The Mother, In Labor And Dying, Signed Over Her Baby To Her Benefactor! General Hospital Spoilers

The Czinger 21C VMax: A 1,250-HP Tour de Force of Extreme Hypercar Engineering For years, the automotive world has been abuzz with the name Czinger, the Los Angeles-based outfit that’s been quietly building what many consider the future of the hypercar. The company’s parent, Divergent Technologies, leverages cutting-edge artificial intelligence and advanced additive manufacturing—better known as 3D printing—to create a blend of lightweight engineering and insane power that has left industry veterans in a state of awe. When the opportunity finally arose to pilot a production-spec Czinger 21C VMax on a rigorous three-day road rally through California’s stunning wine country, it was an offer MotorTrend couldn’t refuse. While the track-focused 21C model has already cemented its place in the automotive history books by setting five production car lap records in five days, and reclaiming the Laguna Seca throne from a Koenigsegg Jesko, we were here to answer a different question. What does a seven-figure, 1,250-horsepower hypercar with a center-steer, tandem seating configuration feel like on a 500-mile journey? The result was more than just a test drive; it was a glimpse into a future where technology redefines performance. A Factory Worthy of a Passport My journey began at a facility in Southern California that felt more like a mission control room than a car factory. In fact, I’ve never needed to show my U.S. passport to enter a car assembly line before. But Divergent Technologies is unlike most automotive manufacturers. As the company that powers cutting-edge military and automotive components, it requires strict government identification. I was led through the facility by Lukas Czinger, the dynamic young CEO of both Divergent and Czinger Motors. The atmosphere was palpably different, buzzing with an energy that speaks of innovation and disruption. Seeing the in-house 3D printing facilities was the highlight. Massive additive manufacturing machines were using lasers to fuse powdered aluminum into components that seemed to defy gravity. They looked less like metal parts and more like organic, bone-like structures—a marvel of modern engineering. Lukas explained that Divergent aims to reach what’s known as “Pareto optimality,” the point where adding or removing a single gram of weight becomes a negative. Engineers are given a set of parameters—like the space available for a suspension reservoir and the forces it must withstand—and the software generates hundreds of thousands of designs. It then selects the lightest, strongest configuration, essentially accelerating the process of natural selection into a hyper-efficient manufacturing machine. Beyond military applications, nine automotive OEMs currently utilize Divergent’s 3D-printed components. While only Aston Martin (DBR22), Bugatti (Tourbillon), and McLaren (W1) have publicly admitted to using these parts, industry insiders widely suspect the control arms on the Ferrari F80 are also Divergent creations. This partnership with some of the most iconic automakers in the world solidifies Divergent’s role as a leader in next-generation manufacturing. Inside the Alien Cockpit Czinger builds two distinct versions of what is essentially the same platform. The high-downforce, track-focused 21C—named in recognition of the 21st century—and the sleek, wingless, long-tail VMax. Our test car was the 21C VMax, prepared for the inaugural Velocity Tour, a 500-mile road rally weaving through Northern California’s famed wine country. The term “piloting” is used intentionally here. Sitting inside the Czinger 21C VMax feels less like entering a car and more like settling into a cockpit. Czinger themselves compare the experience to being in a jet fighter, and having previously ridden shotgun in an Extra 330LT stunt plane, I can attest to the uncanny similarity. The glass is positioned less than a foot from your head, offering phenomenal visibility. The visibility is superb, though the process of getting in and out is arguably one of the car’s most bizarre features. You sit with your legs facing outward on the immense sill, then pull your knees up and pivot on your backside as you tuck your feet into the narrow footwell, subsequently sliding your head under the roof. One of the primary reasons the sills are so prominent is that they are packed with batteries. The 21C VMax is a hybrid hypercar, with each sill housing 2.2 kWh of power for a 4.4 kWh total. This isn’t a plug-in hybrid, as a motor powered by the mid-mounted V-8 engine keeps the battery charged. These batteries can deliver up to 500 horsepower to the front axle, which utilizes one motor per wheel. The combustion engine is a Czinger-designed 2.9-liter twin-turbo V-8 capable of producing 750 horsepower on California’s standard 91-octane premium fuel. However, should you opt for 100-octane race fuel, the horsepower increases to 850. While the compact but powerful engine can also run on ethanol, providing even more power, Czinger has yet to release the official figures for this configuration; however, we predict at least a 10 percent increase. The gasoline engine drives the rear wheels through an Xtrac single-clutch automated semi-sequential transmission. This is structurally similar to the Xtrac seven-speed unit found in Pagani’s Utopia, but Czinger not only 3D prints the gearbox casing but also incorporates small 48-volt electric motors to execute shifts at lower speeds more smoothly. This innovation successfully eliminates the choppy, surging feel typical of other automated single-clutch transmissions at low speeds. The twin-barrel actuators perform exactly as advertised in these low-speed scenarios, a fact I was incredibly thankful to discover. Navigating into gas stations, restaurants, and hotel parking lots felt almost normal—a remarkable achievement for such an extreme machine. Seriously, hats off to Czinger for perfecting this detail. A Lap with the Ghost Driver As is the tradition with many ultra-exclusive hypercars like those from Bugatti and Pagani, Czinger assigned a professional driver—Evan Jacobs—to ride shotgun with me for the entire first day. The company’s chief goal was to ensure I didn’t steer the $2.5 million vehicle off a cliff. Thankfully, later that night, Jacobs assured the Czinger team that I was not a threat to the machine and that I was cleared to drive solo for the remainder of the rally. We stopped by the legendary Laguna Seca for some parade laps, but for unstated reasons, non-Czinger employees are not permitted to drive the VMax on racetracks, even during the ultra-slow pace that the rally participants were restricted to. As I have learned the hard way through years of testing, even if you don’t have the opportunity to drive, the ride along is just as valuable. I scrambled into the bizarre tandem rear seat. The first thing to note is that if you have large calves or feet, the rear-seat experience is far from comfortable. My XXL calves were literally squeezed between the carbon fiber tub and the carbon fiber seat, and my feet didn’t fit well either. However, the side visibility through the glass is absolutely incredible. Again, it evoked the feeling of a stunt plane and provided a refreshingly novel way to experience a track—an experience I’ve had more than 1,000 times in my career. This novelty was especially true when Jacobs and I convinced the Skip Barber Racing School staff, whose track day we crashed, to let him take the VMax out for a couple of “6/10ths” hot laps. The most intense hot lap experience I’ve ever had was riding shotgun in an Aston Martin Valkyrie LMH race car, where I could literally feel the blood pooling in my extremities during hard braking. The Czinger 21C VMax has now claimed the second spot on that list, and remember, Jacobs wasn’t going full throttle. Even at a pace well below the car’s limits and without the aid of the massive downforce-generating rear wing, it was easy to understand how a production Czinger 21C achieved what the brand calls the “California Gold Rush.” The Gold Rush refers to the feat of setting five production car track records—at Thunder Hill, Sonoma Raceway, Laguna Seca, Willow Springs, and the Thermal Club—in a single week, driving from each track to the next. Later, Czinger returned to Laguna Seca to not only break their own record but to reclaim the throne from a track-special Koenigsegg Jesko Sadair’s Spear. That lap time, a staggering 1 minute and 22.30 seconds, is faster than the fastest MotoAmerica Superbike lap ever recorded at Laguna, a 1:22.56. This is a significant achievement, considering the high-downforce VMax version lacked the rear wing that helps make the 21C a speed demon. Czinger claims a vehicle weight of approximately 3,600 pounds, which is exceptionally light for a 1,250-horsepower hybrid hypercar. For context, the Ferrari SF90 Stradale Assetto Fiorano—the highest-performance version of a three-motor twin-turbo V-8 plug-in hybrid that produces only 986 hp—weighs 3,839 pounds. The all-new Lamborghini Temerario is another three-motor, twin-turbo V-8 (producing less power, but still comparable in category) that