FULL – The Bold and the Beautiful 6/24/2026 | B&B Spoilers Wednesday, June 24

Czinger 21C VMax: A 1,250-Horsepower Rocket Ship Built for a New Century For years, the automotive world has been whispering about a revolutionary vision emerging from Southern California: the Czinger 21C hypercar. Now, having recently completed a rigorous three-day rally aboard the production-spec 21C VMax, I can attest that this isn’t just another expensive toy—it’s a breathtaking glimpse into the future of automotive engineering, a symphony of 3D-printed precision and raw, unbridled power. Factory Fresh: The Birthplace of Innovation To truly understand the 21C VMax, you must first understand its parent company, Divergent Technologies. This isn’t your typical car manufacturer. Divergent utilizes cutting-edge artificial intelligence and large-scale 3D printers to produce incredibly light and strong mechanical components. My visit to their facility was like stepping into a sci-fi movie; rows of massive printers were zapping powdered aluminum into automotive parts that resembled intricate bird bones. Lukas Czinger, the visionary young CEO of both Divergent and Czinger Vehicles, explained the philosophy behind their approach. They strive to reach “Pareto optimal,” the point where any further reduction in weight or any increase in material would be detrimental. Imagine an engineer tasked with designing a suspension part. Using AI-driven software, the system iterates through hundreds of thousands of designs until it achieves the strongest, lightest shape possible—a turbocharged evolutionary process. The impact of Divergent’s technology is far-reaching. Beyond automotive applications, the Department of Defense also utilizes their innovations for military hardware. While the military-grade equipment was off-limits during my tour, the glimpses of AI-generated designs hinted at the transformative power of this technology. Under the Carbon Fiber: A Hybrid Beast Czinger produces two distinct versions of the 21C: the high-downforce, track-focused 21C (named after the 21st century) and the sleek, wingless 21C VMax. For the inaugural Velocity Tour—a challenging 500-mile road rally through the winding roads of Northern and Central California’s wine country—I was assigned a stunning silver VMax. From the moment I sat inside, I knew this was no ordinary car. The cockpit feels less like a greenhouse and more like a jet fighter. Lukas Czinger boasts that it’s like piloting a fighter jet, and having experienced an Extra 330LT stunt plane, I can confirm the similarity. There is glass less than a foot away from either side of your head, offering unparalleled visibility. However, the process of ingress and egress is intentionally outlandish. You must sit with your legs facing out on the massive sill, pull your knees up and twist your body as you tuck your feet into the footwell, and then carefully lower your head under the canopy. One reason the sills are so substantial is that they house the batteries. The 21C VMax is a hybrid hypercar, with 2.2 kWh of battery power in each sill, totaling 4.4 kWh. It’s not a plug-in hybrid; instead, the mid-mounted 2.9-liter twin-turbo V-8 engine charges the pack. These batteries can provide 500 horsepower to the front axle, with one motor powering each wheel. The bespoke V-8 engine produces a staggering 750 horsepower on standard 91-octane premium gasoline. Switch to 100-octane racing fuel, and that figure jumps to 850 hp. Czinger is also developing a variant that runs on ethanol, which we predict will push the total output even higher. The gas engine drives the rear wheels through an Xtrac single-clutch automated semi-sequential gearbox. While similar to the seven-speed unit in Pagani’s Utopia, Czinger has taken it to a new level. Not only do they 3D-print the transmission case, but they also employ small 48-volt electric motors to execute shifts at lower speeds with unmatched precision. This eliminates the lurching and hesitation that plague most automated single-clutch gearboxes. I was grateful for this innovation while navigating gas stations, restaurants, and hotel parking lots, where the VMax behaved almost normally. Track Time: A Ride on the Edge of Gravity Even when I couldn’t drive, I insisted on experiencing the Czinger from the passenger seat. However, with a price tag of $2.5 million, the manufacturer insisted on having a professional driver, Evan Jacobs, in the car to ensure I didn’t drive the precious machine off a cliff. Thankfully, Jacobs later assured the Czinger team that I was a competent driver, and I was permitted to drive solo for the remainder of the rally. We stopped at Laguna Seca for some parade laps, but Czinger restricts non-company personnel from driving the VMax on racetracks, even at the deliberately slow pace of the rally participants. Nevertheless, I scrambled into the unique rear seat and was instantly impressed by the visibility. Again, it felt like a stunt plane, offering a novel perspective on track driving that I’ve experienced countless times before. Jacobs, at my urging, convinced the Skip Barber Racing School staff to let him take the VMax for a few “6/10ths” hot laps. The most thrilling ride I’ve ever experienced was in an Aston Martin Valkyrie LMH race car, during which the braking forces were so intense it felt like my blood was pooling in my extremities. The Czinger VMax now ranks second, and that’s without Jacobs pushing the car to its absolute limit or utilizing the rear wing. Even at less than maximum performance, it was easy to grasp how the Czinger 21C achieved what the brand calls the California Gold Rush—setting five production car track records at Thunder Hill, Sonoma Raceway, Laguna Seca, Willow Springs, and the Thermal Club in five consecutive days, while driving between each track. Later, Czinger returned to Laguna Seca to reclaim the lap record from a track-special Koenigsegg Jesko Sadair’s Spear. The resulting lap time, a mind-boggling 1 minute, 22.30 seconds, is faster than the fastest MotoAmerica Superbike lap ever recorded at Laguna (a 1:22.56). Czinger claims a vehicle weight of around 3,600 pounds, which is incredibly light for a 1,250-horsepower hybrid. For context, the Ferrari SF90 Stradale Asseto Fiorano—the highest-performance version of a three-motor, twin-turbo V-8 PHEV that makes a mere 986 hp—weighs 3,839 pounds. The new Lamborghini Temerario, another three-motor, twin-turbo V-8 (making less power but serving as a weight comparison), tips the scales at a chunky 4,185 pounds. It’s worth noting that the SF90 and Temerario are the two quickest 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 ambitious startup has managed to outperform two Italian legends with its very first product. This is remarkable in itself, but especially noteworthy considering that Southern California isn’t exactly a hub for supercar manufacturing expertise—L.A. is hardly Modena. On the Road: A Symphony of Precision The rally route was a true test of a road-legal hypercar. We traversed tight, winding, and often poorly maintained roads—hardly the pristine asphalt you’d expect for a supercar tour. Much of the time was spent following the pack, navigating to lunch and coffee stops, and staying alongside the camera car. While I might have been slightly disappointed at the time, in retrospect, I experienced exactly what most owners will when living with a Czinger. To my surprise, the VMax handled like a competent hypercar. After the initial shock of the unique design, the experience became almost ordinary. Remove everything from your pockets—the seats are tight—and drink your water before you get in, as there are no cup holders. Accept that you will be the center of attention for pretty much everyone on the road, especially males between the ages of 16 and 24, who will be staring, following, waving, and revving their engines. Despite the commotion, the Czinger rides remarkably smoothly—the team deserves applause for avoiding the overly stiff setup typical of hypercars. Even the air conditioning works well. My only complaint about the “normal stuff” of driving the VMax is the cabin noise. It’s not the sound of the unique V-8, but rather a lack of sound deadening. This is perfect for a track car, but a bit of an oversight on a road car. It becomes especially noticeable during long drives. I understand that weight is the enemy of performance, but how much does sound-deadening foam actually weigh? Ten pounds? Twenty? According to Google, anywhere from 10 to 50 pounds. Perhaps just 10 pounds of the stuff would make a huge difference. Get to the Good Part: The Full Experience We finally hit some proper California canyon roads, and I finally got to open up the Czinger 21C VMax. Just as quickly as my right foot pressed the accelerator, it was already finding the brake pedal. I’ve driven EVs with similar power levels, but they carry much more weight. I’ve driven the Ferrari F80, which makes about the same power but relies less on electric assistance and more on its gasoline