Czinger 21C VMax: Is This the Future of Hypercars, Or Pure Automotive Madness?
For years, the hypercar world has buzzed about Czinger—the Southern California startup pioneering additive manufacturing in automotive. We finally got behind the wheel of the Czinger 21C VMax, and let me tell you, it’s less a car and more a full-blown sensory assault. Forget your average weekend track monster; this is something entirely different.
We took the VMax on a 500-mile rally through the picturesque wine country of Central and Northern California. Sure, there’s a track story to tell—and we’ll get to that—but what we really wanted to explore was what a central-steer, tandem two-seater hypercar is actually like when you take it on the open road. Can a $2.5 million, 1,250-horsepower creation born from AI and 3D printing actually work outside of a sterile test track?
Spoiler alert: It’s wild. Absolutely bonkers, in the best way possible.
Factory Fresh: A Peek into the Future of Performance Engineering
To understand the Czinger 21C, you have to understand its parent company, Divergent Technologies. I’ve never had to show my U.S. passport to enter a factory before, but as you can imagine, Czinger is not your average automotive manufacturer.
Divergent uses iterative artificial intelligence and massive 3D printers to create mechanical components that are impossibly light and surprisingly robust. My visit to the factory was frankly mind-blowing. Lukas Czinger, the young CEO of both companies, gave me a tour, and the highlight was a glimpse inside one of their colossal printers. Imagine dozens of lasers simultaneously zapping powdered aluminum into automotive parts that look more like alien bone structures than metal components. It’s a scene ripped straight out of science fiction.
Lukas explained that Divergent’s technology aims for “Pareto optimal” design, the point where any further material reduction becomes a performance detriment. Take a simple component like a suspension damper reservoir bracket. Engineers input the maximum space constraints and the force tolerances required. From there, the AI generates hundreds of thousands of designs, mathematically iterating until it finds the shape that offers the absolute highest strength-to-weight ratio. It feels less like engineering and more like watching evolution on fast-forward.
But Czinger isn’t just a skunkworks project. Beyond the Department of Defense contracts—which we mostly kept out of the picture, though one prototype definitely resembled a rocket—nine other automotive OEMs rely on Divergent’s additive manufacturing. Aston Martin (DBR22 Roadster), Bugatti (Tourbillon), and McLaren (W1) are the big names that openly admit using their tech. However, one look at the control arms on the new Ferrari F80 suggests they’re on the list, too.
Under the Carbon Fiber: Decoding the 21C’s Hybrid Powerhouse
Czinger builds two versions of this fundamental design. The Czinger 21C is the high-downforce track weapon, named for the 21st century. Then there’s the 21C VMax—the wingless, long-tailed version. For the inaugural Velocity Tour, the 500-mile road rally through California wine country, I was fortunate enough to pilot the VMax in stunning silver.
I say “piloting” purposely. Sitting in the Czinger feels more like being in a fighter jet cockpit than a traditional passenger cabin. While I haven’t flown in an Extra 330LT stunt plane, I have sat in one, and the similarity is striking. There’s glass less than a foot from your head on both sides. The visibility is incredible, but the process of getting in and out is, well… unconventional.
Here’s the drill: You position your legs facing outward on the massive sill, pull your knees up, swivel your backside, and tuck your feet into the narrow footwell. Then, you slide your head under the bubble canopy. It’s a ridiculous maneuver the first few times, but when you’re surrounded by carbon fiber, it just adds to the exclusivity of the experience.
One reason those sills are so massive is that they’re stuffed with batteries. The 21C VMax is a hybrid hypercar, and each sill houses 2.2 kWh of battery power, giving the car a combined total of 4.4 kWh. It’s not a plug-in hybrid; instead, a mid-mounted V-8 engine keeps the pack topped off while delivering a combined 1,250 horsepower to the wheels.
The gas engine is a Czinger-designed 2.9-liter twin-turbo V-8 that produces 750 hp on California’s notoriously mediocre 91-octane premium fuel. Dump 100-octane race fuel into the tank, and the output jumps to 850 hp. The small but mighty engine can also run on ethanol for even more power, although Czinger hasn’t released those figures yet—we’re predicting a solid 10% bump.
The Transmission Innovation
The V8 sends power to the rear wheels via an Xtrac single-clutch automated semi-sequential gearbox. If you’ve driven a Pagani Utopia, you’ll recognize this gearbox; the Czinger even borrows the design from Xtrac. However, Czinger takes it a step further. They don’t just 3D print the housing; they integrate small 48-volt electric motors that help execute shifts at lower speeds.
This is where the Czinger engineers really shine. Traditional automated single-clutch transmissions feel jerky and unsynchronized at low speeds, producing a drunken surge. But those little electric motors? They completely eliminate that feeling. Pulling into gas stations, restaurant parking lots, and hotel driveways felt almost normal. Seriously, Czinger deserves massive applause for solving one of the most annoying hypercar problems.
Track Time: The Velocity Tour Experience
What never felt normal was the guy sitting directly behind me for the entire first day. As is customary with certain high-end hypercars (think Bugatti and Pagani), Czinger assigned a professional driver, Evan Jacobs, to ensure I didn’t wrap the $2.5 million machine around a tree. Thankfully, later that night, Jacobs assured the Czinger team I wasn’t a threat and I was allowed to drive solo for the rest of the rally.
We stopped by Laguna Seca for some parade laps, but Czinger has a strict policy: non-employees are not allowed to drive the VMax on racetracks, even at the slow pace of the rally participants.
As I’ve learned the hard way, even if you can’t drive, you should always go for the ride. So, I scrambled into the bizarre rear seat. The first thing to know here is that if you have big calves or feet, the rear-seat experience isn’t great. My XXL calves were literally wedged between the carbon-fiber tub and the carbon-fiber seat, and my feet felt cramped, too. But the visibility through the side glass is absolutely incredible. It reminded me of that stunt plane—a novel way to experience track driving, which I’ve done more than 1,000 times.
This was especially true when Jacobs and I convinced the Skip Barber Racing School staff to let him take the VMax for a couple of “6/10ths” hot laps. The most impressive hot lap I’ve ever experienced was riding shotgun in an Aston Martin Valkyrie LMH race car, where I could literally feel the blood pooling in my extremities under heavy braking. The Czinger VMax is now a very close second. And remember, Jacobs wasn’t going full tilt.
Even at less than the limit and without the massive rear wing, it was easy to understand how a Czinger 21C achieved the “California Gold Rush.” The brand set five production car track records—at Thunder Hill, Sonoma Raceway, Laguna Seca, Willow Springs, and The Thermal Club—in five consecutive days, driving from each track to the next.
Later, Czinger returned to Laguna Seca to not only beat its own record but to reclaim the throne from a track-special Koenigsegg Jesko Sadair’s Spear. That lap time, a mind-bending 1 minute, 22.30 seconds, is faster than the fastest MotoAmerica Superbike lap ever recorded at Laguna (1:22.56).
Lightweight Champion: Czinger vs. The Italians
Czinger claims a vehicle weight of approximately 3,600 pounds. That sounds light for a 1,250-hp hybrid, but here’s where it gets insane. The Ferrari SF90 Stradale Asseto Fiorano—the most potent version of a three-motor, twin-turbo V-8 PHEV (making 986 hp)—weighs 3,839 pounds. The new Lamborghini Temerario, another three-motor, twin-turbo V-8 (though with less power), pushes past the two-ton mark at 4,185 pounds.
Now’s a good time to mention that the SF90 and Temerario are the two 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 claim holds true, this unorthodox California startup has managed to beat two Italian legends right out of the gate. That’s remarkable on its own, especially considering
