In 1966, Peugeot and Renault entered a cooperative agreement to manufacture common components. The first joint subsidiary,
La Française de Mécanique (also called
Compagnie Française de Mécanique or simply
FM) was launched in 1969. The FM factory was built in
Douvrin near
Lens in northern France. The PRV engines are sometimes referred to as "Douvrin" engines, though that name is more commonly applied to
a family of straight-fours produced at the same time. In 1971, Volvo joined Peugeot and Renault in the creation of PRV, an equally-held
public limited company (plc). PRV originally planned to build
V8 engines, although these were later scrapped in favor of a smaller and more fuel-efficient V6. The PRV engine followed a standard V8 90-degree cylinder bank configuration rather than the customary 60, but had its crankpins 120 degrees apart. The
Maserati V6 of the
Citroën SM followed a remarkably similar pattern of development. The
1973 energy crisis, and taxes levied against
engine displacement greater than 2.8 litres made large V8 engines less attractive, and expanded the market for smaller displacement engines. Additionally, Renault needed a V6 engine to fit in its new model, the
Renault 30. Renault's internal designation for the PRV was Z-Type. Machinery for assembling the engines arrived at Douvrin in early June 1973, and buildings for producing the engines were finished in January 1974. The first PRV engines were officially introduced on 3 October 1974 in the
Volvo 264, designated the B27 by the automaker. Adoption was swift, and the PRV V6 had been sold in at least five different models by the end of 1975. The B27 was used in the Volvo 264/265 until 1980. The B28 was also used in the Volvo 264/265 and in a rare version of the 240 GLT (244/245 GLT 6) between 1980 and 1983, and in the Volvo 760 between 1982 and 1986. The last version of the PRV engine in a Volvo was the B280, installed in the Volvo 760 from 1987 to 1990 and in the Volvo 780 (all model years). The Volvo 262 C was also fitted with the PRV, the first years with the B27 and the last years with the B28. The B280 was significantly changed; only the engine block remained the same as the B27/B28, the rest is different. The B280 was also installed in a small number of 960s in 1991. In 1984, the first commercially available
turbocharged PRV V6 was sold in the
Renault 25 V6 Turbo. This was the first to be
even-fire with split
crankpins, and was the first of the second generation, and indeed EFI engine of any sort. Turbocharged versions went on to be used in the
Renault Alpine GTA V6 Turbo (essentially the same engine as the 25 Turbo at , Renault Alpine A610, and Renault Safrane Bi-turbo – both with low compression. Naturally aspirated 2963 cc and 2975 cc versions of both low- and high-compression 3-litre engines appeared in a number of Peugeot, Citroën and Renault cars until 1997. 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 engine was however extremely expensive, and suffered
cam wear problems. This was due to the exhaust
valves sharing a single lobe, while each inlet valve had its own lobe. This was at least partially solved by the use of ceramic followers as one of a succession of recalls. Meanwhile, French sports car manufacturer
Venturi had been developing their own versions of the PRV. The most powerful versions they built were in the Atlantique 300 at from a turbocharged, 12-valve 3.0 L iteration, and they successfully raced at the
24 Hours of Le Mans with the 600LM with a
twin turbocharged, 24-valve 3.0-litre, pushing out over in race spec, and the road-going spin-off, the 400GT managed . This used the low compression bottom end common to the Renault turbo engines, coupled to 24-valve
cylinder heads with bespoke rockers and tappets. Peugeot too allowed a small group of engineers to create a team for
endurance racing, and after a few years the team grew to be called WM Peugeot. The ultimate version of the car used a low compression 3.0-litre bottom end coupled to bespoke twin-cam heads. It is the only
DOHC PRV. This car still holds the top speed record at
24 Hours of Le Mans set in 1988. By taping over the engine cooling intakes to improve aerodynamics, the team managed to push the car to on the straight before the engine was destroyed. 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.
Peugeot,
Renault and
Citroën continued using the PRV until 1997. After producing 970,315 units, production of the PRV V6 was stopped on 15 June 1998. ==Engineering==