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Scania V8 40 years – Birth of a King

31 March 2009 | Tags: Scania V8 40 years | Posted in: Events

When Scania unveiled its 350 hp 14-litre V8 engine at the end of the 1960s, it was Europe’s most powerful truck engine, and it held that distinction for many years. The V8 made Scania the King of the Road.

Development started at a time when 250 hp was considered adequate. The engineers at Scania-Vabis realised that such outputs would not be sufficient in the long run, especially in timber haulage and heavy long-haulage, so why not try to be first on the market and take a groundbreaking step.

The go-ahead in 1962 coincided with the development of a new generation of forward-control trucks that would be unveiled in 1968. An inline eight-cylinder engine would not fit underneath a forward-control cab, nor would a larger inline six.

The engineers therefore went for a vee-configuration that would fit under the same cab as the 11-litre inline six, yet produce 100 hp more. The result was a powerful but very compact power unit that paved the way for a new level of truck performance.

For more information and images:

• Go to www.scania.com/media/v8/ for the special V8 media site.
• At http://imagebank.scania.com/ you can search for V8-related images by entering “V8” in the “Quick search” field.
• An anniversary site of special interest to Scania fans and enthusiasts will be opened in May
• Contact: Per-Erik Nordström, Product Affairs, tel. +46 8 55385577, email per-erik.nordstrom@scania.com

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