Swede Builds 8.1-Liter Inline-16 From 4 Volvo B20s, Delivering 264 HP

Q: What unique vehicle is being built to house this two-meter-long engine with its stampeding herd sound?

There is no confirmed vehicle yet. The reporting and supporting material identify Pelle Söderström’s “Herkules 1934” as a standalone engineering project: an 8.1-liter inline-16 built from four Volvo B20 engines, with a custom two-meter crankshaft and a sound likened to a “stampeding herd.” But the available information does not name a finished or even clearly specified vehicle being built around it. Some references suggest Söderström is building a unique vehicle to house the engine, but they do not provide a verified description beyond that. Other sourced material is more explicit, saying the engine is “not connected to a car” at this stage. So the most accurate answer is that no specific vehicle has been publicly identified in the available coverage.

Q: Is this 13,000-hour engine a tribute to classic ingenuity or a monument to magnificent impracticality?

It is both, but more convincingly a tribute to classic ingenuity. Pelle Söderström’s “Herkules 1934” is not a vanity mock-up. It is a fully engineered, one-off 8.1-liter inline-16 built from four Volvo B20 engines, with a custom two-meter forged-steel crankshaft, forged rods, Mahle pistons, and a special camshaft alloy. The 13,000 hours matter because they reflect real design and fabrication work, backed by calculations and a workshop manual, not just assembly. In that sense, it fits the tradition of 1930s mechanical ambition that its name deliberately evokes. At the same time, it is undeniably impractical by modern standards. A 16-cylinder engine that makes about 264 horsepower and roughly 500 lb-ft, while being capped at 3,000 rpm to protect its long crankshaft and chain drives, is not an efficient route to performance. Modern engines can exceed that output with far less weight, complexity, and risk. Even its sound is described as industrial rather than exotic, underscoring that this was never a polished supercar-style powerplant. What tips the balance is intent. Söderström was not chasing commercial viability or headline power figures; he was solving an engineering problem no mainstream manufacturer would attempt. The result is impractical as transportation, but highly practical as a demonstration of craftsmanship, historical imagination, and mechanical problem-solving. That makes it less a folly than a working monument to old-school engineering curiosity.

3 articles · Updated · Jalopnik · Jun 28

Pelle Söderström built the Herkules 1934 in Sweden by combining four Volvo 2.0-liter B20 engines into a one-off 8.1-liter inline-16.
13,000 hours went into the project, which includes a workshop manual and custom hardware such as a forged-steel crankshaft and 16 forged connecting rods.
3,000 rpm is the engine’s self-imposed limit to protect its long crank and Triplex chain drives feeding a Muncie SM465 four-speed gearbox.
264 horsepower and about 500 pound-feet of torque at 2,800 rpm are Söderström’s estimates, far below a simple four-engine power sum because of the configuration’s constraints.
1934 reflects Söderström’s idea that an inline-16 feels like a 1930s concept, underscoring the build as an engineering exercise rather than a conventional performance project.