To celebrate 70 years of backhoe production, JCB has revealed limited edition Platinum editions of its 3CX and 4CX models. Only 70th anniversary models will be made.
JCB says the 3CX and 4CX Platinum Pro will feature servo excavator controls, Powerslide, air conditioning and bi-directional auxiliary flow hydraulics.
The machines will also be equipped with limited-edition platinum decals and platinum-colored grille and wheel badging. Inside the cabin, the carpet will carry an embroidered graphic and the seat material will be upgraded and the center cover of the steering wheel will feature 70th birthday mark
Each machine also comes with a plaque and customers will receive a special platinum gift pack with the backhoe. (Check out the machines in the video below.)
Although there has been some debate over the years, JCB claims that company founder Joseph Cyril Bamford CBE invented the backhoe concept by combining a light backhoe with a Major Loadall tractor loader. The first JCB model was manufactured in 1953, creating a single machine that combined a front shovel and a rear excavator arm.
[Related: These Are the Forgotten Inventors of the Backhoe, New Book Claims]
It took JCB 20 years to build 50,000 backhoes, but under chairman Anthony Bamford, more than 900,000 have been produced. The company’s backhoes are manufactured in the UK, India and Brazil.
Lord Bamford said: “The backhoe is an incredibly versatile machine and, thanks to continuous innovation and evolution, remains as relevant today as the day it was invented. The JCB backhoe remains one of the most important pieces of equipment in most popular building in the world and has a very exciting future ahead of it.”
Since its inception in 1953, JCB has continued to develop and improve its backhoe loaders, with turbocharged engines, powershift transmissions, four-wheel drive and extendable arms.
Today, the product line includes the miniature 1CX, the all-wheel drive 3CX Compact and the larger 4CX and 5CX wheeled machines of the same size.
