The Czinger 21C features 3D printing, eye-popping performance claims

The latest contender in the low-volume hypercar scene will lean as far into 3D-printing as we’ve ever seen a manufacturer go. Los Angeles-based Czinger has confirmed that their limited-run hypercar, the 21C, will break cover at the Geneva International Motor Show in a few weeks time.

The 21C is the first vehicle produced by Czinger vehicles, and by the looks of things, they’re off to a promising start. The low, wide sweeping shape features a centrally-located driver’s seat with a passenger’s seat in tandem which, according to Czinger, is meant to achieve the “ideal seating position to achieve optimal performance driving and weight distribution.” (We doubt your spouse will be too keen on staring holes in the back of your head—but hey, perfect weight distribution, right?)

If the extreme seating arrangement doesn’t sell you on the performance intent of the 21C, allow these numbers to drive the point all the way home.

The 21C boasts a claimed total output of 1250 horsepower from a hybridized all-wheel drive system. The powertrain consists of a 2.88-liter twin-turbo flat-plane crank V-8 with a claimed redline of 11,000 (!!) rpm and two electric motors for the front axles. Those electric motors are capable of vectoring torque between the front wheels, all the better to hustle the car through low-speed corners. A crank-driven generator feeds electrons to the lithium titanate battery pack. (No details have been released yet on battery size.) A seven-speed automated manual gearbox handles the shifting duties.

Czinger claims they’ve achieved the fabled 1:1 power-to-weight ratio (well, in kilograms anyway) thanks to a claimed 2755-pound curb weight. That figure drops to 2685 pounds with the 21C Lightweight Track configuration.

According to the manufacturer, the 21C can hit 62mph (100km/h) from zero in just 1.9 seconds. The 0-to-186mph-and-back run is dispatched in just 15 seconds, while 0 to 248mph (400km/h) and back to 0 happens in 29 seconds. Less than half a minute to hit 248 and return back to stationary? That’s a truly mind-numbing figure for a road car.

Czinger credits the combination of additive manufacturing (3D-printing) and complex automated design and optimization software with helping to combine this bold shape and a low curb weight. The software enables highly organic structures to be created in ways that normal manufacturing processes simply can’t. An extra bonus is that they look like alien bones, or at least what we think alien bones might look like.

Planned production of both the road and track variants totals just 80 units, so don’t hold your breath in hopes of seeing one at your next cars and coffee. They’ll be exceedingly rare, exceedingly complex, and will undoubtedly command a criminal asking price. But the market has shown reception for high-end seven figure bespoke performance cars like this, so we’re sure they’ll all find homes.

Is this vaporware—or an early peek at the next generation of coachbuilding? Either way, we’ll be keeping a close eye on Czinger.