Volvo Trucks enlists world's strongest man to tug 1.65 million pounds

The world's strongest man is, as the accolade implies, a strong man.

His name is Magnus Samuelsson and he's best known for reaching the World's Strongest Man finals 10 times—that's more than anyone else. Standing almost 7 feet tall, the Swede won the competition in 1998 and can dead lift 771 pounds.

He's also a bit of a car buff, having raced in the 2010 Rally Sweden.

As a result, Samuelsson seemed like a natural to help Volvo Trucks break a new record for the heaviest weight towed across 100 meters by a stock truck you can buy in a showroom (assuming you possess the proper commercial driving license in your jurisdiction).

But anyone would need a little help to tug 750 metric tons, which works out to around 1.65 million lb.

That's a lot of weight. A whole heck of a lot of weight.

So, Volvo prepared its FH16 hauler equipped with crawler gears to tug that much weight 100 meters.

As the 6-minute video implies, this is no small feat. What's perhaps most impressive is that the FH16 is a standard, regular production truck. Most recently redesigned in 2012, it is rated at 750 horsepower and, crucially for hauling, more than 2,600 pound-feet of torque.

Volvo, of course, is no stranger to publicity, having most recently enlisted John Claude Van Damme (and a four-year-old girl) for its advertising.