JCB GT 1,000 HP drag racer!

It was the 80s, an era when muscle cars were racing between the lights with their V8 engines. JCB saw this as an opportune time to plonk a big block Chevrolet V8 engine in their 3CX backhoe loader. The result was the monstrous 1,000 horsepower JCB GT!

Conceptualised as a one-off showcase vehicle in 1988, the JCB GT was created primarily as a lethal drag racing machine. The 7.4-litre big block Chevy V8 engine was hooked to a belt driven supercharger and four Holley barrelled carburettors. To give it the lethal look it deserves, the JCB GT gets eight 20-inch straight-through exhausts poking out directly from the engine. The engine is mated to a three speed semi automatic torque converter gearbox.

Both the engine and transmission generate a lot of heat which is why the JCB GT is fitted with various oil and water radiators to keep temperatures in check. A large fan draws air from underneath the behemoth to keep things in check. 

Due to its sole design purpose of drag racing, the JCB GT returns a mileage of 0.85 litres to the kilometre. Engine lubrication was provided from a 13.2 litre oil tank while the fuel tank can hold 18.9 litres of petrol. 

The JCB GT’s meagre mileage figure may not be justified by the performance but watching a 3.25 tonne piece of earth moving equipment hurtling past from 0-100 km/h in 12.8 seconds with its front wheels in the air is indeed an entertaining sight. 

Yes, you read that right, the JCB GT can do a wheelie! In order to keep things in check JCB fitted a host of modifications such as special low pressure rear tyres made from polypropylene over a Kevlar casing to deal with all the wheel spin from a 3.25 tonne JCB 3CX. Two Cessna wheels have been fitted as jockey wheels running on modified trailer suspension units to allow the JCB GT to wheelie to precisely 23 degrees. To soften the blow while landing, the 16-inch front wheels have been linked to a full Watts linkage suspension system with two pairs of Spax gas coil shock absorbers.

As you can imagine, while doing a wheelie, the JCB GT has no steering control which is why it is fitted with a set of fiddle brakes that provide individual braking to each rear wheel to provide steering, they are controlled from behind the steering wheel. 

Aboard, the JCB 3CX there is a body hugging racing seat complete with a race harness and roll cage. There are four separate temperature gauges, two digital displays for speed and rpm along with a big racing analogue tachometer and a host of gauges for supercharger boost, ammeter, oil pressure along with switches for the ignition and fire extinguisher. Just in case.

JCB went to great lengths to create the monster GT, something that also shows on the body of the vehicle. All the body panels, loader arms and buckets are made from aluminium alloy or GRP to reduce weight. But they have been painstakingly designed to look like the standard panels on a JCB 3CX. 

It has to be said, that as a showcase vehicle, the JCB GT makes sure it is noticed for its sheer size alone, but is known for so much more with its supercharged 7.4 litre big block Chevy V8 and tarmac scorching power output of a 1,000 horsepower. 

Also read: JCB: Growth through Innovation