Czinger 21C V Max’s Precise Handling Keeps You Confident

There’s a precise choreography to slipping into the narrow, low-slung cockpit of the 1,250 hp Czinger 21C V Max. Once the butterfly doors close, your elbows are able to brush each side of the glass-canopied cocoon. Fighter-jet comparisons are an overworked trope of automotive writing, but for this tandem-seat hybrid—my copilot positioned directly behind me—the analogy lands with undeniable heft.

The creative spark for the 21C was, after all, “the SR-71, which was the highest flying, fastest plane of all time,” says Lukas Czinger, the 31-year-old founder, president, and C.E.O. of the eponymous marque and its parent company, Divergent Technologies, which he cofounded with his father, Kevin, in Southern California. Fittingly, the 3,520-pound (dry weight) 21C—limited to 80 examples starting at $2.35 million each—hits 62 mph in 1.9 seconds and tops out at 253 mph. As for the quadruple-digit output, a pair of electric motors direct 500 hp to the front alone. But just sitting behind the octagonal steering wheel feels boundary-breaking; it’s clear the real story extends far beyond the numbers.

Think of the 21C as this millennium’s Model T, a machine designed not only to perform but also to upend how cars are made. Where Ford introduced the assembly line, Czinger deploys proprietary artificial-intelligence applications alongside next-generation fabrication—from custom 3-D printers to the chemical makeup of key materials—all developed in-house.

“Primarily in the chassis itself, in the fluid systems of the car and cooling systems, and parts of both the E.V. side of the power train and the combustion side… we fully utilize the A.I.-based design [and] the 3-D printing in the robotic assembly,” Czinger says. The process, known as the Divergent Adaptive Production System (DAPS), has already attracted other automakers (and even government agencies) as clients.

All of that fades from view as we pull away from a local Malibu marketplace. In a town where exotic machines are almost mainstream, a small crowd has gathered anyway. The 21C looks less like it rolled out of a parking lot than blasted off the Mulsanne Straight at Le Mans.

Heading up the Pacific Coast Highway, we find the 2.88-liter twin-turbo V-8’s soundtrack initially competes with the hiss and clatter of road particulate skittering beneath the car, which rides a mere 3.6 inches off the ground in Street mode (Sport, Track, and Track+ round out the settings). In Sport, carving the canyon roads Deer Creek and Mulholland, the car responds to driver inputs like a fast-twitch muscle. Some bump steer crops up on imperfect pavement—an expected trade-off given the racer-stiff suspension—but it never undermines confidence.

Yet overall, the electrohydraulic steering, electronically adjustable damping, and brake-by-wire system combine for handling that feels as exacting as the monocoque’s tolerances. It’s little wonder the 21C recently set the fastest production-car lap time at Laguna Seca, as well as at four other circuits.

Parked along the beach, there’s a moment to consider how the figurative tide is changing. Czinger’s stated mission is “to create the 21st-century industrial base.” With the 21C, the manufacturing revolution isn’t just looming. It’s already here and is accelerating at a record-setting pace.