WENDOVER, Utah (AP) 鈥� The first 鈥� and only 鈥� person to break the sound barrier in a car hits the track in Utah this week with new wheels and his eye on another record.
Twenty years ago, British driver Andy Green set the land speed record for a diesel-powered car, reaching 350.092 mph (563.4 kph) at Utah鈥檚 famous . Green will return to the lunarlike landscape Tuesday and try to beat that mark, this time with a hydrogen-powered car.
The retired Royal Air Force fighter pilot aims not only to win another accolade but to showcase the power of . It’s the 鈥渇uel of the future,鈥� Green told The Associated Press in a July interview.
Green will be driving the 32-foot (9.75-meter) JCB Hydromax, the brainchild of British construction equipment manufacturer JCB. The car is bright yellow, long and slim, resembling a pencil. It’s powered by two hydrogen internal combustion engines with a combined 1,600 horsepower, which were adapted from engines used in the company鈥檚 construction machinery. They mix pressurized hydrogen gas with air and ignite it to create bursts of power.
In targeting the diesel-powered record, Green also hopes to easily clear the world land speed records for hydrogen internal combustion engines (185.5 mph/298.5 kph) and electric vehicles (341.3 mph/549.2 kph).
Green hit a new top speed of 368.347 mph (592.797 kph) in practice last week, but to officially earn the hydrogen record, he鈥檒l have to do it Tuesday in front of the F茅d茅ration Internationale de l鈥橝utomobile, the international governing body of motor sports.
鈥淲hat the peak speed is, I can鈥檛 say. We just don鈥檛 know,鈥� he said. 鈥淧art of the adventure here is we鈥檙e going to find out.鈥�
One thing Tuesday鈥檚 attempt will assuredly not do is approach the supersonic speeds Green reached with jet power three decades ago.
Green had already been flying supersonic military aircraft when he spotted a newspaper ad that read: 鈥淲anted: High-speed driver to break the sound barrier,鈥� according to the Guinness World Records. In 1997, he traveled faster than the speed of sound and set the outright land speed record 鈥� 763.035 mph (1,227.98 kph) 鈥� in a car powered by twin jet engines. His runs in Nevada鈥檚 Black Rock Desert produced sonic booms that shook the nearby town of Gerlach.
Now 64 years old, Green said he thought he was done racing but came out of retirement when JCB approached him with plans for the new car. The company has invested more than $134 million into that it says emit no carbon dioxide from the tailpipes.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e serious about emissions, you have to be serious about hydrogen, and a land speed project is the perfect way to prove it,鈥� JCB Chair Anthony Bamford said at the car’s unveiling in May. Bamford has also argued that hydrogen can better handle the demands of heavy industries than electric power.
But hydrogen is only as clean as its source, and the vast majority is currently produced from fossil fuels. JCB signed a deal to buy , which is created using renewable energy but makes up a tiny fraction of global hydrogen production.
Hydrogen combustion engines also present unique safety challenges due to the high pressure and flammability of the gas.
鈥淲e’re managing the risks very carefully,鈥� Green said. The car endured rigorous testing, and Green said he spent months learning how it responds to the elements, how the engines work in tandem and how to deploy a parachute to slow the car on the low-friction salt crust.
Since the first race there in 1914, the glassy surface of the Bonneville Salt Flats has drawn generations of drivers seeking to set new land speed records. A remnant of a prehistoric lake bed, the salt flats are about 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of Salt Lake City and sit atop an aquifer that cools the tires of the cars.
Spectators must stand about a quarter of a mile (400 meters) from the course’s straightaway, which is 10 miles (16 kilometers) long, and often watch through wide-angle binoculars.
The expanse on the border of Utah and Nevada has also been a backdrop for movies including 鈥淚ndependence Day鈥� and 鈥淭he World鈥檚 Fastest Indian,鈥� and the series finale of 鈥淢ad Men.鈥�
Green will start about an hour before sunrise Tuesday. His attempt comes a year after a driver going 283 mph (455 kph) at Bonneville’s annual . Chris Raschke lost control of his rocketlike vehicle called the Speed Demon last August and died from his injuries.
___
Rico reported from Atlanta. Video journalist Serge Cartwright contributed reporting.
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
