Originally carbureted, it adopted fuel-injection for improved emissions compliance and improved performance, and was offered in turbo and biturbo versions in a limited number of vehicles made by Renault, Chrysler Motors, and French supercar manufacturer Venturi.

In 1971, Volvo joined Peugeot and Renault in the creation of PRV, an equally-held public limited company (plc).

The PRV engine followed a standard V8 90-degree cylinder bank configuration rather than the customary 60, but had its crankpins 120 degrees apart.

While Renault were working forced induction into the PRV, Peugeot and Citroën developed their own 24-valve engines as an option in the 605 and XM respectively.

The compression remained the same as the Renault 12v, but the pistons differed, as did some of the timing gear, and the heads were re-engineered to allow easier maintenance (the camshaft being fitted from the opposite end for example).

This used the low compression bottom end common to the Renault turbo engines, coupled to 24-valve cylinder heads with bespoke rockers and tappets.

The ultimate version of the car used a low compression 3.0-litre bottom end coupled to bespoke twin-cam heads.

Volvo began to withdraw from the PRV consortium in the late 1980s and the year model 1991 was the last year for the PRV in a Volvo, shifting its powerplant reliance onto in-house inline engines: the successor to its PRV-powered 760, the 960, debuted with a new inline six "white block" Modular engine.

Second-generation PRV engines (introduced in 1984 in the Renault 25 Turbo) featured split crankshaft journals to create evenly spaced ignition events.

[6] The engines in that series required the use of bank separation angle and cylinder bore spacing from a production based engine, and as a 90° V6 has greater room between banks than a 60° V6 for a more optimal induction system, Alfa Romeo used the PRV as a basis as it had been used in the Lancia Thema, a car which shared its platform with the Alfa Romeo 164, as well as the Fiat Croma and Saab 9000.

Limone invented the "Montreal V8" story to throw the press off the scent and to satisfy FIAT management who were unhappy that a non-FIAT group developed engine was being used.