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Czinger 21C VMax: When Too Much Becomes Just Right In the world of hypercars, the concept of “too much” is often the very definition of the goal. It’s the pursuit of the absolute edge of performance, engineering, and technology, where boundaries are pushed until they shatter. And then there’s the Czinger 21C VMax. From the moment I first heard about the company—this unconventional Southern California startup armed with artificial intelligence, 3D printing, and a hunger to outpace legends—I knew there was something different brewing in Los Angeles. When I finally got the keys to a VMax for a multi-day road rally, I expected innovation. I did not expect to feel like I was piloting a spacecraft through wine country. But here we are. For years, MotorTrend has been eager to get behind the yoke of a Czinger. Back in October 2022, we hosted the visionary father-son duo—Kevin and Lukas Czinger—on The InEVitable podcast. Their philosophy, which they so eloquently articulated, was centered on a paradigm shift in how we conceptualize and build high-performance vehicles. In the time that followed, it was natural that I jumped at the chance to experience a Czinger 21C VMax firsthand. The goal was to do something distinct from the endless parade of track-only hypercars that populate this segment. While there’s certainly a story to be told about pushing this machine to its limits—and believe me, we’ll get to that—the real question on everyone’s mind, mine included, was: What is a center-steer, tandem two-seater, costing north of seven figures and boasting 1,250 horsepower, like when asked to navigate a 500-mile journey? The Ghost in the Machine: A Factory Unlike Any Other The journey into the heart of Czinger’s operation began with a surprise. I have driven cars from every major manufacturer imaginable, from Ferrari to Porsche to McLaren, but I have never had to show my U.S. passport to enter a car factory before. This, in itself, is a telling indicator of how fundamentally different Czinger is. The parent company, Divergent Technologies, leverages iterative artificial intelligence to design and produce incredibly light and strong mechanical components, which are then brought to life by enormous 3D printing machines. This same technology also supplies parts to the Department of Defense, and while I was assured that all the military hardware was covered during my visit—one contraption bore a passing resemblance to a rocket—the novelty of the situation was apparent. My guide for this eye-opening tour was Lukas Czinger, the young CEO of both Divergent and Czinger Vehicles. What I witnessed was nothing short of revolutionary. Standing next to one of the massive 3D printers felt like peering into the future of manufacturing. More than a dozen lasers were methodically zapping powdered aluminum into intricate automotive parts that looked like delicate bird bones. It’s a humbling, mind-bending sight to witness engineering this far advanced. Lukas explained that Divergent’s technology reaches what he calls the “Pareto optimum”—the point after which any addition or subtraction of even a single gram becomes a net negative. For example, consider an engineer needing a bracket to support the remote reservoir for the car’s rear suspension. This part must fit within a precise X amount of space while withstanding forces as strong as Y. Using these parameters, the software iterates through hundreds of thousands of potential designs, each mathematically optimized, until it arrives at the strongest, lightest, most efficient form. It’s like evolutionary biology on fast-forward. Beyond the DOD, nine automotive OEMs currently utilize Divergent as a supplier of 3D-printed parts. Aston Martin (DBR22 Roadster), Bugatti (Tourbillon), and McLaren (W1) are the only ones who publicly acknowledge this relationship, but the control arms of the Ferrari F80 certainly bear the hallmarks of this 3D-printed magic. Under the Carbon Fiber: The Art of Discomfort Czinger builds two distinct versions of what is essentially the same underlying vehicle. The first is the high-downforce track monster, dubbed the 21C (named for the 21st century). The second is the wingless, long-tailed VMax. Technically, it is the 21C VMax, but the “21C” is nowhere to be found on the vehicle itself. For the inaugural Velocity Tour, a 500-mile road rally traversing the picturesque wine country of Central and Northern California, I had the privilege of piloting a striking silver VMax. I use the word “piloting” deliberately, as the cabin feels far more like a jet fighter cockpit than a traditional vehicle’s interior. In fact, Czinger themselves describe it as being inside a jet fighter. While I have never had the opportunity to sit in a true fighter jet, I have experienced a ride in an Extra 330LT stunt plane, and the similarities are uncanny. Essentially, you have glass less than a foot away from both sides of your head. The visibility is absolutely spectacular, though the process of entering and exiting the car is, to put it mildly, ridiculous. You first sit with your legs facing outward on the massive side sill, then pull your knees up and essentially spin on your butt as you tuck your feet into the narrow footwell, finally sliding your head under the roof. It’s a ballet of contortion that is both awkward and utterly mesmerizing to watch. One of the primary reasons the side sills are so enormous is that they are packed with batteries. The 21C VMax is a hybrid hypercar, and each sill houses 2.2 kWh worth of battery power, for a total of 4.4 kWh. The vehicle is not a plug-in hybrid, so a motor powered by the mid-mounted V8 engine keeps the battery charged. These batteries are capable of delivering 500 horsepower to the front axle, which features a motor for each wheel. The combustion engine is a Czinger-designed 2.9-liter twin-turbo V8 that produces 750 horsepower on California’s standard 91-octane premium unleaded fuel. If you fill the tank with 100-octane race fuel, the horsepower jumps to 850. The small but mighty engine can also run on ethanol, potentially yielding even more power, though Czinger has not yet released those figures. We anticipate a roughly 10% increase. The gasoline engine powers the rear wheels via an Xtrac single-clutch automated semi-sequential gearbox. This transmission is similar to the Xtrac seven-speed that Pagani uses in the Utopia. However, Czinger not only 3D prints the transmission case but also employs small 48-volt electric motors to facilitate smoother shifts at lower speeds. This eliminates the characteristic drunken surge that afflicts all other automated single-clutch gearboxes at low RPM. The twin-barrel actuators work exactly as advertised in these low-speed scenarios, a fact I was immensely grateful to discover. Maneuvering into gas stations, restaurants, and hotel parking lots felt almost normal. Seriously, bravo on that front. Track Time: A Symphony of Speed What never felt normal, however, was the man sitting directly behind me for the better part of an entire day. As is standard practice with many ultra-expensive hypercars (Bugatti and Pagani), Czinger embedded a professional driver, Evan Jacobs, in the car to ensure I didn’t drive the $2.5 million machine off a cliff. Thankfully, later that night, Jacobs assured the Czinger team that I posed no threat to the vehicle and was allowed to drive solo 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 racetracks, even at the excruciatingly slow speeds the rally participants were forced to maintain. As I have learned the hard way through numerous experiences, even if you can’t drive, always go for the ride, and I scrambled into the bizarre rear seat. The first thing you need to understand here is that if you have large calves or feet, the rear-seat experience is not pleasant. My XXL calves were literally wedged between the carbon-fiber tub and the carbon-fiber seat, and my feet struggled to fit into the footwell. However, the visibility through the side glass is absolutely incredible. Again, it reminded me of a stunt plane and was a remarkably novel way to experience riding around a track—something I have done more than a thousand times. This sensation was particularly pronounced when Jacobs and I managed to convince the Skip Barber Racing School staff (whose track day we were crashing) to allow him to 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 physically feel the blood pooling in my extremities under hard braking. The Czinger VMax now holds the second spot on that list, and remember, Jacobs didn’t even come close to pushing the car to its absolute limit. Even at something less than the edge and without the benefit of the massive downforce-generating rear wing, it was remarkably easy to understand how a Czinger 21C achieved what the brand calls the California Gold Rush. That accomplishment involved setting five production car track records—at Thunder Hill, Sonoma Raceway, Laguna Seca, Willow Springs, and the Thermal Club—all within the span of five days, driving from each track to the next. Later, Czinger returned to Laguna Seca to not only beat