Czinger 21C VMax: Experience the Future of Extreme Automotive Engineering
For nearly a decade, we at MotorTrend have been eagerly seeking an audience with the visionary minds behind Czinger Vehicles. The company’s pioneering founders, father and son Kevin and Lukas Czinger, shared their groundbreaking vision on The InEVitable podcast in October 2022. This conversation reignited our ambition to explore the heart of their innovation, which we finally realized during a rigorous three-day road rally piloting the Czinger 21C VMax.
While many will focus on the track credentials of this 3D-printed, alien-tech, seven-figure, 1,250-horsepower hypercar built in Southern California, the real story lies in how this unique machine navigates the real world. What does a center-steer, tandem two-seater feel like over a 500-mile journey?
Journey Into the Future of Automotive Manufacturing
To truly understand the Czinger 21C VMax, one must first understand its parent company, Divergent Technologies. My entry into the Divergent facility required a U.S. passport—a first for an automotive factory visit—underscoring the company’s unconventional approach. Divergent leverages cutting-edge iterative artificial intelligence and advanced 3D printing to create some of the most lightweight and incredibly strong mechanical components available, even supplying parts to U.S. Department of Defense contractors.
During a guided tour led by CEO Lukas Czinger, I gained a rare glimpse into the future of manufacturing. Deep within the facility, a forest of massive 3D printers worked tirelessly, zapping powdered aluminum into intricate automotive parts that resembled delicate bird bones. It’s a truly mesmerizing spectacle.
Lukas explained that Divergent’s technology operates at the Pareto optimal level—the point where any attempt to add or subtract weight becomes detrimental. Consider the engineering of a rear suspension damper reservoir. The software analyzes the precise spatial constraints and required force resistance, generating hundreds of thousands of unique structural designs. The result is a final form that embodies maximum strength with minimal mass, essentially accelerating the evolutionary process. Beyond its defense applications, nine automotive OEMs utilize Divergent’s 3D-printed components, including Aston Martin (DBR22 Roadster), Bugatti (Tourbillon), and McLaren (W1). Although the structural components of the Ferrari F80 also resemble their advanced designs, Ferrari has yet to publicly acknowledge the collaboration.
Mastering the 21C VMax: A Hybrid Masterpiece
Czinger produces two variants of this extraordinary vehicle, each built on the same advanced platform. The 21C, named for the 21st century, is optimized for high-downforce track performance, while the 21C VMax adopts a sleek, wingless, long-tail design. Our journey focused on the VMax, a silver machine selected for the inaugural Velocity Tour, a 500-mile road rally through California’s wine country.
The term “piloting” is used intentionally. The cabin feels less like a conventional car interior and more like a jet fighter canopy. While I haven’t piloted a jet, I have experienced an Extra 330LT stunt plane, and the similarities are striking. The glass is mere inches from your head on both sides, providing unparalleled visibility. Getting in and out of the car is an exercise in athleticism and precision: sit with your legs positioned outside on the broad sill, lift your knees high, pivot your body on your hindquarters, and carefully guide your feet into the footwell, tucking your head under the roofline. It’s a unique and slightly theatrical entry process that perfectly matches the car’s exotic nature.
The massive sills are not just a design element; they house the battery packs. The 21C VMax is a hybrid hypercar, with each sill containing a 2.2-kWh battery (for a total of 4.4 kWh). This is not a plug-in hybrid; a motor powered by the mid-mounted V-8 engine charges the battery. These batteries deliver a staggering 500 horsepower to the front axle, which features a motor at each wheel.
The combustion engine is a Czinger-designed 2.9-liter twin-turbo V-8 producing 750 horsepower on California’s standard 91-octane premium fuel. Pouring in 100-octane race fuel boosts the output to 850 horsepower. The engine can also run on ethanol, likely generating even more power—we predict a 10 percent increase based on previous performance figures.
The gas engine drives the rear wheels via an Xtrac single-clutch automated semi-sequential gearbox. While similar to the Xtrac seven-speed used in the Pagani Utopia, Czinger distinguishes itself by not only 3D-printing the transmission case but also incorporating small 48-volt electric motors to facilitate smoother shifts at low speeds. This clever innovation eliminates the sluggish, jolting behavior typical of single-clutch automated transmissions at low RPMs. The twin-barrel actuators perform flawlessly in slow-speed scenarios, as I discovered during maneuvers into gas stations, restaurants, and hotel parking lots. Honestly, the execution is remarkable.
Track Day: A Test of Performance and Limits
As is often the case with ultra-high-end hypercars, Bugatti and Pagani often include a professional driver for initial testing. Czinger similarly assigned pro driver Evan Jacobs to ensure I didn’t drive the $2,500,000 machine off a cliff during the inaugural Velocity Tour. Thankfully, later that night, Jacobs assured the team I posed no threat to the car and authorized me to drive solo for the remainder of the rally. We made a stop at Laguna Seca for some parade laps, but Czinger restricts track driving of the VMax to non-company personnel, even at the slow pace of the rally participants.
Even if you can’t drive, always take the passenger seat, and I squeezed into the peculiar rear seat. The most critical seating detail: if you have large calves or feet, the rear experience is challenging. My XXL calves felt pressed between the carbon-fiber tub and seat, and my feet didn’t fit well. However, the visibility through the side glass is extraordinary. It truly felt like being in a stunt plane—a genuinely novel experience for someone who has completed over 1,000 track sessions.
The highlight came when Jacobs convinced the Skip Barber Racing School staff to allow him to take the VMax for a couple of “6/10ths” hot laps. The most exhilarating ride I’ve ever experienced was in an Aston Martin Valkyrie LMH race car, where I could feel blood pooling in my extremities during hard braking. The Czinger VMax now holds second place in that prestigious lineup. Even at less than full tilt and without the massive rear downforce wing, it was easy to comprehend how the Czinger 21C achieved the California Gold Rush. This unprecedented feat involved setting five production car track records—at Thunder Hill, Sonoma Raceway, Laguna Seca, Willow Springs, and The Thermal Club—in five consecutive days, driving between each location. Czinger later returned to Laguna Seca to not only break its previous record but to reclaim the title from the track-special Koenigsegg Jesko Sadair’s Spear. That lap time—a staggering 1 minute, 22.30 seconds—is faster than the fastest MotoAmerica Superbike lap ever recorded at Laguna, which stands at a 1:22.56.
Czinger claims a vehicle weight of approximately 3,600 pounds, which is impressively light for a 1,250-hp hybrid hypercar. For context, the Ferrari SF90 Stradale Asseto Fiorano—the highest-performance variant of a three-motor, twin-turbo V-8 plug-in hybrid making 986 hp—weighs 3,839 pounds. The new Lamborghini Temerario, another three-motor, twin-turbo V-8 (also with less power but serving as a comparison), surpasses the two-ton mark at 4,185 pounds.
It is worth noting that the SF90 and Temerario hold the records for the quickest-accelerating gasoline-powered cars MotorTrend has ever tested (the Ferrari for 0–60 mph and the Lambo for the quarter mile). If Czinger’s weight claims prove accurate, the unorthodox Southern California startup has successfully outperformed two Italian legends in its debut effort. This accomplishment is remarkable on its own but particularly significant given that while Southern California is renowned for many things, it lacks a deep-rooted supercar building expertise. In short, L.A. is not exactly Modena.
Navigating the Real World: The Czinger Experience
The rally route was comprised primarily of true back roads—tight, winding, and often weathered asphalt, which is far from the idealized roads typically featured in hypercar dream trips. I spent considerable time following the pack, navigating to lunch and coffee stops, and riding alongside the camera car. While this may have seemed disappointing at the time, it offered a realistic experience of what most owners will encounter when living with a Czinger.
To my surprise, the VMax felt remarkably similar to driving any other high-performance exotic. You must empty your pockets before getting in, as space is limited, and drink your water beforehand as there are no cupholders. Prepare yourself for the constant attention from other drivers—especially males between 16 and 24—who will be
