The Goodwood Festival of Speed has a new production car king.
The Czinger 21C set a new record for a street-legal production vehicle during the timed hill climb portion of this year’s event. The hybrid coupé rocketed up the winding course in 48.83 seconds.
The 21C was piloted by Chris Ward while making history on Sunday. Video of the run shows the 3D-printed hypercar sliding around the 1.16-mile course at blistering speed. But what might be most impressive about the climb is that it could have been even faster. The vehicle makes contact with a hay bale barrier near the finish line—you can see a side view mirror dangling from the car—which makes one wonder what time it could have posted had it completed the run cleanly.
In making it up the hill in 48.83 seconds, the 21C beat the previous production vehicle mark by nearly a half second. The record had belonged to Rimac Nevera for all of a year. In 2023, the electric hypercar completed the same run in 49.32 seconds. The 21C’s time can’t compete with the fastest car in Goodwood hill climb history, though. The McMurtry Speirling electric fan car shot through the course in just 39.08 seconds—nearly 10 seconds quicker than the 21C—in the summer of 2022.
It’s not all that surprising to see a car like the 21C make its way into the Goodwood records book. The marque’s first car was engineered and designed to go as fast as possible. It features an outlandish design with bulbous fenders, a jet-style two-person cockpit that positions the passenger behind the driver, and a gigantic rear wing. It’s powered by a hybrid powertrain that consists of a twin-turbocharged 2.9-litre V-8 and two mounted electric motors that combine to generate 1,250 horses.
Czinger isn’t done setting records yet. Founder Kevin Czinger told Carbuzz the California-based company plans to take the 21C on a “little international trip” next year. Though the executive didn’t where the hypercar was headed next, the website guessed that Nürburgring and Spa-Francorchamps could be on the itinerary. Another record or two would certainly help justify the vehicle’s US$1.7 million (HK$13.2 million) price tag.
