JCB has, for decades in fact, been developing super slick monsters dedicated solely to break landspeed records, and their most recent development is called the "Hydromax". It's a hydrogen-powered 32-foot streamliner packing nearly 1600 horsepower and aiming to exceed 563 kilometres an hour.
It's powered by two hydrogen combustion engines developed by JCB themselves, producing around 800 horsepower each for a combined 1579 horsepower. The project is closely tied to JCB's wider hydrogen push for construction and agricultural machinery, following a £100 million investment into hydrogen engine development over the last five years. The company has already started putting hydrogen-powered diggers into production.
Behind the wheel will be Wing Commander Andy Green, the current outright landspeed record holder and the same driver who piloted the original JCB Dieselmax to a diesel speed record in 2006, a record that still stands today.
JCB chairman Lord Bamford, says to Autocar that idea of the Hydromax is simply to beat the Dieselmax: "Dieselmax was always a bit of an unusual idea, but it proved a point. 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."