When we discussed the potential impact of coronavirus on the automotive world, we mentioned that some people in the industry were being forced to scramble as a result. Here’s an example. Czinger, the Los Angeles-based producer of gigabuck hypercars, was originally supposed to roll out its ultra-performance 21C at the Geneva Motor Show, until it (the show) was abruptly canceled. That forced founder and CEO Kevin Czinger had to go, as fast as one of his automobiles, to a Plan B, which germinated this week when the 21C had a somewhat more subdued rollout in London.
Kevin Czinger had a Hall of Fame career as a lineman at Yale before serving in the Marine Corps, becoming a trial lawyer and then turning his attention to sustainable automobiles, albeit extremely fast ones. Only 80 copies of the Czinger 21C will be produced, each one computer-optimized for weight efficiency and perfomance, with the prototype said to have achieved a magical power-to-weight ratio that’s better than 1:1. The powertrain will mate a proprietary 2.88-liter twin-turbo V-8 with an 11,000 RPM redline to a pair of axial flux electric motors and a seven-speed sequential automatic transaxle, all designed in-house. That will give the 21C a combined power output of 1,250hp against a dry curb weight of 1,200kg, or 2,645 pounds. The car’s projected 0-62 MPH time is 1.9 seconds, with a claimed 8.1-second quarter-mile time. We’ll have to keep an eye on this missile as its arcs closer to reality.
Jim Donnelly On Wheels 