Two months after Czinger introduced its 21C tandem-seater hypercar in regular and track-focused trims, there’s already another variant on the table. Jens Sverdrup, the company’s chief commercial officer, told Pistonheads that Czinger wanted to have a widebody derivative with a higher output ready for the Geneva Motor Show, but that didn’t happen. Sverdrup detailed the new version, explaining that engineers tweaked the 2.9-liter twin-turbo V8 and the twin high-power electric motors to increase output by an extra 98 horsepower, from 1,233 hp to 1,331, without increasing the weight of the 992-pound entire hybrid powertrain. This makes what was already the most power-dense V8 engine in the world even more power-dense. The widebody component shows itself in new bodywork over a wider track and wider tires, and it gets its own chassis tune. Said Sverdrup, “Anybody who buys one of our 80 21Cs can tick for a widebody version on the options list, giving them a hypercar that might not be the best for narrow Scottish or Welsh roads, but will definitely be great for the race track.”
Czinger’s spending the time before deliveries begin in 2021 honing engine characteristics to ensure tractability throughout the V8’s 11,000-rpm rev range. We’ve been promised a coupe that’s tame around town, Sverdrup saying, “With the hybrid system you can lean more on the batteries at low revs for more refinement at low speed.” Get above 6,000 rpm, however, and it apparently sounds like “an old F1 engine.”
The California company’s vision for life after the 21C is also in the works, with three models slated to launch starting in 2023. These could be more practical than the opening act, adopting 21C philosophies from the powertrain to the build, and continuing the push toward synthetic fuels. With Czinger backed in part by 3D-printer Divergent 3D and Hong Kong venture capital, engineers are already considering how to design a monocoque with built-in cavities for wiring and fluids, and “complex internal structures that enhance crash safety.”
The 80 planned builds for the 21C should keep the company busy for the next few years, each car said to take 3,000 to 4,000 man-hours to print and assemble. As for the question of whether Czinger will be around that long, of course, one never knows, but the company supposedly has funding for the next three projects already and, unusual in this space especially, Czinger isn’t asking for deposits for the 21C in order to pay for production. Seeing the dealer network is planned to include “20 established supercar sellers in Europe” by the end of this year, further insight into what’s ahead shouldn’t be long in coming.
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