It’s been more than three years since the radical Czinger 21C hybrid hypercar made its debut with the aim of disrupting the industry with its performance and the innovative manufacturing processes involved in making them. You might remember that the all-American hypercar managed to set a lap record of 1 minute, 25.44 seconds in 2021 at the WeatherTech Laguna Seca Raceway in California, beating the previous record set by the McLaren Senna.
So obviously, the Czinger 21C is defiantly not a pipe dream. Now, Czinger has revealed a new version of the hypercar during the Monterey Car Week which pays tribute to the 21C’s initial inspiration – the mighty Lockheed SR-71. Behold the Czinger 21C Blackbird Edition, a beastly hypercar that looks nothing short of a stealth jet ready to break the sound barrier.
The legendary Lockheed SR-71 “Blackbird” needs no introduction; after all, it’s one of the most iconic military jets ever produced by the United States. Drawing inspiration from the famous spy plane, the special edition Czinger 21C features a stealthy all-black exterior. The hybrid hypercar is finished in a bespoke paint appropriately named Jet Black. In addition to that, the bodywork gets a lot of exposed carbon fiber along with Blackbird logos that feature a silhouette of the SR-71. The wheels also feature a top-down silhouette of the SR-71 as the spokes, while the exhaust mufflers are designed to look more like real afterburners.
The Blackbird inspiration also continues inside the cabin, which features a tandem seating layout with the passenger seat placed behind that of the driver. Furthermore, the seats have been styled to look like the glow of an afterburner. The cabin also has been equipped with additional titanium components as a nod to the SR-71.
Just like the original Czinger 21C and the V Max version that debuted last year at Goodwood, the Blackbird Edition was designed using the California-based company’s proprietary Human-AI system and will be built with the help of additive manufacturing technology. It is powered by the Czinger’s bespoke 2.9-liter twin-turbo V-8, which is assisted by a set of electric motors mounted up front.
However, the American manufacturer has reworked the powertrain to increase the output by 100hp, taking the total output to a ridiculous 1350hp. Czinger has not revealed the pricing of the Blackbird Edition or the number of units it will build. The standard 21C was introduced with a starting price of $3 million and Czinger had announced that it will build on 80 examples of the hypercar, including all the special editions.
Lockheed SR-71 “Blackbird”
The legendary SR-71 was developed as a black project during the 1960s by Lockheed’s Skunk Works division. It entered service with the United States Armed Forces in 1966 as a long-range reconnaissance aircraft capable of reaching speeds in excess of Mach 3. The spy plane managed to set multiple speed records on a flight from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. On March 6, 1990. According to records, the aircraft managed to fly over the continental United States in just 64 minutes and 20 seconds, flying over with an average speed of 2,144.8 miles per hour. As of 2023, the SR-71 still holds the world record as the fastest air-breathing manned aircraft.
