JCB DieselMax

Following its display at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last month, the JCB DieselMax has recently proved itself the fastest yet diesel-powered car during Speed Week at the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah. Andy Green, who in 1997 broke the sound barrier on land in Thrust SSC, piloted DieselMax to reach a top speed of 350.09mph, increasing the existing record set in 1973 by over 100mph.

Helping the JCB DieselMax achieve this is a drag coefficient of just 0.174 and two 4.4-liter four-cylinder engines, each producing 750PS. Despite their newly proven record-breaking capacity, the blocks are derived from JCB's new range of construction machinery - albeit sans turbochargers and with a rather more modest 125PS. Extra equipment includes overalls that can resist burning four times longer than those used in Formula One.

Related Stories:
Goodwood Festival of Speed 

By