Banbury motorsport firm Prodrive teams up with JCB in bid to break land speed record

Engineers from Prodrive have been busy working to bring JCB’s hydrogen technology into a purpose-built car designed for extreme speed.

JCB and Prodrive are hoping to break the land speed record with the 32-foot JCB Hydromax streamliner car on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah this summer.

The attempt comes 20 years after JCB set the diesel-powered land speed world record with the JCB Dieselmax streamliner car in August 2006 by travelling at speeds of 350.092 mph.

“Integrating JCB’s hydrogen technology into a vehicle capable of extreme speed is a significant challenge," said Prodrive chairman David Richards.

“But such challenges have defined Prodrive’s success for the last 40 years. Our role is to leverage our experience to help deliver a vehicle that demonstrates what hydrogen power can really do.”

The two firms are working closely with each other to deliver a stable and reliable 1,600 horsepower vehicle that is capable of operating at extreme speeds.

JCB Chairman Anthony Bamford, who has spearheaded the company’s hydrogen programme, said: “Britain has a proud heritage of setting speed records and, as a British company, I’m excited to challenge for a new one using hydrogen.

“This is not just about speed – it’s about showcasing the world-class engineering talent we have here in the UK and the robustness of our new hydrogen engines.

“JCB Dieselmax was always a bit of an unusual idea – but it proved a point. Putting an advanced engine into a land-speed car showed the world what it could do in a way a digger never could. It’s the same thinking with hydrogen today.

“If you’re serious about emissions, you have to be serious about hydrogen – and a land-speed project is the perfect way to prove it.”

Following final assembly at Prodrive’s Banbury headquarters, the programme will move to UK shakedown testing in June, before further development and the record attempt in the United States, which will take place this summer.

The driver of the JCB Dieselmax that broke the world land speed record, retired RAF pilot Andy Green OBE, will once again be behind the controls for the new record attempt in the JCB Hydromax.