A total of 70 limited edition 70th Anniversary 3CX Pro and 4 CX Pro (pictured above) machines will be manufactured.
The first JCB backhoe was manufactured by Joe Bamford in 1953 by combining a light backhoe with a Major Loadall tractor loader. He created a machine that combined a front shovel and a rear excavator arm.
JCB mythology has it that Bamford invented the backhoe, but American manufacturers Wain-Roy and JI Case would deny that claim. Bamford was certainly a pioneer, however, and made the JCB name as synonymous with backhoes as Hoover was with vacuum cleaners.
It took JCB 20 years to build its first 50,000 backhoes. After 70 years, it has now made more than 900,000 in factories in the UK, India and Brazil.
JCB chairman Lord Bamford said: “The backhoe is an incredibly versatile machine and thanks to continuous innovation and evolution, it remains as relevant today as the day it was invented. The JCB backhoe remains a of the most popular pieces of construction equipment in the world and has a very exciting future ahead of it.”
Platinum Edition models will have servo excavator, Powerslide, air conditioning and two-way auxiliary flow hydraulic controls. The machines will carry limited edition platinum decals and grid badging. They will have platinum wheels, while the cabin will feature an embroidered graphic on the carpet and upgraded seat material with 70th anniversary branding, along with a steering wheel center cover with the 70th anniversary logo.
Here are some images from the JCB archives, starting with a 1953 specification sheet for JCB’s first backhoe, the JCB MK 1 Excavator.
In 1957 it was announced that the JCB Hydra-Digga was capable of digging through rock.
Here is the classic JCB 3C in 1963.
This is the JCB MkII 3C that worked in Bolivia in 1972.
And finally, the 4CX Sitemaster, launched in 1991.
