This British-built hydrogen car* just set a 406mph+ land speed record

The fastest JCB ever. May not sound like much of a boast, until you learn the JCB Hydromax has just posted a land speed record of 406.320mph on the famous Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.

It is now officially the fastest hydrogen powered car ever and fastest zero emission car ever, having scorched across the arid desert at 400.623mph in one direction, turned around within an hour and returned - presumably with a bit of a tailwind - through the measured mile at 412.135mph.

Hydromax was driven by Wing Commander Andy Green, the holder of the outright Land Speed Record at 763.035mph in the jet-powered ThrustSSC. Here, rather than jet power, a pair of JCB’s own hydrogen internal combustion engines were used, heavily modified to develop 800bhp each and sending power to both axles - helping make this amongst the fastest wheel driven cars ever.

It’s also a very low emission record breaker, given hydrogen emits only water vapour, plus a bit of NOx from the combustion process. It’s faster than the quickest electric car ever, the Buckeye Bullet 3, which posted a two-way average of 341.264mph at Bonneville back in 2016.

The record attempt was overseen by the FIA and is still subject to final ratification. Last week, during Bonneville’s famous Speed Week, Hydromax had run under Southern California Timing Association regulations and, running with power reduced to 1,200bhp, posted a best one-direction speed of 368.347mph.

“The car was terrific — stable, strong and fast,” said Green, “this record is a huge achievement by a world class team and superb technology.” JCB had worked alongside Ricardo, Prodrive and Xtrac to develop the car.

Ricardo was responsible for boosting the turbocharged hydrogen engines from 74bhp each to 800bhp, motorsport team Prodrive built Hydromax and ran it at Bonneville, while Xtrac developed and built the six-speed paddle shift gearbox. The clutches were taken straight from a JCB backhoe loader - the only ones capable of handling the torque produced.

JCB’s engineering director Ryan Ballard, who led the project, said: “This record belongs to the engineering team. This has been an amazing challenge from the outset in February last year. We came here fully prepared, and the car delivered."

This is not JCB’s first record-breaking rodeo. 20 years ago it showcased its diesel technology with Dieselmax, achieving 350.092mph at Bonneville. Repeating the process, adding 50mph and showcasing hydrogen combustion technology means Hydromax has proved its point. And Britain has another Land Speed Record to boast about.