Update GH Monday, 5/18/2026 Episode (May 18, 2026) | General Hospital Spoilers

Czinger 21C VMax: The Apex of Additive Manufacturing and Automotive Insanity For years, car enthusiasts and industry insiders have been buzzing about Czinger, the enigmatic Southern California company that promised to revolutionize hypercars. As the automotive landscape shifts towards electrification, advanced materials, and AI-driven design, Czinger has positioned itself at the bleeding edge of innovation. To truly understand the essence of this radical machine, we embarked on a challenging three-day road rally through California’s wine country—a journey designed not just to test the car, but to challenge the very definition of performance. Factory Fresh: A Glimpse into the Future of Manufacturing My journey began with an unusual requirement: a U.S. passport. This wasn’t for an international trip, but rather a prerequisite for entering the headquarters of Divergent Technologies, the parent company of Czinger. This requirement underscores the unique nature of the operation. Divergent is not merely an automotive manufacturer; it is a defense contractor and a pioneer in additive manufacturing, or what many still refer to as 3D printing. The tour, led by the young CEO, Lukas Czinger, was a revelation. Stepping into the facility felt less like entering a traditional automotive factory and more like infiltrating a futuristic laboratory. The centerpiece of this innovation is a fleet of massive 3D printers. These industrial behemoths work in a sterile environment, utilizing high-powered lasers to fuse powdered aluminum into automotive components with atomic precision. The process is breathtaking—like watching evolution happen in fast-forward. Lukas explained the philosophy behind their manufacturing approach: “Pareto optimality.” This concept dictates that the design process continues until every gram, whether added or removed, results in a negative impact on performance. The design engineers provide the functional requirements—the space constraints, the forces the component must withstand, and the weight targets. The software, however, iterates through hundreds of thousands of design possibilities, utilizing artificial intelligence to identify the strongest, lightest, and most structurally efficient shape. The resulting components often resemble natural structures, such as bird bones or complex fractals—a perfect fusion of engineering and biology. While the civilian hypercar program is Czinger’s most visible endeavor, Divergent’s technology is deeply embedded in the aerospace and defense sectors. However, confidentiality agreements limit what can be publicly discussed. In the automotive world, nine OEMs are known to utilize Divergent’s 3D-printed components. The most prominent names include Aston Martin (DBR22 Roadster), Bugatti (Tourbillon), and McLaren (W1). There is also speculation that the Ferrari F80 utilizes their technology, although this is not officially confirmed. These partnerships underscore the industry’s recognition of Divergent’s groundbreaking capabilities. Under the Carbon Fiber Hood Czinger produces two distinct versions of what is essentially the same underlying vehicle. The primary model is the 21C, a high-downforce, track-oriented beast named in honor of the 21st century. The second version is the VMax, a wingless, long-tailed variant designed for the road. For the inaugural Velocity Tour—a 500-mile road rally traversing the winding roads of Northern and Central California’s wine country—I was assigned a silver VMax. It’s crucial to note that the VMax designation never appears on the exterior of the car; it is known simply as the Czinger 21C VMax. Stepping into the Czinger 21C VMax is a distinctly unique experience. The cabin feels less like a conventional passenger compartment and more like the cockpit of a fighter jet. Czinger themselves describe the sensation as being in a jet fighter, and having been fortunate enough to experience a ride in an Extra 330LT stunt plane, I can attest to the striking similarity. The side glass is positioned inches from either side of your head, offering unparalleled visibility. However, this exceptional visibility comes at a price. The process of entering and exiting the vehicle is undeniably awkward. You must first position yourself outside the car with your legs extended forward, essentially resting on the massive sill. Then, you must pull your knees up to your chest and rotate your body, tucking your feet into the narrow footwell. Finally, you slide your head under the roof, settling into the central driving position. It’s a ballet of contortion that defies the conventional notions of automotive ingress and egress. One reason for the substantial sills is the necessity of housing the vehicle’s batteries. The Czinger 21C VMax is a hybrid hypercar, and each sill contains a 2.2-kWh battery pack, resulting in a total capacity of 4.4 kWh. The vehicle is not a plug-in hybrid; instead, a motor powered by the mid-mounted V-8 engine keeps the battery charged. These batteries are capable of delivering 500 horsepower to the front axle, which features a dedicated electric motor for each wheel. The combustion engine is a Czinger-designed 2.9-liter twin-turbo V-8 that produces 750 horsepower on California’s mandatory 91-octane premium fuel. When fueled with 100-octane race gas, the horsepower increases to 850. Additionally, the engine is capable of running on ethanol and producing even greater power, although Czinger has not released these specific figures. Industry analysts predict a potential jump of 10 percent on ethanol. The gasoline engine propels the rear wheels through an Xtrac seven-speed automated semi-sequential gearbox. This is similar to the Xtrac transmission used in the Pagani Utopia, but Czinger has taken this technology a step further. Not only is the transmission case 3D-printed using additive manufacturing, but the car also incorporates small 48-volt electric motors to accelerate shifts at low speeds. This innovative engineering eliminates the characteristic lurching and surges that plague other automated single-clutch transmissions in urban environments. The twin-barrel actuators perform flawlessly in low-speed situations, a fact I was extremely grateful to discover. Navigating gas stations, restaurants, and hotel parking lots felt almost normal, which is a remarkable achievement for a vehicle of this caliber. Track Time: Pushing the Limits of Automotive Performance During the initial leg of the rally, I was not permitted to drive solo. As is standard practice with many high-end hypercars from brands like Bugatti and Pagani, Czinger assigned a professional driver, Evan Jacobs, to accompany me for the entire day. His role was to ensure I didn’t inadvertently drive the $2.5 million machine off a cliff. Thankfully, later that evening, Jacobs assured the Czinger team that I was not a threat to the vehicle and that I could drive independently for the remainder of the rally. We stopped by Laguna Seca for some parade laps, but for reasons unknown, non-Czinger employees are not permitted to drive the VMax on the racetrack, even at the slow pace required for the rally participants. However, as I have learned the hard way, even if you can’t drive, you can always ride. I managed to secure a spot in the bizarre rear seat. The first thing to understand about the rear seat is that it is not designed for larger individuals. If you have large calves or feet, the experience is less than ideal. My XXL calves were wedged tightly between the carbon-fiber tub and the carbon-fiber seat, and my feet did not fit well in the footwell. However, the visibility through the side glass is incredible. Again, it reminded me of a stunt plane and offered a uniquely novel way to experience riding around a track—an experience I have undertaken more than 1,000 times in various vehicles. This unique experience became even more pronounced when Jacobs and I managed to convince the staff at the Skip Barber Racing School (whose track day we had crashed) to let him take the VMax for a couple of “6/10ths” hot laps. The most impressive hot lap I have ever experienced was riding shotgun in an Aston Martin Valkyrie LMH race car, during which I could feel the blood pooling in my extremities under heavy braking. The Czinger VMax is now a very close second on that list. Keep in mind that Jacobs was not pushing the car to its limits, and even without the massive downforce-generating rear wing, it was easy to understand how a Czinger 21C achieved what the brand calls the “California Gold Rush.” The California Gold Rush is a historic achievement where the Czinger 21C set five production car track records—at Thunder Hill, Sonoma Raceway, Laguna Seca, Willow Springs, and the Thermal Club—in five consecutive days. Furthermore, the car drove from each racetrack to the next, completing the 500-mile journey entirely under its own power. Later that night, Czinger returned to Laguna Seca to not only break its own record but to reclaim the throne from a track-special Koenigsegg Jesko Sadair. That lap time, a ridiculous 1 minute and 22.30 seconds, is quicker than the fastest MotoAmerica Superbike lap ever recorded at Laguna, which stands at 1:22.56. Czinger claims a vehicle weight of approximately 3,600 pounds. While this is light for a 1,250-horsepower hybrid vehicle, it is important to provide some context. The Ferrari SF90 Stradale Asseto Fiorano, the highest-performance version of a three-motor, twin-turbo V-8 PHEV that produces 986 horsepower, weighs 3,839 pounds. The new Lamborghini Temerario, another three-motor, twin-turbo V-8 (that produces less power, but provides a relevant comparison),