JCB (yeah...THAT JCB!) attempting to build land speed record breaker

[HoleshotHolset]

I wouldn't have ever dreamed that JCB would build this...
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"JCB GT? Biglorryblog reveals plans to make the world's fastest digger (possibly)

The latest posting by Brian Weatherley (Commercial Motor's Editor-In-Chief) to his Big Lorry Blog

You probably wouldn't put the words "JCB" and "Land Speed record" together. But thanks to Colin Sowman, editor of Commercial Motor's sister magazine Plant Manager's Journal I can 'exclusively' break the news (well exclusively on Biglorryblog anyway…) that JCB is aiming to set a new land speed record for diesel vehicles with a super sleek streamliner which will be driven by Wing Commander Andy Green, currently the fastest man on Earth.

The nine-metre long JCB DIESELMAX car will be powered by two JCB444 diesel engines, each developing 750hp, which is five times the power needed to drive a normal JCB backhoe loader. According to JCB it's also now the world's most powerful diesel engine per litre. Team JCB is aiming for 300 mph; the existing record stands at 235.756mph.

JCB chairman Sir Anthony Bamford declares: "I see using the JCB engine for this record attempt as a fantastic way of showcasing what British engineers can do. The JCB444 has been acknowledged as a remarkable piece of engineering, and this programme to build the world's fastest diesel-powered automobile is precisely the sort of technical challenge that we should rise to." To which BLB says: 'Huzzah!!!'

For the record (no pun intended) Andy Green set the first-ever supersonic world land speed record at 763.035 mph in ThrustSSC on the Black Rock Desert on 15 October 1997 and is said to be thrilled to have been given another opportunity to enter the record books. Meanwhile BLB is tempted to ask: "How fast could you make a regular backhoe loader go if you put two 750hp engines in it?" Just a thought......"

Matt