Photo: JCB
Back in 2005, the heavy equipment manufacturer JCB set out to build the world's fastest diesel-powered land speed record vehicle and dubbed it the JCB Dieselmax. With a tuned tractor engine jetting 750hp, 350 mph was achievable with an ex-RAF pilot behind the wheel. This was almost 20 years ago, but as is evident, JCB still has that lunatic energy we need so desperately in our lives. This is the JCB GT Backhoe, the fastest of its kind ever built.
On first impressions alone, there isn't too much of an indicator of what kind of monster lurks beneath the hood of this JCB backhoe. In fact, it looks more ready to dig up a sand pit in a fenced-off back alleyway than it does ready to smash quarter-mile records like it's a dragster. That is until you peep at the racing-spec front alloy wheels and hot rod flames painted on the vehicle's side. "Wait a second," people must think as they look at this backhoe without context. "What the heck is powering this thing?"
Well, that'd be none other than a 580-cubic inch (9.5-l) supercharged Chevy big block V8, complete with a performance crankshaft from Crower, connecting rods from Compstar with Diamond pistons, and an absolutely massive Littlefield supercharger. It all comes together to jet 1000-plus horsepower to the GT's massive rear wheels, still seemingly the same stock wheel and tire combo the tractor might have come with from the factory.
In truth, the JCB GT is nothing new. The idea was first formulated by JCB back in the late 1980s as a promotional material, similar to that of the Dieselmax project started a decade and a half later. For years, the JCG GT toured drag strips and press events across the English-speaking world, most notably making its debut in Australia at the 1990 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide, a race won by Ayrton Senna. But for once on that day, the coolest ride in the venue wasn't a Grand Prix car.
Thirty-three years have passed since then, but that didn't stop JCB from taking the GT and comprehensively restoring its interior and exterior while giving its one-of-a-kind drive train a much-needed makeover with all the juicy performance hardware mentioned above. In this configuration, the JCB GT was able to lay down a quarter-mile time of 19.3 seconds at 54 mph. Need we remind you this thing is a piece of construction equipment with a normal top speed of around 25 mph? Now those are the kinds of improvement stats the average restomodder could only dream of.
Congratulations to the JCB team on creating yet another timeless, classic, bonkers custom build. There's a plinth in a museum somewhere waiting for the JCB GT someday, ideally right next to the Dieselmax.
Well, that'd be none other than a 580-cubic inch (9.5-l) supercharged Chevy big block V8, complete with a performance crankshaft from Crower, connecting rods from Compstar with Diamond pistons, and an absolutely massive Littlefield supercharger. It all comes together to jet 1000-plus horsepower to the GT's massive rear wheels, still seemingly the same stock wheel and tire combo the tractor might have come with from the factory.
In truth, the JCB GT is nothing new. The idea was first formulated by JCB back in the late 1980s as a promotional material, similar to that of the Dieselmax project started a decade and a half later. For years, the JCG GT toured drag strips and press events across the English-speaking world, most notably making its debut in Australia at the 1990 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide, a race won by Ayrton Senna. But for once on that day, the coolest ride in the venue wasn't a Grand Prix car.
Thirty-three years have passed since then, but that didn't stop JCB from taking the GT and comprehensively restoring its interior and exterior while giving its one-of-a-kind drive train a much-needed makeover with all the juicy performance hardware mentioned above. In this configuration, the JCB GT was able to lay down a quarter-mile time of 19.3 seconds at 54 mph. Need we remind you this thing is a piece of construction equipment with a normal top speed of around 25 mph? Now those are the kinds of improvement stats the average restomodder could only dream of.
Congratulations to the JCB team on creating yet another timeless, classic, bonkers custom build. There's a plinth in a museum somewhere waiting for the JCB GT someday, ideally right next to the Dieselmax.
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