The JCB Hydromax was not supposed to rewrite the Bonneville record books before its world record shot, but that is exactly what happened. The hydrogen-powered streamliner has logged an officially sanctioned Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) class mark at the Bonneville Salt Flats, and it did it with pure combustion—no fuel cells or batteries driving the wheels.
The car’s 368.347 miles per hour average is now the number everyone will quote, but it comes from two razor-close runs and a format that does not forgive mistakes. It also shows what a pair of hydrogen-burning engines can do when tuned hard for speed. The SCTA result gives JCB a verified benchmark before the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) world record attempt that is coming next.
