JCB Scrapbook – Celebrating 80 years of engineering innovation

The fascinating story of JCB, one of Great Britain’s best-known engineering names and its iconic machines that have defined a market sector.

Printed and bound in Great Britain.

• Updated and expanded edition of the JCB Scrapbook, bringing the story right up to date to include major developments over the last five years.
• JCB origins – Joseph Cyril Bamford and the formation of the company.
• JCB through the years – 80 years of JCB’s finest moments, key machines and achievements.
• Advertising and promoting JCB.
• The quest for speed – stories of record-breaking achievements and high-flyers.
• Around the world – JCB’s global appeal.
• Looking ahead – the latest innovation with the launch of JCB’s hydrogen combustion engine.

JCB is a British engineering success story, and this book tells the fascinating story of its 80 years of innovation. Everything from the first trailer produced in 1945 to the latest groundbreaking hydrogen powered developments are captured in a remarkable collection of images from the company’s own archives.

Expanded and updated in celebration of the company’s 80th anniversary, this is an unabashed celebration of one of Great Britain’s greatest engineering names and the remarkable machines that can be seen in action all over the world.

More about this book

In October 1945, Joseph Cyril Bamford started the company that would come to revolutionise the construction and agriculture industries all around the world. JCB would create the world’s first backhoe loader, and while the model has provided the backbone of the company, the product range quickly expanded and moved into new areas.

From modest beginnings, JCB has grown into a market leader with more than 300 different machines now being manufactured across four continents, but the original ethos of a family-driven company producing quality products remains to the fore – now led by Lord Anthony Bamford.

He has presided over the company’s expansion for half a century, diversifying its product range and establishing itself in India, Brazil, USA and China. Under his leadership, JCB has expanded from a single site to 22 factories globally, employing over 19,000 people.

Specification

• Size: 295mm x 300mm landscape
• Softback
• 160 pages
• Over 400 images
• Price: £25.00 
• ISBN: 978-1-913089-18-4
• Publisher: Porter Press International
• Publication date: October 2025
• Author: Martin Port

The author – Martin Port

Graphic designer, photographer and author Martin Port, when he’s not designing or writing another award-winning Porter Press title, will most likely be planning adventures in his 1959 Series II Land-Rover. Martin was art editor of Classic & Sports Car from 2003 to 2019, is editor and designer of Built 2 Last magazine and has been a regular contributor (photography and editorial) to Classic Land Rover since its launch in 2013 and more recently to Land Rover Monthly.