Back in 2020, Los Angeles-based company Czinger unveiled their 21C hypercar with performance and engineering claims that sounded almost too good to be true. Now, the production version is finally here, and it has delivered on all of them. The 21C will be limited to 80 units and is the first in a series of “exclusive performance vehicles” set to be produced by the American automaker. The hypercar has undergone extensive changes since its planned debut for last year’s Geneva Motor Show, with one of them being an updated width of 2,050 mm.
At the heart of the 21C is what Czinger touts as the world’s most power-dense production engine: a 2.88-liter, twin-turbocharged, flat-plane V8 with an atmospheric 11,000 RPM redline. The engine is designed to run on a variety of fuels, including carbon recycled methanol along with other e-fuels, which allows it to operate as a zero-emissions vehicle.
Coupled with that engine is a seven-speed sequential transmission and an 800V electric electric drive and regen system. An electric motor powers each front wheel providing torque vectoring, while the batteries replenish their charge from regenerative braking and a Formula 1-esque motor generator unit. The system’s total output is rated at 1,233 hp, with an extra 100 hp available as an upgrade. Seeing as the 21C weighs under 1,240 kg dry, all that muscle affords it a power-to-weight ratio of 1:1 by metric standards. Combine that with the instant torque from the two electric motors, and you’re looking at the potential for some impressive stats.
And impressive they are indeed. 0 to 100 km/h takes just 1.9 seconds on the way to a top speed of 452 km/h in its optional low drag configuration, and the car completes the quarter mile in a lightning-fast 8.1 seconds. It goes from 0 to 300 km/h in 8.5 seconds and back down to 0 in another 5.3, and 0 to 400 km/h in 21.3 seconds and back to a standstill in another 5.8. Downforce comes in at 615 kg at 161 km/h and 2,500 kg at 322 km/h, which means the 21C could theoretically drive upside down in a tunnel at its top speed.
On top of its world-beating performance, one of the most unique things about the 21C is how it’s made. Through computational engineering, each piece of the car is designed and optimized by AI to be as light and strong and possible, then brought to life with additive manufacturing, or 3D printing. This process makes for complex, organic-looking structures that would be virtually impossible to replicate with more traditional methods like machining or casting.
After that’s done, the vehicle is assembled in Czinger’s patented production system, which uses a self-contained, automated system of robotic arms working in tandem to put together the pieces of the car with extreme precision. This method of production as a whole allows the 21C to have some very unique design elements, some of which include a bubble cockpit with a 1+1 inline seating arrangement, and bodywork that appears like fabric draped over the chassis. The Czinger 21C will be offered in two specs, a low drag configuration and a high downforce one, both of which have already been fully homologated. Pricing has not been officially announced, but the cost had previously been set at around US$ 1.7 million back when it was first unveiled.
