Countless cars have received military-grade marketing over the years, their performances likened to some form of ordnance or another. Saab was notorious for leaning on its aeronautical origins, and it’s hard to imagine what kind of state Jeep would be in today without literally parading its olive drab roots at every opportunity.
But not since World War II’s requisitioning of automotive factories have we had such a direct crossover between a civilian machine and defense devices as we have in today’s 1,250-horsepower, $2.35-million Czinger 21C. The car’s components are formed, layer by microscopic layer, in the very same machines that spin out precision-guided munitions and uncrewed military aircraft, components designed and manufactured by Czinger’s parent company, Divergent 3D.
This makes the 21C something of a halo car. But where other halo cars, like Cadillac’s $360,000 Celestiq or the dearly departed Dodge Viper, have served as aspirational machines projecting the personalities of their respective brands, the 21C is the embodiment of a new era of manufacturing as a service. As I learned in a visit to Divergent 3D and Czinger’s conjoined headquarters, this tech takes lethality to new heights.
Previous Next
1 / 6 Image: Tim Stevens / The Verge
Additive advancements
... continue reading