JCB walked away with the title of world’s fastest digger after wowing crowds in Bathurst by reaching speeds of 116.82 kilometers per hour.
JCB had to drive a 250m-stretch in less than four seconds in order to achieve the world record. The Guinness World Record team
was on hand at the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 event to verify the time.
The digger in question is normally based in JCB’s Staffordshire factory in the UK, but came to Australia in October to perform a tour of car events.
The JCB GT in question was built at JCB’s Staffordshire factory in the late 1980s. It is powered by a supercharged V8 engine and equipped with a belt-driven supercharger and a pair of four barrelled Holley carbs. It exhales via eight, 20-inch straight-through exhausts and is typically used to perform tricks at car events around the world.
Staffordshire-based JCB Demonstration driver Matthew Lucas, who previously kept his anonymity by being known only as ‘The Dig’, was at the wheel for the world record attempt.
“It was great to be involved in such an exciting project and a real honour to be behind the wheel when we achieved the record,” he said.
The JCB GT last appeared on these shores at the Australian Grand Prix in 1990.
“The JCB GT has always been regarded as the fastest backhoe around and now it’s official,” said JCB Pacific Managing Director Fab Carrettin.
“It’s fantastic to have achieved this record and [it] underlines the world-class engineering, power and performance our customers demand from the JCB backhoe.”
The JCB GT will complete it tours of Australia in December at the V8 Race in Sydney. For more information visit
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