger—the eponymous father and son team behind the 21C—walked us through their facility in Los Angeles' South Bay, it became clear that what they're working on has implications far beyond one ultra-high-performance car. Rather, their goal is nothing short of revolutionizing how vehicles across the spectrum are designed and manufactured.
Although Czinger is a relative newcomer in the hypercar space, the 21C is not its first effort. In 2015, it showed the Blade, branded under Divergent, which is now the larger company that operates Czinger as its car-making subsidiary. As our headlines for the Blade proclaimed, 3-D printing remains the core technology that underpins the 21C and the company's future.
Czinger 21C
Think of the Blade as a starting point from which vast development began to create the 21C. Visual similarities remain, with the tandem seating arrangement—centrally mounted, the passenger behind the driver—perhaps the most striking feature. Kevin showed us inspiration boards depicting the SR-71 spy plane as a source for the canopy-like cabin, and the jutting shoulders of a cheetah for the wheel arches. Prominent air vents are situated fore and aft of the massive butterfly doors. An integrated wing hovers in the bodywork above the central exhaust outlet. We got our first glimpse of the 21C in early 2020, but significant changes have occurred since then: Its width increased, and its aero package was redesigned.
True Hypercar Specifications
Like the Blade, the 21C uses a mid-engine layout, but that's about the end of their powertrain similarities. The Blade's 700-hp tuned Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution turbo-four was simply insufficient for the 21C project—as was everything else on the market. So Czinger decided to develop a powertrain in-house, the specifications of which seem better suited to a video game cheat-code car than one intended for real-world roads.
Primary propulsion comes from a twin-turbo 2.9-liter flat-plane crankshaft V-8, which produces 950 hp at 10,500 rpm. Kevin explained how it can run on various octanes of gasoline, or fuels such as E85 or carbon recycled methanol. That engine is coupled to a hydraulically actuated seven-speed sequential transaxle, also designed in-house. According to 21C chief engineer Ewan Baldry, it has the ability to skip gears like a dual-clutch transmission, yet weighs some 60 pounds less.
Czinger didn't stop there. Supplementing the engine is an 800-volt electrical system, charged by a kinetic motor-generator unit similar to what's been used in a recent Formula 1 car, or the Le Mans prototypes that Baldry had familiarity with during his tenure as technical director at Ginetta. That system can add 100 hp to the engine's drive on the rear wheels while powering a 120-kW electric motor driving each front wheel. With this electric all-wheel-drive setup, the total system output is about 1,350 hp. And its 2.8-kWh lithium-titanate battery enables the 21C to travel short distances at modest acceleration on electricity alone.
Czinger's Shocking Lap Record
With these stunning numbers comes stunning performance. Although we have yet to validate Czinger's 1.9-second 0-60-mph estimate, the 21C's recent destruction of the Laguna Seca production-car lap record grants credence to its capabilities. Clocking a time of 1:25:44, the 21C beat the previous record by more than 2 seconds—that being the McLaren Senna's 1:27.62 lap, which our driver Randy Pobst set during 2019 Best Driver's Car proceedings.
Czinger 21C
The record was set by the track-spec 21C, which includes aerodynamic additions such as the prominent front canards and massive manually adjustable rear wing that produce over one ton of downforce above 200 mph. The top speed is stated to be above 280 mph. Light-weighting on the track 21C is enhanced by wheels with carbon-fiber barrels and a few plies of padded carbon fiber that suffice as seats. Curb weight is claimed to be about 2,900 pounds.
Nevertheless, superlative performance isn't exactly what the 21C is all about. Rapt as we were by it, Kevin and Lukas were keen to draw our attention toward the methods used to create it. Indeed, as they explained Divergent's production process, the magnitude of their innovation became clear. It's one that seems to have the potential of changing everything we know about designing and building cars.
-by Amaan Attar
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