zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Culture
/
This 1,000 HP Tractor Went Over 100 MPH and Blitzed The Tractor World Speed Record
This 1,000 HP Tractor Went Over 100 MPH and Blitzed The Tractor World Speed Record-May 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:13:01

Image for article titled This 1,000 HP Tractor Went Over 100 MPH and Blitzed The Tractor World Speed Record

What happens when you pair Williams Formula One team with British industrial equipment manufacturer JCB? You get one hell of a fast tractor that can absolutely destroy the previous British tractor speed record—and a soon-to-be released documentary about the whole process.

The numbers on this bad boy are pretty impressive. The 7.2-liter diesel engine generates 1000 horsepower and 1,843 pound-feet of torque, announced. And with former motorcycle racer and TV presenter Guy Martin behind the wheel, the Fastrac 8000 hit a whopping 103.6 mph.

The Williams F1 team played a pretty essential role here in helping JCB lighten the tractor and improve its aerodynamics. Here are some more specs from a feature, to really give you an idea of what kind of changes you’d need to make to a giant piece of farm equipment to make it go that fast:

Keen-eyed readers will notice that the Agco unit used in production Fastracs has been ditched, although a standard off-the-shelf crankshaft has been used, along with a large common rail fuel system running upgraded injectors.

Tweaks to the block include improved valve seats, uprated conrods and auxiliary piston cooling, all designed to cope with the increased heat.

Out goes the Agco CVT and in its place is a ZF manual six-speeder usually found in a lorry, running a multiplate wet clutch system.

The record was set at Elvington Airfield, near York and was, apparently, pretty fun to drive. To quote Guy Martin: “She felt rock steady on the runway, job’s a peach.”

Image for article titled This 1,000 HP Tractor Went Over 100 MPH and Blitzed The Tractor World Speed Record

The whole scheme was dreamed up by JCB Chairman Lord Bramford, AKA Anthony Bamford, AKA Tony Bams, if we’re keeping it cool and casual and American, himself. The goal behind the Fastrac series itself is to create tractors that have higher road speeds but are still capable of performing their field work. It’s pretty much the natural progression of things to then want to see exactly how fast you can make the thing go.

One of the more interesting parts about this particular tractor speed record is that the tractor actually... still looks like a normal tractor. If you check out from Top Gear, you’ll notice that it’s moved pretty far beyond the realm of what we normally consider a tractor to look like. Basically, after its alterations, it looks like a machine designed solely to go fast without having any of its original capacity for work

JCB, though, kept their alterations pretty simple. Their high speed tractor looks pretty much like the normal industrial ones you see tooling about in the fields—which I think is pretty neat. It’s one thing to make something fast by taking away its original function. It’s entirely another to make something fast and practical.

Details about the build process and actual speed test itself aren’t widely available yet—but stay tuned. British television network Channel 4 has filmed a documentary about the whole shebang, which is intended to air later this year.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Culture
GM Builds Attractive EV Crossover And Then Only Sells It In China [Update]
GM Builds Attractive EV Crossover And Then Only Sells It In China [Update]
There’s a new GM electric vehicle that graciously isn’t some horrible marketing rip-off of an iconic muscle car. It’s the new , a compact electric crossover perfect for the U.S. market that will only be sold in China for no good reason. GM reached out to Jalopnik to confirm...
May 18, 2026
A Giant Dog -- 'No Cars Go'
A Giant Dog -- 'No Cars Go'
Traffic sucks, so why not start your morning off with some music? You provide the toast and we’ll provide the jams. This Austin-based band did a rowdy cover of Neon Bible for their latest album. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. ...
May 18, 2026
Uber CEO: Mistakes Happen, Like When A Government Murders A Journalist Or Your Autonomous Car Kills Somebody
Uber CEO: Mistakes Happen, Like When A Government Murders A Journalist Or Your Autonomous Car Kills Somebody
Last October, Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was in Istanbul by the Saudi government. His body was dismembered with a bone saw under orders from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Saudi Arabia is Uber’s fifth-largest shareholder and the head of its sovereign wealth fund is a member of...
May 18, 2026
Ferrari Thinks It Can Stay On Top In Our Electric Future
Ferrari Thinks It Can Stay On Top In Our Electric Future
Ferrari has stabilized over a year after the death of Sergio Marchionne, the UAW is worried about a federal takeover, Tesla shows its first China-made cars, and a lot more in for Monday, Nov. 11, 2019. Louis Camilleri took over as CEO of Ferrari in July 2018 following the...
May 18, 2026
Here's The Big Two-Stroke Parade Of Trabants And Wartburgs To Celebrate The Fall Of The Berlin Wall
Here's The Big Two-Stroke Parade Of Trabants And Wartburgs To Celebrate The Fall Of The Berlin Wall
In what is very likely the smokiest, smelliest tribute to human freedom ever, a parade of around 65 Trabants, Wartburgs, and the occasional Barkas van trundled through a surviving gate between Thuringia and Bavaria, celebrating the fact that the people on the East side of that wall no longer...
May 18, 2026
Your Leafy Lotus Elise Wallpapers Are Here
Your Leafy Lotus Elise Wallpapers Are Here
I’ve never owned a convertible, and the length of my legs means I’ll probably never get to drive a Lotus Elise. Luckily for me, I can live vicariously through these photos of a Lotus Elise out on Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park as the leaves are peaking, because...
May 18, 2026
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved