Two-Stroke V8 Turns this Volvo Amazon into a Wacky-Sounding Drag Racing Machine

The tubular chassis and custom roadholding hardware are not even remotely as cool as the muscle this retro Volvo has. Some of you Youtube addicts may be familiar with a clip showing a two-stroke V8. You know, the one that sounds like a popcorn machine. In case you don’t fall into this category, don’t worry, the second video below has it all covered for you.

Nobody builds a custom exhaust like the artful one seen here to keep the engine in their living room. Usually, people also come up with a car to place around such a powerplant and this is where the all-custom Amazon steps in. But enough about a tubular chassis and a shell, let’s talk about that mighty two-stroke V8.

This is a petrol-love story dating back to the glam-filled 80s

Back in the 80s, a company named Evinrude built a 4-liter two-stroke V8 as an outboard motor. The build is documented on what has become the Rudezon Facebook page, which mentions an output of 250 hp and 300 lb-ft (407 Nm).

Sure, that might not sound like a gazillion horsepower, but you need to consider a few things before posting a comment on how lame this whole thing is.

Outboard motors are fairly light and we feel the same can be said about the pieces of metal around the engine, which means that we’ll be dealing with one diet-friendly machine.

That monstrous exhaust helps the engine achieve heavenly power and torque curves (two-strokes rely on their exhaust much, much more than our daily 4-strokes do).

In a bit of fantasy, we can tell you that these engines are designed to be extremely reliable while being hammered. When you’re out there on the open sea and hammering it, you don’t want to hear any knocking that disturbs the atmosphere and leaves you stranded, do you?

This guy will be using the motor for drag strip shenanigans, so perhaps he’s ready to trade in a tad of reliability for some extra oomph. While we’re not sure about that, we can tell you the engine now has electronic fuel injection and ignition.

Until the car hits the strip, you can check out some stationary fun in the video below. Oh, and don’t bother bringing any popcorn - as you’ll notice, it’s already there.