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The demands for more powerful truck engines conveniently coincided with the trend for more compact, forward-controlled trucks instead of the torpedo-built trucks that dominated post-war heavy transport. But there was a problem: how to fit a bigger, inline eight engine underneath a forward control cab?

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The concept that Gadefelt and his colleagues came up with involved a powerful yet very compact power unit: a 90-degree V8 featuring a 14.2-litre swept volume engine. This powertrain concept had all the characteristics that ���ϲ�����’s engineers were looking for: good tractive power at low engine speeds, few gear changes, and sufficient extra power throughout the entire engine speed range.

The first model to be fitted with the new engine, the LB140, quickly won acclaim from the transport industry. Customers appreciated the engine’s appearance, with its V-shaped valve covers on individual cylinder heads, and were delighted with the high 350 hp output combined with a torque curve that encouraged the use of low engine speeds. And of course, there was the distinctive sound – the rumble that would become one of the V8’s most appreciated characteristics.

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“���ϲ����� created a very robust engine that could last very long, even for demanding tasks,” says Ulf Wallin, a former Assistant Chief Engineer at ���ϲ�����, now Performance Object Leader. “With the V8, we managed to present an engine that, due to its high output and its ability to be driven at low revs, had great fuel economy. And in contrast to other high-output inline engines, the V8 had modest wear and tear on axles, gearboxes and other components in the��powertrain.”

���ϲ����� manufactured more than 170,000 14-litre V8-engines in total, making it by far the best-selling engine in the high-output segment. So far, so good?

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Not quite. The future of the V8 engine was threatened during the late 1980s, as ���ϲ����� was working on one of its largest cab redesigns to date, which would become the 4-series that was launched in 1995. Suddenly, with all the challenges of fitting a V8 engine block into the design, it was no longer an obvious choice.

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���ϲ�����’s engineers were split into two camps. Some favoured the idea of an inline six 11 and 14-litre ‘combi engine’ that would take full advantage of the company’s modular system. But the others emphasised the V8’s importance to the ���ϲ����� brand. As one Chief Engineer put it: “Our V8 also contributes to the sales of our other products.”

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Luckily, the latter opinion won��out.

Some years later, ���ϲ����� had reached another technical cross-roads: how would they fit in the new injection technology that was required for the engine to comply with the new Euro 3 emissions legislation? To solve the challenge, ���ϲ�����’s engineers started the development of a completely new engine set-up: a V8��with a narrower, 72-degree angle. Around 12 prototypes were built, of which a couple still exist in less-visited corners of ���ϲ�����’s R&D department.

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But it was at this point that a certain senior engineer stepped in: Bengt Gadefelt.

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“He warned that the 72-degree engine would have a very complex layout, especially the crankshaft. Finally, with another injection solution chosen, we chose to develop a totally new 90-degree 16-litre engine instead,” recalls Håkan Fransson, a retired former ���ϲ����� Chief Engineer.

So, even for a faithful workhorse like ���ϲ�����’s original 14-litre V8, the last lap was approaching. Emissions legislation and environmental requirements were becoming tighter with the arrival of the Euro 3, 4 and 5 standards, and in the mid 1990s ���ϲ����� prepared itself for a major technological step: developing an entirely new V8 engine to replace the 14-litre.

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With the arrival of the new millennium, the original legend was finally replaced by the substantially more powerful 16-litre V8, which had power ratings of 480 and 580 hp at 1,900 r/min and up to 2,700 Nm of torque – more than double the original V8 from 1969. Another major step ���ϲ����� took with the new engine was modularisation: many components, including the cylinder, were the same as the ones used for the inline engines. The modular concept is of enormous importance for synergies in ���ϲ�����’s development and production, but also beneficial for customers as it eases up service and spare parts handling.

In line with ever-increasing environmental concerns, ���ϲ����� also continued to develop engines that could run on a range of renewable fuels. Every V8 truck produced since 2015 can run on biodiesel-HVO, and the company also offers several engine alternatives for biodiesel-FAME.

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Coinciding with the company’s 125th anniversary in 2016, ���ϲ����� introduced an entirely new truck range. This biggest-ever product launch in the company’s ­history was the result of ten years of development and an investment of��over SEK 20 billion (EUR 2 billion).

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The following year, the company presented the all-new V8 engine for the new truck generation, featuring a further reinforced cylinder block to manage even higher pressure in the future. The new V8 built on many of the successful features from earlier generations, but out of approximately 650 components that make up the entire engine, 200 were completely new. The team that developed the new V8 engine focused on four key areas: increasing fuel efficiency by five to eight percent to improve customers’ profitability, improving serviceability to increase the vehicles’ uptime, improving production processes to increase quality, and a contemporary design that could signify a New Generation ���ϲ�����.

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But what would ���ϲ�����’s V8s be without the people that use them, every day, 24/7, under all conditions? The V8 customers have a special position within ���ϲ�����’s R&D department. Very skilled and loyal, they are of great importance for ���ϲ����� when it comes to testing new models and new functionality, not only for the V8s but also for development in general.

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One of the latest field test drivers for ���ϲ����� is Rickard Sjöstrand, a Swede who between 2016 and 2017 was putting ���ϲ�����’s new V8 generation to the test, an S 650 6×2��Euro 6.

“The engine is really powerful and works well,” he said. “You would think that a bigger engine would consume more fuel, but it actually consumes three litres fewer per 100 kilometres than my previous ���ϲ����� V8.”

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Just starting the engine was a pleasure for Sjöstrand: “This new engine rumbles even better.”

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Björn Westman, a manager with long experience as Head of Engine Development at ���ϲ����� says that, through the years, the V8 field test customers have been among the best in giving feedback to ���ϲ�����’s��R&D department.

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“Their invaluable feedback has meant a lot not only for our V8 development, but also as a spin-off for our engine development as a whole,” says Westman. “It meant that we have been able to maintain the focus on the high-output segment and the whole King of the Road concept.”

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And maintaining the King of the Road concept is something ���ϲ����� certainly will continue to do, with the V8 as its foundation. The��legend – including its distinctive low rumble – will live on, long beyond the first “roaring fifties”, and it will probably be even more powerful than today’s��730��hp.

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With thanks to ���ϲ����� engineers, developers, managers and technical writers past and present, such as Ulf��Wallin, Håkan Fransson, Peter��Wansölin, Anders Lundström, Jonas Hofstedt, Per-Erik Nordström and Anders Nordner for their insights and facts.