Czinger C21 is a crowd pleaser

UNDER development for a few years, the revolutionary Czinger 21C hyper-car made its international debut last week at a London Concours car show on the fashionable Savile Row that coincided with Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Judging by public reaction, the partially 3D-printed, carbon-fibre bodied, composite chassis masterpiece created something of a sensation in the heart of London’s fashion district.

The 1250hp (932kW), US-made Czinger stole the show despite stiff competition from various Ferraris, McLarens and Bentleys among a bevy of legendary classics. It is designed, built, and manufactured in Los Angeles.

The excitement in London was attributed to the 21C’s inline seating arrangement, bespoke petrol V8 hybrid electric powertrain under lithe bodywork, strikingly styled Alcantara interior and butterfly doors combining to create a visual tour-de-force.

Czinger 21C is the brainchild of car enthusiast and company co-founder Lukas Czinger who agreed his creation “pushes the boundaries of design, performance and sustainability.”

The 21C is manufactured using newly developed technology tools that are integrated into a patented production system.

The manufacturing team created this advanced production system characterised by automated design and optimisation software, patented additive manufacturing driven processes, high accuracy automated assembly and novel performance materials. The 21C is the first vehicle constructed using this system.

It’s been described as new millennium “coachbuilding” technology that enables Czinger's design and engineering team to create new directions in performance and design. 

Each 21C is assembled by a group of technician/artisans from the fit and finish of each part extending from seat brackets to suspension components to hand-crafted carbon fibre and multi-layer paintwork.

With fighter jet styling and seating arrangement, the 21C driver sits in the middle of the air piercing cockpit with a “co-pilot” behind (the same as a motorcycle rider and pillion) for benefits to the car’s balance, weighting and aerodynamics.

Lukas Czinger designed the rakish body by “aero sculpting” its form then manufactured the body from carbon fibre. The chassis is 3D printed and assembled using various composites and composite parts. Computer engineered, printed and assembled; the chassis houses an in-house designed strong hybrid powertrain that drives all four wheels.

Power comes from a 2.9-litre, twin-turbo V8 custom made-by Czinger – that delivers a whopping 246kW per litre and revs to 11,000rpm. Add to that two 800-volt electric motors modulated by torque vectoring and you end up with a frighteningly quick and fast vehicle that can double down and cruise in full EV mode for 20km.

The V8 features a racing style flat plane crankshaft and is mid-mounted while those 800-volt electric traction motors drive each front wheel. A seven-speed sequential transaxle gearbox with a hydraulically actuated multi-plate clutch complete the entire drivetrain; again, all designed, developed and built by Czinger.

Czinger has been able to keep weight down on the 21C to a respectable 1250kg delivering a perfect synergy between weight and power output (in horsepower) as both are numerically 1250… a 1:1 horsepower to weight ratio.

Acceleration approaches dragster realms as the 21C clocks a 0-100kmh sprint in 1.9 seconds. Top speed is 400kmh plus.

Proving the 21C is not all show and no go, Lukas Czinger himself set production car lap records at Laguna Seca and the Circuit of the Americas, beating the McLaren P1 by no less than 6.0 seconds.

Lukas Czinger says he will make just 80 examples of the 21C at a price expected to be in the range of $A3.5 million each. They will be built over the next 18 months.