This experimental Liberty V8 aircraft engine clearly shows the configuration. Automotive versions use a wider block angle.

Bare block of an American Motors V8 engine showing the four cylinders on each side of the V configuration

A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft.^[1]

In its simplest form, it is basically two straight-4 engines sharing a common crankshaft. However, this simple configuration, with a single-plane crankshaft, has the same secondary dynamic imbalance problems as two straight-4s, resulting in vibrations in large engine displacements. As a result, since the 1920s most V8s have used the somewhat more complex crossplane crankshaft with heavy counterweights to eliminate the vibrations. This results in an engine which is smoother than a V6, while being considerably less expensive than a V12 engine. Most racing V8s continue to use the single plane crankshaft because it allows faster acceleration and more efficient exhaust system designs.^[2]

Applications[link]

Assembled Oldsmobile 400 CID overhead valve engine with heads and complete valve train but without manifolds, rocker covers, timing chain cover or oil pan

Assembled Ford 460 and installed with all components as seen in a rear-wheel-drive vehicle

A modern V8 seen in a 2006 Chevrolet Impala, in a rare front-wheel drive configuration.

The V8 with a crossplane crankshaft (see below) is a common configuration for large automobile engines. V8 engines are rarely less than 3.0 L (183 cu in) in displacement and in automobile use have exceeded 8.2 L (500 cu in) in production vehicles. Industrial and marine V8 engines can be much larger.

V8s are generally only standard on more powerful muscle cars, pony cars, sports cars, luxury cars, pickup trucks, and SUVs. However they are often options in vehicles which have a V6 or straight-6 as standard engine. In some cases, V6 engines were derived from V8 designs by removing two cylinders maintaining the V-angle so they can be built on the same assembly lines as the V8s and installed in the same engine compartments with few modifications. Some of these employed offset crankpins driving connecting rod pairs, enabling a regular firing sequence.

The traditional 90° big-bore V8 engine is generally too wide and too long to fit easily in vehicles with a transverse engine front-wheel drive layout, so its applications are limited to rear-wheel drive sports cars, muscle cars, pony cars, luxury cars and light trucks. The shorter and occasionally narrower V6 engine is easier to fit in small engine compartments, but a few compact V8 engines are used in transverse FWD and transverse AWD engine configurations in larger cars, such as Cadillacs and Volvos. These engines often have tighter cylinder bore spacings, narrower cylinder bank angles, and other modifications to reduce their space requirements.^[3]

V8s are common in purpose-designed engines for racing cars. They usually have flat-plane crankshafts, since a crossplane crankshaft results in uneven firing into the exhaust manifolds which interferes with engine tuning, and the crossplane's heavy crankshaft counterweights prevent the engine from accelerating rapidly. They are a common engine configuration in the highest echelons of motorsport, especially in the USA where it is required in IRL, ChampCar and NASCAR. V8 engines are also used in Australian motorsport, most notably in the V8 Supercars. Formula One began the 2006 season using naturally aspirated 2.4 L (146 cu in) V8 engines, which replaced the 3.0 L (183 cu in) V10 in a move to reduce costs and power.

Medium-weight trucks tend to use the straight-6 configuration since it is simpler and easier to maintain, and because the straight-6 is an inherently balanced layout which can be scaled up to any size necessary. Large V8s are found in the larger truck and industrial equipment lines.

Although it was the early choice for aircraft engines, the V8 engine is seldom used in modern aircraft engine as the typically heavy crankshaft counterweights are a liability. Modern light planes commonly use the flat-8 configuration instead as it is lighter and easier to air cool. In addition it can be manufactured in modular designs sharing components with flat-4 and flat-6 engines. One of the few V8 engines used for aircraft propulsion in the World War II years was the German inverted V8 configuration, air-cooled Argus As 10 powerplant.

History[link]

1909 Antoinette VII aircraft with Antoinette V8 engine

V8 Vulcan engine, about 1919

In 1902, Léon Levavasseur took out a patent on a light but quite powerful gasoline injected V8 engine. He called it the 'Antoinette' after the young daughter of his financial backer. From 1904 he installed this engine in a number of competition speedboats and early aircraft. The aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont saw one of these boats in Côte d'Azur and decided to try it on his 14-bis aircraft. Its early 24 hp (18 kW) at 1400 rpm version with only 55 kg (120 lb) of weight was interesting, but proved to be underpowered. Santos-Dumont ordered a larger and more powerful version from Levavasseur. He changed its dimensions from the original 80 mm stroke and 80 mm bore to 105 mm stroke and 110 mm bore, obtaining 50 hp (37 kW) with 86 kg (190 lb) of weight, including cooling water. Its power-to-weight ratio was not surpassed for 25 years.^[4] Levavasseur eventually produced its own line of V-8 equipped aircraft, named Antoinette I to VIII. One of these aircraft, piloted by Hubert Latham, twice tried but failed to cross the English Channel in 1909 due to the engine's gasoline injection.^[5][6] However, in 1910, the same plane with the same engine and the same pilot was first in the world to reach an altitude of 3600 feet.^[7] Voisin constructed pusher biplanes with Antoinette engines, also, notably the one first flown successfully by Henry Farman in 1908.

The V8 engine configuration became popular in France from 1904 onward, and was used in a number of aircraft engines introduced by Renault, and Buchet among others. Some of these engines found their way into automobiles in small quantities. In 1905, Darracq built a special car to beat the world speed record. They came up with two racing car engines built on a common crankcase and camshaft. The result was monstrous engine with a displacement of 1,551 cu in (25,416 cc), good for 200 bhp (150 kW). Victor Hemery fixed that record on 30 December 1905 with a speed of 109.65 mph (176.46 km/h). This car still exists.

Rolls-Royce built a 3,535 cc (216 cu in) V8 car from 1905 to 1906, but only 3 copies were made and Rolls-Royce reverted to a straight-6 design. De Dion-Bouton introduced a 7,773 cc (474 cu in) automobile V8 in 1910 and displayed it in New York in 1912. It was produced only in small quantities, but inspired a number of American manufacturers to follow suit.^[8]

The first mass-production automobile V8 was introduced in the United States in 1914 by Cadillac, a division of General Motors which sold 13,000 of the 5,429 cc (331 cu in) L-head engines in its first year of production. Cadillac has been primarily a V8 company ever since. Oldsmobile, another division of General Motors, introduced its own 4 L (244 cu in) V8 engine in 1916. Chevrolet introduced a 288 cu in (4.7 L) V8 engine in 1917, but after merging with General Motors in 1918, discontinued the V8 to concentrate on economy cars.^[9]

In February 1915, Swiss automotive engineer Marc Birkigt designed the first example of the famous Hispano-Suiza V-8 single overhead cam aviation engines, in differing displacements, using dual ignition systems and in power levels from 150 horsepower to some 300 horsepower, in both direct-drive and geared output shaft versions. Almost 50,000 "Hisso" V8 powerplants in total, as the engines became nicknamed, were built in Spain, France, the United Kingdom, Italy and even by Wright Aeronautical in the United States during World War I, and are said to have powered roughly half of all Allied aircraft of the WW I era.^{[citation needed]}

V angles[link]

The most prevalent V angle for a V8 is 90°. This configuration features a wide, low engine with optimal firing and vibration characteristics. Many V6 and V10 engine configurations are derived from production V8 designs, they often use the 90° angle; however, balance shafts are incorporated to reduce vibration or more complex cranks to even the firing cycle. V8s can use different angles. One notable example is the Ford/Yamaha V8 used in the Ford Taurus SHO. It was based on Ford's Duratec V6 and shares that engine's 60° vee angle. A similar Yamaha-built engine is used by Volvo Cars as of 2005. These engines were designed for transverse front-wheel-drive installation and are narrower than usual for efficient use of space. Because they are not at the ideal 90° angle for a V8, they require a counter-rotating balance shaft and offset split crankpins for complete smoothness.^[10] In 2010, GM introduced a 4.5 L Duramax diesel V8 with a 72° angle in which they state, "Considering manufacturing tolerances, a 72 V-8 engine can actually deliver better balance than a 90 engine."^[11] 72° V8 engines have been used in modern racing.^[12]

The Rover Meteorite V8 engine was derived from the Rover Meteor tank engine (hence derived from the Merlin aero engine), so shared the Meteor's 60° vee angle.^[13] In years past, Electro-Motive produced an 8-cylinder version of their model 567 Diesel locomotive engine, with a 45° cylinder angle. The 1932 Miller four-wheel drive race cars also featured a 45° V8.^[14]

An extremely narrow-angle V8 was introduced by Lancia in 1922, which had an angle between cylinder banks of only 14°. This created an engine that was shorter than a straight-6, but much narrower than a conventional V8. It was based on a Lancia V4 engine design that was almost completely "square" in the length and width of its layout. Because of their compact design and overhead camshafts, these engines were lighter and more powerful than comparable engines of the time.^[15] Although Lancia stopped making the V8 design around World War II, the basic concept is used today in the Volkswagen VR6 engine.

Crankshaft design[link]

There are two classic types of V8s which differ by crankshaft:

• The cross-plane or two-plane crankshaft is the configuration used in most V8 road cars. The first and last of the four crank pins are at 180° with respect to each other as are the second and third, with each pair at 90° to the other, so that viewed from the end the crankshaft forms a cross. The cross-plane can achieve very good balance but requires heavy counterweights on the crankshaft. This makes the cross-plane V8 a slow-revving engine that cannot speed up or slow down very quickly compared to other designs because of the greater rotating mass. While the firing of the cross-plane V8 is regular overall, the firing of each bank is LRLLRLRR. In stock cars with dual exhausts, this results in the typical V8 burble sound that many people have come to associate with American V8s. In all-out racing cars it leads to the need to connect exhaust pipes between the two banks to design an optimal exhaust system, resulting in an exhaust system that resembles a bundle of snakes as in the Ford GT40. This complex and encumbering exhaust system has been a major problem for single-seater racing car designers, so they tend to use flat-plane crankshafts instead.
• The flat-plane or single-plane crankshaft has crank pins at 180°. They are imperfectly balanced and thus produce vibrations unless balance shafts are used, with a counter rotating pair flanking the crankshaft to counter second order vibration transverse to the crankshaft centerline. As it does not require counterweights, the crankshaft has less mass and thus inertia, allowing higher rpm and quicker acceleration. The design was popularized in modern racing with the Coventry Climax 1.5 L (92 cu in) V8 that evolved from a cross-plane to a flat-plane configuration. Flat-plane V8s on road cars come from Ferrari (every V8 model they ever made, from the 1973 308 GT4, to the new 458), Lotus (the Esprit V8), TVR (the Speed Eight) and McLaren (the MP4-12C). This design is popular in racing engines, the most famous example being the Cosworth DFV.^[16]

In 1992, Audi left the German DTM racing series after a controversy around the crankshaft design of their Audi V8 DTM. After using the road car's cross-plane 90° crankshaft for several years, they switched to a flat-plane 180° version which they claimed was made by "twisting" a stock part. The scrutineers decided that this would stretch the rules too far.

The cross-plane design was neither obvious nor simple to design. For this reason, most early V8 engines, including those from De Dion-Bouton, Peerless, and Cadillac, were flat-plane designs. In 1915, the cross-plane design was proposed at an automotive engineering conference in the United States, but it took another eight years to bring it to production. Cadillac and Peerless (who had hired an ex-Cadillac mathematician for the job) applied for a patent on the cross-plane design simultaneously, and the two agreed to share the idea. Cadillac introduced their "Compensated Crankshaft" V8 in 1923, with the "Equipoised Eight" from Peerless appearing in November 1924.^[17]

American V8 engines[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

De Soto Fire Dome V8 engine, at the 1952 LA Auto Show

A full decade after Britain's 1904 Rolls-Royce Legalimit, Cadillac produced the first American V8 engine, the 1914 L-Head. It was a complicated hand-built unit with cast iron paired closed-head cylinders bolted to an aluminum crankcase, and it used a flat-plane crankshaft. Peerless followed, introducing a V8 licensed from amusement park manufacturer, Herschell-Spillman, the next year. Chevrolet produced a crude overhead valve V8 in 1917, in which the valve gear was completely exposed. It only lasted through 1918 and Chevrolet would not produce another V8 until the introduction of the small block in 1955.

Cadillac and Peerless were one year apart again (1923 and 1924, respectively) with the introduction of the cross-plane crankshaft. Lincoln also had V8 cars in those years, as did Ferro, Northway (supplier to Cadillac), Cole (Indianapolis, and Jackson, Mississippi), Perkins (Detroit), Murray, Vernon, and Yale.^[18] Oakland, a division of GM, introduced an 85 hp (63 kW) 250 cu in (4.1 L) V8 with a 180° crankshaft in 1930–1931. In 1932, the Oakland marque was discontinued and the V8 was used in its companion marque, Pontiac, for one year. Pontiac dropped the V8 engine in 1933 and replaced it with its smoother running Silver-Streak straight eight.

Ford was the first company to use V8s en masse. Instead of going to an inline six like its competitors when something larger than an inline four was needed, Ford designed a modern V8, the Flathead of 1932. This flat head engine powered almost all larger Ford cars through the 1953 production year, and was produced until around 1970 by Ford licensees around the world, with the valve-in-block engine powering mostly commercial vehicles.

After World War II, the strong demand for larger status-symbol cars made the common straight-6 less marketable. Straight-8 engines have problems with crankshaft whip and require a longer engine bay. In the new wider body styles, a V8 would fit in the same space as a straight-6. Manufacturers could simplify production and offer the bigger engines as optional upgrades to base models.

In 1949, General Motors (GM) responded to Ford's V8 success by introducing the Oldsmobile Rocket and Cadillac OHV. Chrysler introduced their FirePower 331 cu in (5.4 L) hemi-head V8 in 1951. That year Studebaker introduced its V8. Buick followed in 1953, while Packard and GM's Chevrolet and Pontiac introduced V8s of their own in 1955. American Motors initially purchased V8 engines from Packard,^[19] but developed its own lower-weight, 600 lb (272 kg), design in 1956.^[20]

	Ford V8 in an AC Cobra 1964 AC Cobra at Goodwood Festival of Speed 2009. 4.7-litre Ford V8
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Shelby Mustang GT350 V8 engine

A full history of each manufacturer's engines is outside of the scope in this article, but engine sizes on full-size cars grew throughout the 1950s, 1960s, and into the early-to-mid-1970s. The increasing size of full-size cars meant smaller models of car were introduced and became more popular, with the result, by the 1960s, Chrysler, Buick, Ford, and Chevrolet had two V8 model ranges.

The larger engines, known as big-block V8s, were used in the full-size cars. Big-blocks generally had displacements in excess of 360 cu in (5.9 L), but in stock form are often not all that efficient. Big-block displacement reached its zenith with the 1970 Cadillac Eldorado's 500 cu in (8.2 L) 500. Once the 1970s oil crisis and pollution regulations hit, big-block V8s did not last too much longer in cars; luxury cars lasted the longest, but by 1977 or so they were gone. In trucks and other larger vehicles, big-block V8s continue to be used today, though some manufacturers have replaced them with small-block-based V10s or more efficient Diesels. Big-block V8s are used in racing and such engines are available from independent engine builders. Some applications produce 2,000 hp (1,491 kW) from volumes exceeding 800 cu in (13.1 L).

Smaller engines, known as small-block V8s, were fitted in the mid-size car ranges and generally displaced between 270 cu in (4.4 L) and 360 cu in (5.9 L), though some grew as large as Ford's 408 cu in (6.7 L) 400 Cleveland. There is overlap between big-block and small-block ranges, and a factory engine between 6.0 and 6.6 L (366 and 403 cu in) could belong to either class. Engines like this (much evolved) are still in production.

A 4.0 L (244 cu in) V8 engine from an Oldsmobile Aurora

During the 1950s, 1960s and, 1970s, every GM division had their own engines, whose merits varied. This enabled each division to have its own unique engine character, but made for much duplication of effort. Most, like the comparatively tiny Buick 215 and familiar Chevrolet 350, were confusingly shared across many divisions. Ford and Chrysler had fewer divisions, and quickly abandoned these division-specific engines in favor of a few shared designs. Realizing that shared designs were more cost efficient, GM also began to eliminate division-specific engines in the late 1970s, but still has never gone to a single V8 design. Today, there are fewer than a dozen different American V8 engines in production.

Lately, Chrysler and GM have designed larger displacement V8s out of existing modern small-block V8s for use in performance vehicles, such as Chrysler's 6.1 L (372.2 cu in) and 6.4 L (390.6 cu in) Hemis, and the LS7 7.0 L (427.2 cu in) version of GM's LS engines.

Today Professional Racing V8s are still very common with American cars. Track cars commonly use naturally aspirated, turbocharged or supercharged engines around 4–7 L (240–430 cu in) in size. Pro-stock and Superstock drag racing engines usually use big-block (400–600 cu in (6.6–9.8 L)) Chevrolet or Ford Boss engines, some upwards of 800 cu in (13.1 L), and one 1,005 cu in (16.5 L) General Motors engine engineered by Sonny Racing which can rev to 8,000 RPM. Top Fuel/Funny cars generally uses aluminum-coversion Chrysler Hemi engines, which production stopped in December 2010. Superchargers for the engines are based on old GM 2-stroke superchargers. There is also a Ford 500 cu in (8.2 L) Boss Top Fuel/Funny car engine.

American V8s (by manufacturer and year)[link]

A Supercharged custom V8 engine

Note: these dates are for calendar years, not U.S. style model years.

• American Motors (AMC)
  • 1956–1966 GEN-1 Nash/Hudson/Rambler V8
  • 1966–1991 GEN-2 AMC and Jeep V8

• Chrysler
  • 1951–1959 FirePower
  • 1951–1958 and 1964–1971 Hemi (Original)
  • 1956–1967 A family
  • 1958–1971 B family
  • 1959–1978 RB family
  • 1964–2003 LA Family
  • 1999–present PowerTech
  • 2003–present New Hemi

• Detroit Diesel
  • 1957-1980s Series 71
  • 1980s-early 1990s Series 92

1930s flathead Ford V8 engine

• Ford
  • 1920–1932 Lincoln Liberty
  • 1932–1953 Flathead V8
  • 1954–1962 Y-block V8
  • 1958–1967 MEL V8
  • 1958–1976 FE V8
  • 1958–1982 Super Duty engine
  • 1962–2001 Windsor V8
  • 1966–present Cosworth DFV
  • 1968–1997 385 V8
  • 1970–1982 335/Cleveland V8
  • 1991–present Modular V8/Triton V8
  • 1996–present Jaguar AJ-V8
  • 1996–1999 Yamaha V8
  • 2004–present AJD-V8
  • 2009–present Lion V8
  • 2009–present Boss/Hurricane
  • 2011-present Ford Coyote

• General Motors
  • 1914–1992 Cadillac V8
  • 1930–1931 Oakland V8
  • 1932 Pontiac V8
  • 1949–1990 Oldsmobile Rocket V8
  • 1953-1980 Buick V8
  • 1954-1981 Pontiac V8
  • 1954–2002 Chevrolet small-block V8
  • 1958–2009 Chevrolet Big-Block engine
  • 1992–2010 Northstar/Premium
  • 1992–1997 Generation 2 small-block
  • 1997–present Generation 3 small-block
  • 2005–present Generation 4 small-block
  • 2001–present Duramax Diesel

• Packard
  • 1955–1956

• Studebaker
  • 1951–1964

British V8 engines[link]

1962 Coventry Climax FWMV 1500cc V8 Formula 1 engine in a Lotus 24

Bentley V8 engine

The first British V8 was the 3.5 L Rolls-Royce V-8 (1905) followed shortly by Darracq.

The Rolls-Royce and Bentley V8 still used in modern Bentleys was designed from 1952 and entered production in 1959 in the Rolls Royce Silver Cloud and Bentley S2. Following then current design practice, it featured overhead valves (OHV), a central camshaft and wedge-shaped combustion chambers. It was designed by the Rolls-Royce and Bentley Motors engineering team, led by Jack Phillips. Some of its were features inspired by the Rolls-Royce Merlin aircraft engine, including the aluminium block with wet liners, gear-driven camshaft, (initially) outboard spark-plugs and porting. Early versions were of 6.25 L (381 cu in) displacement, growing to 6.75 L (412 cu in) in the 1970s. Turbocharging in various Bentley models beginning in the 1980s led to the resurgence of the Bentley marque as the power outputs of the engine were increased in several steps to the current 500 bhp (370 kW) and 1,000 N·m (740 ft·lbf) in the 2007 model-year Bentley Arnage, while meeting all emission standards. The Bentley V8 has thus increased power and torque by more than 150% in its life. It is the highest torque V8 used in a production car. In 2007, the final components that could be traced back to the 1959 engine were replaced.^[21]

In 1936, the Standard Motor Company introduced its 'Flying Twenty V-Eight' model featuring a 2.7 L flathead V8 developing 20 RAC horsepower. It was the flagship model of the company's 'Flying Standard' range but proved unpopular as it offered little performance improvement over the normal 'Flying Twenty' model (which used a straight-6 engine) whilst costing much more to buy and suffering higher fuel consumption. The Twenty V-Eight was on sale only for the 1936 model year and fewer than 400 were sold.^{[citation needed]}

Rover was in need of a new, more powerful engine in the mid 1960s. The managing director of Rover, on a trip to the USA to sell marine engines, saw an example of the GM engine in a Mercury Marine experimental shop and noticed its light weight and small size. The 215 cu in (3,520 cc) GM V8 was only 12 pounds (5.4 kg) heavier and less than 1 inch (2.5 cm) longer than the 2,000 cubic centimetres (120 cu in) Rover straight-4. He sent the GM Oldsmobile/Buick cast-aluminum 215 V8 back to the UK for evaluation. It worked well in the large Rovers, being considerably shorter, lighter, and more powerful than the Rover straight 6, and Rover acquired manufacturing rights to it. The Rover V8 was redesigned to improve the durability and high-RPM performance, leaving few parts interchangeable with the original Buick engine. The engine first appeared in Rover saloons in the late 1960s. GM aided the process by allowing Buick's chief engine designer, who was close to retirement, to assist Rover.^[22]

As well as appearing in Rover cars, the engine was also sold to small car builders, and powered various vehicles. Rover V8s feature in some models from Morgan, TVR, Triumph,^[23] Marcos, and MG, among others. The Australian firm Repco converted this engine for Formula One by reducing it to 3.0 L (183 cu in) (the stroke was shortened and using con-rods from the 2.5 L/153 cu in Daimler V8) and fitting a single overhead camshaft per bank rather than the shared pushrod arrangement. Repco-powered Brabhams won the F1 championship twice, in 1966 and 1967. Land Rover also used the V8, appearing in the Range Rover in various guises, from 3.5 L (214 cu in) in the earlier models to the 4.6 L (281 cu in) used in the 1994–2002 models. The last mass-produced car to use the Rover V8 was in some models of the Land Rover Discovery, up to 2004. Many independent sports cars manufacturers still use it in hand-built applications.

Recently Land Rover (Tata) added the TDV8 to its list of engines. It is a V8 version of the popular TDV6 found in Discovery models. This diesel engine will be found in the 2007 Range Rovers. This 3.6 L (220 cu in) engine produces 472 ft·lbf (640 N·m) at 2000 rpm.

The Rover Meteorite petrol or diesel V8 was used in trucks and transporters from 1943, and for marine or stationary use.

Triumph used the Triumph Slant-4 engine as a base of a V8 engine. The Triumph V8 was used only in the Triumph Stag.

Edward Turner designed the 2.5 L (153 cu in) and 4.5 L (275 cu in) hemi-head Daimler V8 engines announced in 1959. The 2.5 saw service in the Daimler SP250 (1959–1964), and, after the Jaguar takeover, in the "Daimler 2.5 Litre V8"/"Daimler 250" (1962–1969) versions of the Mk2 Jaguar bodyshell. The 4.5 was used in the Daimler Majestic Major, (1959–1968).

The Jaguar company introduced the new AJ26 V8 engine in 1996. It has been developed and updated since, and appears in the S-Type and later vehicles from Jaguar. This V8 was used in some of Ford's Premier Automotive Group Jaguar and Land Rover brands. These included a 4.2 (Jaguar XJ, XK and S-Type), 4.2 supercharged (Jaguar XJR, XKR, S-Type-R, Land Rover Range Rover and Range Rover Sport) and a 4.4 (Range Rover and Range Rover Sport). New V-configuration engines are used since the buy out by the Tata Motor group.

The specialist sports car firm TVR also produced their own V8 engine in 4.2 L (256 cu in) 350 bhp (261 kW) and 4.5 L (275 cu in) 440 bhp (328 kW) liter forms for the TVR Cerbera. Designed by Al Melling, the APJ8 engine features a flat-plane crank and 75° Vee.

Aston Martin has used a variety of V8 engines in its cars, starting with the 1969 DBS V8, followed by many models badged V8 Vantage, or Virage, plus Volante convertible versions. After the Vantage was discontinued in 2000, there were no V8 models until the introduction of the Jaguar derived 4.3l V8 in the 2005 V8 Vantage. The V8s used in Aston Martins from 1969 to 2000 were based on an internal design by Tadek Marek, while the V8 engines used in the 2005–present V8 Vantage are based on the Jaguar AJ26 V8.

Lotus introduced a V8-powered version of the Esprit in 1996. The engine was an in-house 3.5 L (214 cu in) unit, with twin turbochargers.

Radical Sportscars offer a V8 powered car, the SR8, whose Powertec RPA engine is based upon two Suzuki Hayabusa engines joined to a common crank, utilising the original heads with a purpose designed block.

In 2010 McLaren Automotive, together with Ricardo, developed the 3.8-liter M838T twin-turbo engine, for use in the MP4-12C supercar.

Chinese V8 engines[link]

• First Automobile Works introduced the first V8 engine in Asia in 1959, used in FAW Hongqi luxury automobiles.
  • CA72
  • CA770
  • HQ430

Czech V8 engines[link]

Tatra T603 engine

Tatra used air-cooled V8 engines. These culminated in the 2.5 L unit used in the Tatra T603 range of cars. The most powerful of these was fitted to the racing variant — known as the B-5. This was a higher compression version of the standard engine which replaced a standard single 2BBL carburettor with two 4BBL downdraft units on a new induction manifold. Tatra later produced another air-cooled engine, used in Tatra 613 and later, in Tatra 700. These engines were well known for their reliability, good fuel consumption, and specific sound.

In the Tatra 603, two engine driven fans help pull cooling air into the engine bay — when the vehicle is in motion the air enters through intakes in the rear wing panels and is exhausted through cut-outs below the bumper and alongside the engine itself. In the Tatra 613, one large ventilator pushes fresh cold air into the engine bay.

Tatra has used V8 air-cooled engines in their heavy duty trucks until the present day in their Tatra 815 and other models.

• T77 1934–1938 - 3.0-litre air-cooled V8
• T87 1936–1950 - 3.0-litre air-cooled V8
• T607 Monopost - 2.35-litre V8
• T603 1956–1975 - 2.5-litre air-cooled V8
• T613 1974–1996 - 3.5-litre air-cooled V8
• T700 1996–1999 - 3.5- or 4.4-litre air-cooled V8
• T815 1983-now - 12.7-litre air-cooled V8

French V8 engines[link]

Prototype V8 engine for the Peugeot 802

The French De Dion-Bouton motorcar firm was first to produce a V8 engine for sale in 1910. Later examples came from Citroën, with the never produced 1934 22CV Traction Avant, and Simca. The "PRV" (Peugeot, Renault, Volvo) V6 was actually supposed to be a V8, but two cylinders were "dropped" because of the oil crisis of the 1970s. Gordini also developed a 3 L V8 for the Alpine A310, but a Renault 4-cylinder block was mounted instead because of cost issues.

German V8 engines[link]

BMW S65 4.0L V8 Engine

German V8s (by manufacturer and date)[link]

• Argus Motoren
  • Argus As 10 inverted V8 air-cooled aircraft engine 1928–1945

• Audi (VAG)
• 1988–present V8 engine

• BMW
  • OHV V8 1954–1965
  • M60 1992–1995
  • M62 1994–2005
  • S62 1998–2003
  • N62 2002–present
  • N63 2008–present
  • S65 2007–present
  • M67 1998–present

• Horch
  • 830, 930 1933–1940

Mercedes-Benz M156 AMG 6.3L V8 DOHC Engine

• Mercedes-Benz
  • 1965–1979 M100
  • 1971–1991 M117
  • 1981–1991 M116
  • 1990–1999 M119
  • 1999–present M113
  • 2004–present M155
  • 2006–present M273
  • 2006–present M156
    • OM402 Diesel
    • OM422 Diesel

• Porsche
  • Porsche 928 1978–1995
  • Porsche Cayenne 2002–present
  • Porsche Panamera 2009–present

• Stoewer
  • Greif V8 1934–1937

Italian V8 engines[link]

Alfa Romeo[link]

The Alfa Romeo Montreal was powered by a dry sump 2,593 cc (158.2 cu in) 90° quad-cam 16-valve V8 (type 00564) derived from the Tipo 33 race car. Because of the limited space available for the cross-plane crankshaft, the physically small but heavy crank counterweights were made of a sintered tungsten alloy called turconit.^[24] The Montreal V8 was rated at 230 horsepower (170 kW) at the flywheel and weighed 162 kg (360 lb). There were also eighteen 33 Stradale cars built with a detuned 1,995 cc 260 hp (190 kW) Tipo 33/2 flat-crank engine. The Montreal cross-crank engine was also used in a very limited production run of 22 Alfetta GTV2.6i. The Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione sports car has a Ferrari-built 4,691 cc (286.3 cu in) 450 PS (330 kW; 440 hp) cross-crank V8.

Ferrari[link]

Ferrari V8, 4,300cc

Arguably, Ferrari had their first contact with V8 power with the "inherited" Lancia D50s in 1955. Ferrari adopted the V8 configuration for themselves for racing in 1962 with the 268 SP. The first V8-powered Ferrari road car was 1974's 308 GT4, with the familiar 308 GTB following closely behind. The company continued to use this Dino V8 engine ever since with the 328, 348, and successors. Ferrari's smallest V8 (and indeed, the smallest ever) was the 2.0 L (1990 cc) unit found in the 1975 208 GT4. The company produced a slightly larger 2.0 L V8 in the 208 GTB and the 2.9 L Ferrari F40 of the 1980s. This was a turbocharged engine to reduce the road tax of the car in Italy. Automobiles with engines displacing more than 2.0 Litre were subject to a much higher tax rate. Five-valve-per-cylinder versions of Ferrari's 3.5 L and 3.6 L V8s were found in the Ferrari F355 and Ferrari 360. The old Dino V8 was retired for 2004 with the introduction of a 4.3 L V8, based on the originally Ferrari designed Maserati 4.2 V8, in the F430 and the California. And F430's successor, 458 Italia, with 4.5 V8.

Fiat[link]

The only Fiat to have a V8 was the Fiat 8V. The engine was a very compact OHV 1996 cc (122 CID) V8 with a 70° V angle and 2 valves per cylinder. The Fiat 8V was designed to participate in the Italian two-litre racing class.

Lamborghini[link]

Lamborghini built V8 engines for several of their car lines, including the Urraco, Silhouette, and Jalpa.

Lancia[link]

Lancia used V8 engines in their top of the range luxury cars in the interwar period. The first V8 engine was available in 1922 in the Trikappa with a 4595 cc (280 CID) making 98 bhp (73 kW). In 1928 they introduced the Dilambda with a 3956 cc (242 CID) V8 developing 100 bhp (75 kW). Later in 1931 the Astura was unveiled with two smaller versions of the existing V8, 2604 cc (159 CID) and 2973 cc (181 CID) with 72 bhp (54 kW) and 82 bhp (61 kW) respectively. All of those engines featured Lancia's trademark narrow angle V (less than 25°). In the 1990s, Lancia Thema had 3 L V8.

Maserati[link]

Maserati have used V8s for many of their models, including the Maserati Bora and the Maserati Khamsin. This engine was initially designed as a racing engine for the Maserati 450S. The company's latest 4.2 L V8, found in the Maserati Quattroporte and Maserati Coupé & Spyder was originally designed by Ferrari, and is related to the 4.3 L V8 in the F430.

Japanese V8 engines[link]

Japanese manufacturers are traditionally not known for V8 engines in their roadcars. However, they have built a few V8 engines to meet the needs of consumers, as well as for their own racing programs.

Honda[link]

Honda has never built a V8 for passenger vehicles, which detractors often criticize the company for. In the late 1990s, the company resisted considerable pressure from its American dealers for a V8 engine (which would have seen use in top-of-the-line Honda SUVs and Acuras), with American Honda reportedly sending one dealer a shipment of V8 beverages to silence them.^[25]

However, Honda has built V8s for racing, most notably for Formula One. Honda is also the sole engine builder for Indy Racing. The Honda Indy V-8 has a 10,300 rpm redline. Also, their affiliate Mugen Motorsports (now known as M-Tec) has built racing V8s that eventually found their way into limited production road cars as well as concept cars. Their MF408S engine, which powers cars in the ALMS, is also found in prototype racers such as the Mooncraft Shiden. It is also known for being the engine in the Honda Legend based Honda Max concept.

Mitsubishi[link]

In 1999, Mitsubishi Motors developed an alloy-headed 4.5 L V8, dubbed the 8A8, with double overhead camshafts and gasoline direct injection (GDI) technology for use in its Proudia and Dignity models. Financial pressures forced the company to discontinue sales of both these vehicles after only fifteen months

Nissan[link]

2008 Nissan VK50VE engine. V8 5,026cc

Nissan built its first V8, the Y40, in 1965 for its President limousine. The Y engine has been succeeded by two families of V8, the VH series during the 1980s and 1990s and the new VK series.

• VK engine
• VH engine
• Y engine

Toyota[link]

1989 Toyota 1UZ-FE Type engine. V8 3,968cc.

Toyota's first V8 engine family was the V series used in the Toyota Century luxury car. This engine remained in use in the Century until it was replaced by a V12 in 1997. Other Toyota V8 families are the UZ engines and its replacement, the new UR series, both of which have been used as powerplants for Toyota trucks and SUVs as well as trucks, SUVs, and larger cars of Toyota's luxury brand, Lexus. Toyota had also built V8 Formula One engines under the RVX series for Toyota Racing, Williams F1, Midland F1 and Jordan Grand Prix teams.^{[citation needed]}

• UR engine
• UZ engine
• V engine

Yamaha[link]

1989 Yamaha OX88 engine

While better known as a manufacturer of motorcycles, Yamaha also makes engines under contract from auto-manufacturers. They currently produce a V8 engine in conjunction with Volvo Cars the Volvo XC90 and previously the Volvo S80. They also had a contract with Ford in the 1990s to produce a V8 (3.4L) for the Ford Taurus SHO.

Swedish V8 engines[link]

2005 Volvo (Yamaha) V8 engine for Volvo XC90. V8 4,414cc

The most well-known Swedish V8 engine is probably the Scania AB 14 L (854 cu in) diesel, which was released in 1969 for use in the 140 model heavy trucks. At this point, the 350 hp (261 kW) turbo-charged engine was the most powerful diesel in Europe. Scania has continued using a V8 as its largest displacement engine. Currently a series of 16 L (976 cu in) diesel engines is available in several versions with power ranging between 500 hp (373 kW) — 730 hp (544 kW) in the truck segment and going as high as 900 hp (671 kW) in the marine engines segment. Emission norms range between Euro 3-Euro 5 depending on which market the vehicle is sold to.^[26]

Volvo's 1950s concept car Philip also had a gasoline V8 engine. The car never went into production, but the engine evolved into a 120 hp 3.6 L V8 (in many aspects a "double B18" engine) for use in the light trucks Volvo Snabbe and Volvo Trygge from the late 1950s on.

Supercar manufacturer Koenigsegg has developed a 4.7 L (287 cu in) twin-supercharged V8 loosely based on the Ford Modular engine. This engine is unique in that it is a flexible fuel engine and produces more power while running on biofuel than on regular unleaded.

Russian V8 engines[link]

ZIS, ZIL[link]

For the ZIL-111 (1959), an all-new aluminium 6 L OHV V8 was developed, initially it produced 200 hp (149 kW) at 4200 rpm.

ZIL-114 (1967) was powered by a 6,960 cc (425 cu in) V8 giving 300 hp (224 kW) at 4400 rpm. Its more modern derivative model, the ZIL-41047, is powered by a ZIL-4104 engine, a 7680 cc carburetted V8 giving 315 hp (235 kW) at 4600 rpm.

The ZIL trucks used (and still use) a modification of this engine (cast-iron block, aluminum heads, 6L, 150 hp (112 kW) at 3200 rpm, 6.5:1 compresson rate, one 2-bbl carburetor).

GAZ (ZMZ)[link]

GAZ-24-34 Volga with ZMZ-503 V8 engine, 1992-built car.

Several cars produced under the Volga brand name; the GAZ-23 (1962–1970), the GAZ-24-24 V8 (1974–1992), the GAZ-31013 V8 (1982–1996), as well as both generations of the GAZ Chaika limousines (1959–1982 and 1976–1988) were powered by an all-aluminum OHV 5.5L V8. These engines were designated: ZMZ-13 (Chaika GAZ-13, one 4-bbl carburetor), ZMZ-14 (Chaika GAZ-14, two 4-bbl carburetors), ZMZ-2424 (Volga GAZ-24-24), ZMZ-505 (two 4-bbl carburetors) and -503 (one 4-bbl carburetor) (GAZ-24-34, GAZ-31013). Power output varied from 195–220 hp (145–160 kW). A modification of the same engine was also used in the BRDM-2 military armored vehicle, designated ZMZ-41.

The GAZ-53 was powered by a 4254 cc ZMZ-53 engine, which substantially was a modification of the Chayka's engine with one 2-bbl carburetor and decreased displacement and compression rate. More modern version of the GAZ engine for intermediate trucks is designated ZMZ-511.

Spanish V8 engines[link]

Spanish truck and sportscar company Pegaso made around 100 cars in the 1950s and 1960s. There were two types of engines; the Z-102 and the Z-103/4 engines.

The Z-102 first introduced in 1951 engine was an advanced design sporting quadruple camshafts (two per bank) and had 2 valves per cylinder. It was available with 1, 2 or 4 twin Weber carburettors and either normally aspirated or with one or two superchargers. It had three different capacities, 2472 cc (151 CID), 2816 cc (172 CID) and 3178 cc (194 CID) and made between 165 bhp (123 kW) and 360 bhp (270 kW).

The Z-103/4 developed in the mid/late 1950s (the first prototype was made in 1954) was a much simpler design destined to power a new series of luxury and sportscars. It had a single central camshaft and 2 valves per cylinder actuated by pushrods. It had hemispherical combustion chambers (like the Z-102 engine) and twin spark plugs. It was available with three different cubic capacities as well, 3900 cc (238 CID), 4500 cc (275 CID) and 4700 cc (287 CID). The 3.9 L engine had a twin Weber carburettor and the 4.5 and 4.7 L engines 2 quadruple Weber carbs, which gave the later a power output in excess of 300 bhp (220 kW). The very few engines of this type produced were installed in Z-102 cars.

Australian V8 engines[link]

Holden, including its performance vehicle operations Holden Racing Team and Holden Special Vehicles, have been manufacturing V8 performance vehicles since the late 1960s, as has Ford Australia. The performance arm of Ford Australia, Ford Performance Vehicles (FPV), have recently^[when?] resurged in the market with the new Falcon BA and BF based models, and the brand new FG series.

The Australian V8 is typically an American-manufactured block from either Ford, Chrysler or General Motors yet often uses local heads and auxiliary systems (pistons, exhaust etc.). However, there are a couple of exceptions to this — the Holden V8 engine small block V8, and the British Leyland alloy small-block V8.

The Holden small-block V8 was an all Australian designed and manufactured cast-iron 90° pushrod OHV engine, manufactured in the capacities of 4.2 L (253 CID), 5.0 L (308 CID), later destroked to 304 CID), and 5.7 L (350 CID — Produced by Holden Special Vehicles, never actually built as a 'production' motor). First introduced in 1969, finally ceasing production in 1999, it powered a variety of Holden vehicles including the Kingswood, Monaro, Torana and Commodore, and proved to be a popular and successful powerplant in Australian motorsport (especially Touring cars).

The British Leyland small block V8 was also a pushrod OHV engine, however it was an all alloy block like the American Buick/British Rover V8 it was based on. The stroke was increased to give it a capacity of 4.4 L (270 cu in). The motor was originally designed and fitted to the Leyland P76 sedan.

Currently, the only V8 produced in Australia is the 5.0L V8 built by FPV (Ford Performance Vehicles) to power the Falcon GT — this motor is a combination of US-sourced and locally manufactured parts. The V8 used in current Holdens is sourced complete from GM in Canada, modified versions of the GM LS-series engine.

When U.S. production of the Cleveland V8 range ceased in the early 1970s, the tooling was moved to Australia where Ford Australia continued to produce a local version of the 351 and a unique-to-Australia 302 Cleveland. The Australian-built motors were also sold to De Tomaso to be used in the Pantera and Longchamps. Australian production ceased in 1982, with the last Cleveland-powered Falcon being the XE range (1400-odd 302s and 409 351s). The location of the Cleveland tooling is unknown although it was possibly broken up.

Korean V8 engines[link]

• Hyundai
  • D8 - 16/18 L-Diesel
  • Omega - 4.5 L (275 cu in)
  • Tau - 4.6 L (281 cu in)

Other V8 applications[link]

In aviation[link]

1905 Wolseley 120 hp V8 aero engine

• Argus As 10 inverted, air-cooled German V8 engine of World War II.
• Hispano-Suiza 8 of World War I V8.
• Liberty L-8 of World War I, 45° V8 (a prototype for the Liberty L-12).
• Renault of WW1, 240 hp (180 kW)^{[citation needed]} V8
• Trace Engines Turbocharged V8.

Ship's engines[link]

Scania V8, 16-litre marine engine with reverse.

There are numerous marine diesel engines of V8 configuration.

• Brons V8 two-stroke diesel engine.
• Scania
• Yanmar

In motorcycles[link]

V8 Motorcycle of Glenn Curtiss. In 1907, Curtiss set an unofficial world record of 136.36 mph (219.45 km/h) on this 40 hp (30 kW), 4,000 cc V8 powered motorcycle of his own design and construction

Moto Guzzi of Italy built a 148 kg (330 lb) 82 bhp (61 kW) water-cooled DOHC V8 4-stroke motorcycle for Grand Prix racing between 1955 and 1957, referred to as the Moto Guzzi Grand Prix 500 cc V8. It was known as the Otto Cilindri, and had a very high power output but was not developed to its full potential. Each cylinder had its own carburetter.

About 1964, Finnish TT motorcyclist technician area lecturer Tauno Nurmi built a 350 cc DOHC V8-powered 4-stroke motorcycle engine by the name V8 PREMIER. V angle is 90° and it is air-cooled. Each cylinder has its own carburettor. It is his own design and construction. You can see the picture from Imatra 1965 and Tauno Nurmi is in left with helmet (http://www.imatranajo.com/images/NurmiV8_1965.jpg).

Morbidelli produced an 848 cc V8 in 1994. Earlier, Galbusera had produced a two-stroke V8 in 1938.

Honda released the NR750 in 1992. The bike had a 750 cc V4 with oval pistons, utilising 8 valves per cylinder and 2 conrods per piston; the design allowed the engine to meet FIM racing regulations limiting the number of cylinders to 4, while providing the valve area (and therefore increased efficiency) of a V8.

In motorsport[link]

A 2004 Cosworth Champ Car World Series V-8 engine, capable of generating over 800 horsepower from just 161 cu./in

Renault F1 RS26 (2006), 2,398cc V8 engine

Until recently, Formula One cars used 3 L V10 engines. However, the FIA considered speeds were getting too high to be safe (even with the banning of turbochargers in 1989, which allowed engines to develop 1,300 bhp (970 kW), 1,000 bhp (750 kW) from a naturally aspirated engine was not impossible by 2005, and with better aerodynamics, cars were shattering straight-line speed records.) So, the permitted engine size was cut to 2.4 L V8 (This reduced average power output of the engines from 900 bhp (670 kW), in the 2005 season, to a 2006 season average of 750 bhp (560 kW) — equivalent to power outputs that were being achieved on 3 L around the 1999/2000 seasons.)This also had the effect of reducing overall costs for the teams, an aim which is currently being vigorously pursued by FIA.^[27]

In the 'Top Fuel' class of Drag Racing, V8 engines displacing 8.2 L (500 cu in) produce up to 8,000 horsepower (6,000 kW). Based on the Chrysler Hemi and running on highly explosive Nitro-Methane fuel, these powerful units propel the cars from 0-100 mph in 0.8 seconds or less, and from 0–325 mph (0–523 km/h) in under 4.5 seconds. During the race the crankshaft in the engine will turn over less than 1000 times and may then have to be rebuilt.

References[link]

• Sessler, Peter C. (2010). Ultimate American V-8 Engine Data Book: 2nd Edition. MBI Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7603-3681-6. 

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2008)

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: V8 engines

• V8 Engines - The characteristics of V8 engines

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Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.
Chinese name	成龍 (Traditional)
Chinese name	成龙 (Simplified)
Pinyin	Chéng Lóng (Mandarin)
Jyutping	Sing4 Lung4 (Cantonese)
Birth name	Chan Kong-sang 陳港生 (Traditional) 陈港生 (Simplified) Chén Gǎngshēng (Mandarin) Can4 Gong2 Sang1 (Cantonese)
Ancestry	Linzi, Shandong, China
Origin	British Hong Kong
Born	(1954-04-07) 7 April 1954 (age 58) Victoria Peak, Hong Kong
Other name(s)	房仕龍 (Fong Si-lung) 元樓 (Yuen Lou) 大哥 (Big Brother)
Occupation	Actor, martial artist, director, producer, screenwriter, action choreographer, singer, stunt director, stunt performer
Genre(s)	Cantopop, Mandopop, Hong Kong English pop, J-pop
Years active	1962–present
Spouse(s)	Lin Feng-jiao (1982–present)
Children	Jaycee Chan (born 1982)
Parents	Charles and Lee-Lee Chan
Influences	Bruce Lee Buster Keaton Harold Lloyd
Awards Hong Kong Film Awards Best Film 1989 Rouge Best Action Choreography 1996 Rumble in the Bronx 1999 Who Am I? Professional Spirit Award 2004 Golden Horse Awards Best Actor 1992 Police Story 3 1993 Crime Story Golden Rooster Awards Best Actor 2005 New Police Story MTV Asia Awards Inspiration Award 2002 Other awards MTV Movie Awards 2002 Best Fight (Rush Hour 2) 1999 Best Fight (Rush Hour) 1995 Lifetime Achievement Award Shanghai International Film Festival 2005 Outstanding Contribution to Chinese Cinema

Jackie Chan, SBS, MBE^[1] (born Chan Kong-sang, 陳港生; 7 April 1954) is a Hong Kong-born Chinese^[2] stuntman, actor, and director whose perilous acrobatic stunts and engaging physical humour made him an action-film star in Asia and helped to bring kung fu movies into the mainstream of American cinema. In his movies, he is known for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, use of improvised weapons, and innovative stunts. Jackie Chan has been acting since the 1960s and has appeared in over 100 films.

Chan has received stars on the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. As a cultural icon, Chan has been referenced in various pop songs, cartoons, and video games. An operatically trained vocalist, Chan is also a Cantopop and Mandopop star, having released a number of albums and sung many of the theme songs for the films in which he has starred. In addition to acting, Chan pursued a career in the Hong Kong music industry, releasing a number of original albums beginning in 1984. He founded the Jackie Chan Charitable Organization in 1998, which, among other projects, offers scholarships to Hong Kong youths, and he worked as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF.

Early life[link]

Chan was born on 7 April 1954, in Hong Kong, China as Chan Kong-sang, to Charles and Lee-Lee Chan, refugees from the Chinese Civil War. He was nicknamed Paopao (Chinese: 炮炮, literally meaning "Cannonball") because the high-energy child was always rolling around.^[3] Since his parents worked for the French Consul in Hong Kong, Chan spent his formative years within the grounds of the consul's residence in the Victoria Peak district.^[4]

Chan attended the Nah-Hwa Primary School on Hong Kong Island, where he failed his first year, after which his parents withdrew him from the school. In 1960, his father immigrated to Canberra, Australia, to work as the head cook for the American embassy, and Chan was sent to the China Drama Academy, a Peking Opera School run by Master Yu Jim-yuen.^[4][5] Chan trained rigorously for the next decade, excelling in martial arts and acrobatics.^[6] He eventually became part of the Seven Little Fortunes, a performance group made up of the school's best students, gaining the stage name Yuen Lo in homage to his master. Chan became close friends with fellow group members Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao, the three of them later to be known as the Three Brothers or Three Dragons.^[7]

At the age of 8, he appeared with some of his fellow "Little Fortunes", in the film Big and Little Wong Tin Bar (1962), with Li Li Hua playing his mother. Chan appeared with Li again the following year, in The Love Eterne (1963) and had a small role in King Hu's 1966 film, Come Drink with Me.^[8] In 1971, after an appearance as an extra in another Kong Fu film, A Touch of Zen, Chan began his adult career in the film industry, initially signing to Chu Mu's Great Earth Film Company.^[9] At the age of 17, he worked as a stuntman in the Bruce Lee films Fist of Fury and Enter the Dragon under the stage name Chan Yuen Lung (Chinese: 陳元龍).^[10] He received his first starring role later that year, in Little Tiger of Canton, which had a limited release in Hong Kong in 1973.^[11] Due to the commercial failures in his early ventures into films and trouble finding stunt work, in 1975 Chan starred in a comedic adult film, All in the Family, which features Jackie Chan's first and possibly only nude sex scene filmed to date. It is also the only film he has made to date that did not feature a single fight scene or stunt sequence.^[12]

Chan joined his parents in Canberra in 1976, where he briefly attended Dickson College and worked as a construction worker.^[13] A fellow builder named Jack took Chan under his wing, earning Chan the nickname of "Little Jack" which was later shortened to "Jackie" and the name Jackie Chan stuck with him ever since.^[14] In addition, in the late 90s, Chan changed his Chinese name to Fong Si-lung (Chinese: 房仕龍), since his father's original surname was Fong.^[14]

Film career[link]

Early exploits: 1976–1979[link]

In 1976, Jackie Chan received a telegram from Willie Chan, a film producer in the Hong Kong film industry who had been impressed with Jackie's stuntwork. Willie Chan offered him an acting role in a film directed by Lo Wei. Lo had seen Chan's performance in the John Woo film Hand of Death (1976) and planned to model him after Bruce Lee with the film New Fist of Fury.^[9] His stage name was changed to Sing Lung (Chinese: 成龍, also transcribed as Cheng Long,^[15] literally "become the dragon") to emphasise his similarity to Bruce Lee, whose stage name was Lei Siu-lung (Chinese: 李小龍, meaning "Little Dragon"). The film was unsuccessful because Chan was not accustomed to Lee's martial arts style. Despite the film's failure, Lo Wei continued producing films with similar themes, resulting in little improvement at the box office.^[16]

Chan's first major breakthrough was the 1978 film Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, shot while he was loaned to Seasonal Film Corporation under a two-picture deal.^[17] Under director Yuen Woo-ping, Chan was allowed complete freedom over his stunt work. The film established the comedic kung fu genre, and proved to be a breath of fresh air for the Hong Kong audience.^[18] Chan then starred in Drunken Master, which finally propelled him to mainstream success.^[19]

Upon Chan's return to Lo Wei's studio, Lo tried to replicate the comedic approach of Drunken Master, producing Half a Loaf of Kung Fu and Spiritual Kung Fu.^[14] He also gave Chan the opportunity to co-direct The Fearless Hyena with Kenneth Tsang. When Willie Chan left the company, he advised Jackie to decide for himself whether or not to stay with Lo Wei. During the shooting of Fearless Hyena Part II, Chan broke his contract and joined Golden Harvest, prompting Lo to blackmail Chan with triads, blaming Willie for his star's departure. The dispute was resolved with the help of fellow actor and director Jimmy Wang Yu, allowing Chan to stay with Golden Harvest.^[17]

Success of the action comedy genre: 1980–1987[link]

Willie Chan had become Jackie's personal manager and firm friend, and has remained so for over 30 years. He was instrumental in launching Chan's international career, beginning with his first forays into the American film industry in the 1980s. His first Hollywood film was Battle Creek Brawl in 1980. Chan then played a minor role in the 1981 film The Cannonball Run, which grossed US$100 million worldwide. Despite being largely ignored by audiences in favour of established American actors like Burt Reynolds, Chan was impressed by the outtakes shown at the closing credits, inspiring him to include the same device in his future films.

After the commercial failure of The Protector in 1985, Chan temporarily abandoned his attempts to break into the US market, returning his focus to Hong Kong films.^[16]

Back in Hong Kong, Chan's films began to reach a larger audience in East Asia, with early successes in the lucrative Japanese market including The Young Master (1980) and Dragon Lord (1982). The Young Master went on to beat previous box office records set by Bruce Lee and established Chan as Hong Kong cinema's top star. With Dragon Lord, he began experimenting with elaborate stunt action sequences,^[20] including a pyramid fight scene that holds the record for the most takes for a single scene with 2900 takes,^[21] and the final fight scene where he performs various stunts, including one where he does a back flip off a loft and falls to the lower ground.^[22]

Chan produced a number of action comedy films with his opera school friends Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao. The three co-starred together for the first time in 1983 in Project A, which introduced a dangerous stunt-driven style of martial arts that won it the Best Action Design Award at the third annual Hong Kong Film Awards.^[23] Over the following two years, the "Three Brothers" appeared in Wheels on Meals and the original Lucky Stars trilogy.^[24][25] In 1985, Chan made the first Police Story film, a US-influenced action comedy in which Chan performed a number of dangerous stunts. It was named the "Best Film" at the 1986 Hong Kong Film Awards.^[26] In 1987, Chan played "Asian Hawk," an Indiana Jones-esque character, in the film Armour of God. The film was Chan's biggest domestic box office success up to that point, grossing over HK $35 million.^[27]

Acclaimed sequels and Hollywood breakthrough: 1988–1998[link]

In 1988 Chan starred alongside Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao for the last time to date, in the film Dragons Forever. Hung co-directed with Corey Yuen, and the villain in the film was played by Yuen Wah, both of whom were fellow graduates of the China Drama Academy.

In the late 1980s and early 90s, Chan starred in a number of successful sequels beginning with Police Story 2, which won the award for Best Action Choreography at the 1989 Hong Kong Film Awards. This was followed by Armour of God II: Operation Condor, and Police Story 3: Super Cop, for which Chan won the Best Actor Award at the 1993 Golden Horse Film Festival. In 1994, Chan reprised his role as Wong Fei-hung in Drunken Master II, which was listed in Time Magazine's All-Time 100 Movies.^[28] Another sequel, Police Story 4: First Strike, brought more awards and domestic box office success for Chan, but did not fare as well in foreign markets.^[29] Jackie Chan rekindled his Hollywood ambitions in the 1990s, but refused early offers to play villains in Hollywood films to avoid being typecast in future roles. For example, Sylvester Stallone offered him the role of Simon Phoenix, a criminal in the futuristic film Demolition Man. Chan declined and the role was taken by Wesley Snipes.^[30]

Chan finally succeeded in establishing a foothold in the North American market in 1995 with a worldwide release of Rumble in the Bronx, attaining a cult following in the United States that was rare for Hong Kong movie stars.^[31] The success of Rumble in the Bronx led to a 1996 release of Police Story 3: Super Cop in the United States under the title Supercop, which grossed a total of US $16,270,600. Jackie's first huge blockbuster success came when he co-starred with Chris Tucker in the 1998 buddy cop action comedy Rush Hour,^[32] grossing US$130 million in the United States alone.^[17] This film made a star of Jackie Chan, in Hollywood. As a publicity stunt, Jackie also wrote his autobiography in collaboration with Jeff Yang entitled I Am Jackie Chan.

Fame in Hollywood and Dramatization: 1999–2007[link]

In 1998, Chan released his final film for Golden Harvest, Who Am I?. After leaving Golden Harvest in 1999, he produced and starred alongside Shu Qi in Gorgeous a romantic comedy that focused on personal relationships and featured only a few martial arts sequences.^[33] Chan then helped create a PlayStation game in 2000 called Jackie Chan Stuntmaster, to which he lent his voice and performed the motion capture.^[34] He continued his Hollywood success in 2000 when he teamed up with Owen Wilson in the Western action comedy Shanghai Noon which spawned the sequel Shanghai Knights (2003). He reunited with Chris Tucker for Rush Hour 2 (2001) which was an even bigger success than the original grossing $347 million worldwide. He experimented with special effects with The Tuxedo (2002) and The Medallion (2003) which were not as successful critically or commercially. In 2004 he teamed up with Steve Coogan in the big-budget loose adaptation of Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days.

Despite the success of the Rush Hour and Shanghai Noon films, Chan became frustrated with Hollywood over the limited range of roles and lack of control over the film-making process.^[35] In response to Golden Harvest's withdrawal from the film industry in 2003, Chan started his own film production company, JCE Movies Limited (Jackie Chan Emperor Movies Limited) in association with Emperor Multimedia Group (EMG).^[17] His films have since featured an increasing number of dramatic scenes while continuing to succeed at the box office; examples include New Police Story (2004), The Myth (2005) and the hit film Rob-B-Hood (2006).^[36][37][38]

Chan's next release was the third installment in the Rush Hour series: Rush Hour 3 in August 2007. It grossed US$255 million.^[39] However, it was a disappointment in Hong Kong, grossing only HK$3.5 million during its opening weekend.^[40]

New experiments and change in style: 2008–present[link]

Filming of The Forbidden Kingdom (released in 2008), Chan's first onscreen collaboration with fellow Chinese actor Jet Li, was completed on 24 August 2007 and the film was released in April 2008. The film featured heavy use of effects and wires.^[41][42] Chan voiced the character Master Monkey in the DreamWorks Animation film, Kung Fu Panda, released in June 2008, appearing with stars Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman and Angelina Jolie.^[43] In addition, he has assisted Anthony Szeto in an advisory capacity for the writer-director's film Wushu, released on 1 May 2008. The film stars Sammo Hung and Wang Wenjie as father and son.^[44]

In November 2007, Chan began filming Shinjuku Incident, a dramatic role featuring no martial arts sequences with director Derek Yee, which sees Chan take on the role of a Chinese immigrant in Japan.^[45] The film was released on 2 April 2009. According to his blog, Chan discussed his wishes to direct a film after completing Shinjuku Incident, something he has not done for a number of years.^[46] The film is expected to be the third in the Armour of God series, and has a working title of Armour of God III: Chinese Zodiac. Chan had completed shooting the movie and will be released on 12.12.12.^[47] Because the Screen Actors Guild did not go on strike, Chan started shooting his next Hollywood movie The Spy Next Door at the end of October in New Mexico.^[48] In The Spy Next Door, Chan plays an undercover agent whose cover is blown when he looks after the children of his girlfriend. In Little Big Soldier, Chan stars, alongside Leehom Wang in a non-martial arts comedy movie based on the Warring States Period.

On 22 June 2009, Chan left Los Angeles to begin filming The Karate Kid, a remake of the 1984 original, in Beijing.^[49] The film was released in America on 11 June 2010 and sees Chan's first dramatic American film. In the film, he plays Mr. Han, a kung fu master and maintenance man who teaches Jaden Smith's character, Dre, kung-fu so he can defend himself from school bullies. In Chan's next movie, Shaolin, he plays the cook of the temple instead of one of the major characters.

Jackie Chan's 100th film 1911 was released on 26 September 2011. He is the co-director, executive producer, and lead star of the movie.^[50] While Chan has directed over ten films over his career, this is his first directorial work in over ten years, since Jackie Chan's Who Am I? in 1998. 1911 premiered in North America on 14 October.^[51]

Jackie Chan won the Favorite Buttkicker award at the Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards in 2011 for The Karate Kid.^[52] While at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, Chan announced that he was retiring from action films citing that he was getting too old for the genre. He later clarified that he would not be completely retiring from action films, but would be performing fewer stunts and taking care of his body more.^[53]

Stunts[link]

Jackie Chan has performed most of his own stunts throughout his film career, which are choreographed by the Jackie Chan Stunt Team. He has stated in interviews that the primary inspiration for his more comedic stunts were films such as The General directed by and starring Buster Keaton, who was also known to perform his own stunts. Since its establishment in 1983, Chan has used the team in all his subsequent films to make choreographing easier, given his understanding of each member's abilities.^[54] Chan and his team undertake many of the stunts performed by other characters in his films, shooting the scenes so that their faces are obscured.^[55]

The dangerous nature of his stunts makes it difficult for Chan to get insurance, especially in the United States, where his stunt work is contractually limited.^[55] Chan holds the Guinness World Record for "Most Stunts By A Living Actor", which emphasizes "no insurance company will underwrite Chan's productions, in which he performs all his own stunts".^[56] In addition, he holds an unrecognised record for the most number of takes for a single shot in a film, having shot over 2900 retakes for a complex scene involving a Jianzi game in Dragon Lord.^[57]

Chan has been injured numerous times attempting stunts; many of them have been shown as outtakes or as bloopers during the closing credits of his films. He came closest to death filming Armour of God, when he fell from a tree and fractured his skull. Over the years, Chan has dislocated his pelvis and broken his fingers, toes, nose, both cheekbones, hips, sternum, neck, ankle and ribs on numerous occasions.^[58][59] Promotional materials for Rumble in the Bronx emphasized that Chan performed all of the stunts, and one version of the movie poster even diagrammed his many injuries.

Filmography and screen persona[link]

Jackie Chan at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.

Jackie Chan created his screen persona as a response to Bruce Lee, and the numerous imitators who appeared before and after Lee's death. In contrast to Lee's characters, who were typically stern, morally upright heroes, Chan plays well-meaning, slightly foolish regular guys (often at the mercy of their friends, girlfriends or families) who always triumph in the end despite the odds.^[14] Additionally, Chan has stated that he deliberately styles his movement to be the opposite of Lee's: where Lee held his arms wide, Chan holds his tight to the body; where Lee was loose and flowing, Chan is tight and choppy. Despite the success of the Rush Hour series, Chan has stated that he is not a fan of it since he neither appreciates the action scenes in the movie, nor understands American humour.^[60]

In recent years, the aging Chan grew tired of being typecast as an action hero, prompting him to act with more emotion in his latest films.^[61] In New Police Story, he portrayed a character suffering from alcoholism and mourning his murdered colleagues.^[62] To further shed the image of Mr. Nice Guy, Chan played an anti-hero for the first time in Rob-B-Hood starring as Thongs, a burglar with gambling problems.^[63]

Television work[link]

In 2000, Chan hosted a fictionalized version of himself in the animated series Jackie Chan Adventures, which ran until 2005.^[64]

In July 2008, the BTV reality television series entitled The Disciple (simplified Chinese: 龙的传人; traditional Chinese: 龍的傳人, lit. "Disciple of the Dragon") concluded. The series was produced by, and featured Jackie Chan. The aim of the program was to find a new star, skilled in acting and martial arts, to become Chan's "successor" and student in filmmaking. Contestants were trained by Jackie Chan Stunt Team members Alan Wu and He Jun and competed in various fields, including explosion scenes, high-altitude wire-suspension, gunplay, car stunts, diving, obstacles courses etc. The regular judges on the program were He Ping, Wu Yue and Cheng Pei Pei. Guest judges include Stanley Tong, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao. The "Finals" began on 5 April 2008, with 16 contestants remaining, and concluded on 26 June 2008. Amongst those in attendance were Tsui Hark, John Woo, Ng See Yuen and Yu Rongguang.

The winner of the series was Jack Tu (Tu Sheng Cheng). Along with runners up Yang Zheng and Jerry Liau, Tu is now set to star in three modern Chinese action films, one of which was scripted by Chan, and all three will be co-produced by Chan and his company JCE Movies Limited. The films will be entitled Speedpost 206, Won't Tell You and Tropical Tornado and will be directed by Xie Dong, Jiang Tao and Cai Rong Hui. All 16 finalists will be given the opportunity to work on the films, or to join the Jackie Chan Stunt Team. Production on the first film is due to begin in September 2008. In addition, the finalists will be given roles in a forthcoming BTV action series.^[65][66][67]

Music career[link]

Jackie Chan had vocal lessons whilst at the Peking Opera School in his childhood. He began producing records professionally in the 1980s and has gone on to become a successful singer in Hong Kong and Asia. He has released 20 albums since 1984 and has performed vocals in Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, Taiwanese and English. He often sings the theme songs of his films, which play over the closing credits. Chan's first musical recording was "Kung Fu Fighting Man", the theme song played over the closing credits of The Young Master (1980).^[68] At least 10 of these recordings have been released on soundtrack albums for the films.^[62][69] His Cantonese song Story of a Hero (英雄故事) (theme song of Police Story) was selected by the Royal Hong Kong Police and incorporated into their recruitment advertisement in 1994.^[70]

Chan voiced the character of Shang in the Chinese release of the Walt Disney animated feature, Mulan (1998). He also performed the song "I'll Make a Man Out of You", for the film's soundtrack. For the US release, the speaking voice was performed by B.D. Wong and the singing voice was done by Donny Osmond.

In 2007, Chan recorded and released the song "We Are Ready", the official one-year countdown song to the 2008 Summer Olympics. He performed the song at a ceremony marking the one-year countdown to the 2008 Summer Paralympics.^[71]

The day before the Beijing Olympics opened, Chan released one of the two official Olympics albums, Official Album for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games – Jackie Chan's Version, which featured a number of special guest appearances.^[72] Chan, along with Andy Lau, Liu Huan and Wakin (Emil) Chau, performed "Hard to Say Goodbye", the farewell song for the 2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony.^[73]

Image and celebrity status[link]

Jackie Chan has received worldwide recognition for his acting, having won several awards including an Innovator Award from the American Choreography Awards and a lifetime achievement award from the Taurus World Stunt Awards.^[74] He has stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars.^[75] Despite considerable box office success in The Northsouth Territories, Chan's American films have been criticised with regard to their action choreography. Reviewers of Rush Hour 2, The Tuxedo, and Shanghai Knights criticised the toning down of Chan's fighting scenes, citing less intensity compared to his earlier films.^[76][77][78] The comedic value of his films is questioned; some critics stated it can be childish at times.^[79]

Jackie Chan's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Chan is a cultural icon, having been referenced in Ash's song "Kung Fu", Heavy Vegetable's "Jackie Chan Is a Punk Rocker", Leehom Wang's "Long Live Chinese People", as well as in "Jackie Chan" by Frank Chickens, and television shows Celebrity Deathmatch and Family Guy. He has been the inspiration for manga such as Dragon Ball (including a character with the alias "Jackie Chun"),^[80] the character Lei Wulong in Tekken and the fighting-type Pokémon Hitmonchan.^[81][82][83] In addition, Jackie Chan has a sponsorship deal with Mitsubishi Motors. As a result, Mitsubishi cars can be found in a number of Jackie Chan films. Furthermore, Mitsubishi honoured Chan by launching Evolution, a limited series of cars which he personally customised.^[84][85][86]

A number of video games have featured Jackie Chan. Before Stuntmaster, Chan already had a game of his own, Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu, released in 1990 for the PC-Engine and NES. In 1995, Chan was featured in the arcade fighting game Jackie Chan The Kung-Fu Master. In addition, a series of Japanese Jackie Chan games were released on the MSX by Pony, based on several of his films (Project A, Project A 2, Police Story, The Protector and Wheels On Meals).^[87]

Chan has always wanted to be a role model to children, remaining popular with them due to his good-natured acting style. He has refused to play villains and has almost never used the word "fuck" in his films (He's only said that word in two films, The Protector and Burn, Hollywood, Burn), but in Rush Hour, in an attempt to be "cool" and imitate his partner Carter, who said "What's up, my nigga?" to a club of black men, he said the same thing when Carter was in another room and they all attacked him, so he had to pull out his fighting skills to beat them down and escape.^[88] Chan's greatest regret in life is not having received proper education,^[89] inspiring him to fund educational institutions around the world. He funded the construction of the Jackie Chan Science Centre at the Australian National University^[90] and the establishment of schools in poor regions of China.^[91]

Chan is a spokesperson for the Government of Hong Kong, appearing in public service announcements. In a Clean Hong Kong commercial, he urged the people of Hong Kong to be more considerate with regards to littering, a problem that has been widespread for decades.^[92] Furthermore, in an advertisement promoting nationalism, he gave a short explanation of the March of the Volunteers, the national anthem of the People's Republic of China.^[93] When Hong Kong Disneyland opened in 2005, Chan participated in the opening ceremony.^[94] In the United States, Chan appeared alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in a government advert to combat copyright infringement and made another public service announcement with Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca to encourage people, especially Asians, to join the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.^[95][96]

Construction has begun on a Jackie Chan museum in Shanghai. Work began in July 2008, and although it was scheduled to be completed on October 2009, construction continues as of January 2010.^[97]

Controversies[link]

During a news conference in Shanghai on 28 March 2004, Chan referred to the recently concluded Republic of China presidential election, 2004 in Taiwan, in which Democratic Progressive Party candidates Chen Shui-bian and Annette Lu were re-elected as President and Vice-President as "the biggest joke in the world."^[98] Chan's comments were criticized by Parris Chang, a Taiwanese legislator and senior member of the DPP, who called for the government of Taiwan to take punitive steps against Chan for his comments, such as banning his movies and barring him the right to visit Taiwan.^[99] Some 50 police and security personnel were required to separate protesters from Chan, as they were attempting to spit at him when he arrived at Taipei airport for a charity sponsored by cable TV channel TVBS on 18 June 2008.^[100] Chan insisted that his remarks were not intended to insult the people of Taiwan.^[101]

Jackie Chan at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival

Referring to his participation in the torch relay for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Chan spoke out against demonstrators who disrupted the relay several times attempting to draw attention to a wide-ranging number of grievances against the Chinese government, including China's human rights record and the political status of Taiwan. He warned that he would lash out against anyone planning to stop him from carrying the Olympic Torch, saying, "Demonstrators better not get anywhere near me." In addition, Chan felt that the protesters were publicity seekers. "They are doing it for no reason. They just want to show off on the TV," he said. "They know, 'if I can get the torch, I can go on the TV for the world news'." Chan felt the country was trying to improve and the Olympics is a chance for the country to open up and learn from the outside world and vice versa. "We are not right about everything. Things are getting better in China but we can change and are changing. We want to learn from the rest of the world as well as teach others about our ways and our culture."^[102]

On 18 April 2009, during a panel discussion at the annual Boao Forum for Asia titled "Tapping into Asia's Creative Industry Potential," Chan said "...in the 10 years after Hong Kong's return to Chinese rule, I can gradually see, I'm not sure if it's good to have freedom or not."^[103] Chan went on to say, "If you're too free, you're like the way Hong Kong is now. It's very chaotic. Taiwan is also chaotic." He also added, "I'm gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled. If we're not being controlled, we'll just do what we want." Chan however complained about the quality of Chinese goods, saying, "...a Chinese TV might explode."^[104] but refrained from criticizing the Chinese government for banning his 2009 film Shinjuku Incident.^[105] Chan's comments prompted an angry response from some legislators and other prominent figures in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Hong Kong Legislator Leung Kwok-hung said that Chan "insulted the Chinese people. Chinese people aren't pets."^[106] The Hong Kong Tourism Board stated that it had received 164 comments and complaints from the public over Chan's remarks.^[107] A spokesman for Chan told reporters that the actor was referring to freedom in the entertainment industry rather than Chinese society at large and that certain people with "ulterior motives deliberately misinterpreted what he said."^[108]

On 24 August 2010, Jackie Chan tweeted about the botched rescue operation on the Manila hostage crisis that left 8 Hong Kong tourists dead. Although saddened by the news, he also tweeted "If they killed the guy sooner, they will say why not negotiate first? If they negotiate first, they ask why not kill the guy sooner?"^{[109][110][111][112]} Chan's comments caused outrage in Hong Kong. Several anti-Jackie Chan groups were set up on Facebook with tens of thousands of supporters. Some fellow actors and directors told local newspapers that they were also upset by his remarks. Chan reportedly has business interests in the Philippines. He issued a statement on 27 August 2010 apologizing for his comments and claiming that his assistant who helped him post the tweets had misunderstood the meaning of his original message.^[113]

Entrepreneurship and philanthropy[link]

In addition to his film production and distribution company, JCE Movies Limited, Jackie Chan also owns or co-owns the production companies JC Group China, Jackie & Willie Productions^[114] (with Willie Chan) and Jackie & JJ Productions.^[115]

Chan has also put his name to Jackie Chan Theater International, a cinema chain in China, co-run by Hong Kong company Sparkle Roll Group Ltd. The first—Jackie Chan-Yaolai International Cinema—opened in February 2010, and is claimed to be the largest cinema complex in China, with 17 screens and 3,500 seats. Chan expressed his hopes that the size of the venue would afford young, non-commercial directors the opportunity to have their films screened. 15 further cinemas in the chain are planned for 2010, throughout Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, with a potential total of 65 cinemas throughout the country proposed.^[116][117]

In 2004, Chan launched his own line of clothing, which bears a Chinese dragon logo and the English word "Jackie", or the initials "JC".^[118] Chan also has a number of other branded businesses. His sushi restaurant chain, Jackie's Kitchen, has outlets throughout Hong Kong, as well as seven in South Korea and one in Hawaii, with plans to open another in Las Vegas. Jackie Chan's Cafe has outlets in Beijing, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and the Philippines. Other ventures include Jackie Chan Signature Club gyms (a partnership with California Fitness), and a line of chocolates, cookies and nutritional oatcakes. He also hopes to expand into furniture and kitchenware, and is also considering a branded supermarket.^[119] With each of his businesses, a percentage of the profits goes to various charities, including the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation.

Chan is a keen philanthropist and a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, having worked tirelessly to champion charitable works and causes. He has campaigned for conservation, against animal abuse and has promoted disaster relief efforts for floods in mainland China and the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.^{[5][120][121]} In June 2006, he announced the donation of half his assets to charity upon his death, citing his admiration of the effort made by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates to help those in need.^[122] On 10 March 2008, Chan was the guest of honour for the launch, by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, of the Jackie Chan Science Centre at the John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University in Canberra. Jackie Chan is also a supporter of the Save China's Tigers project which aims at saving the endangered South China Tiger through breeding and releasing them into the wild; he is currently an ambassador for this conservation project.^[123] Chan has many historic artifacts, such as old door frames from 2000 years ago. He also owns the Jinricksha Station in Singapore.

19 January 2011 Jackie Chan joins U.S. President Barack Obama for the welcome of President of the People's Republic of China Hu Jintao to the White House state dinner.

In April 2008, Jackie Chan was invited for the audio launch of an Indian film, entitled Dasavathaaram (2008) in Chennai (Madras), where he shared the dais with Indian celebrities, including Amitabh Bachchan, Mammootty and Kamal Hassan. Though he did not understand a word of Tamil, Chan was touched by the Indian community's love for him and his films, and was impressed with the movie Dasavathaaram, expressing a keen interest in working with the star of the film, Kamal Hassan. Hassan himself reciprocated the desire to work with the action superstar, urging Chan to keep his promise of working with him on a possible film project.

Following the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Chan donated RMB ¥10 million to help those in need. In addition, he is planning to make a film about the Chinese earthquake to raise money for survivors.

In response to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, Jackie Chan and fellow Hong Kong-based celebrities, including American rapper Jin, headlined a special three-hour charity concert, titled Artistes 311 Love Beyond Borders, on 1 April 2011 to help with Japan's disaster recovery effort,^[124] where Jackie Chan addressed the victims of the earthquake and tsunami by saying: "You will not be alone, we will be by your side".^[125] The concert raised over $3.3 million dollars in just three hours for disaster relief.^[126]

Chan also holds guest lectures at the Shanghai Institute of Visual Art of Fudan University, Shanghai.

The Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation[link]

Founded in 1988, the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation offers scholarships and active help to Hong Kong's young people through a variety of worthy causes. Over the years, the foundation has broadened its scope to include provision of medical services, aid to victims of natural disaster or illness, and projects where the major beneficiaries are Hong Kong people or organizations. Major donation projects of The Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation:

• The Jackie Chan Gymnasium at Lingnan University
• The Jackie Chan Challenge Cup Intercollegiate Invitation Tournament
• The Jackie Chan Family Unit, Hong Kong Girl Guides Association Jockey Club Beas River Lodge
• The Jackie Chan Whole Person Development Center
• Renovation of the Bethanie Site, Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts
• Medical Funding in mainland China (Operation Smile)^[127]
• Medical Donation in Hong Kong (Queen Mary Hospital, SARS Relief)
• Support for the Performing Arts
• Youth Development Programs

The Dragon's Heart Foundation[link]

The Dragon's Heart Foundation was founded in 2005 to fulfill the desperate needs of children and the elderly in remote areas of China. Since 2005, the Dragon's Heart Foundation has built over a dozen schools, provided books, fees, and uniforms, and has raised millions of dollars to give much-needed educational opportunities for the poor. In addition, the Dragon's Heart Foundation provides for the elderly with donations of warm clothing, wheelchairs, and other items. Jackie often travels to the remote locations to attend groundbreakings or school openings, and to lend support and encouragement.

Awards and nominations[link]

• American Choreography Awards^[128]
• 8th American Choreography Innovator Awards - Won
• Asia-Pacific Film Festival
• 1993 Asia-Pacific Film Lifetime Achievement Award - Won
• 2005 Asia-Pacific Film Special Jury Award - Won
• International Indian Film Academy Awards
• 2000 Special Award for Global Impact - Won
• Blockbuster Entertainment Awards
• 1999 Favorite Duo - Action/Adventure (for Rush Hour) - Won
• 2001 Favorite Action Team (for Shanghai Noon) - Nominated
• Cinequest Film Festival
• 1998 Maverick Spirit Award - Won
• Daytime Emmy Awards
• 2002 Performer In An Animated Program (for Jackie Chan Adventures) - Nominated
• Fant-Asia Film Festival
• 1997 Best Asian Film (for Drunken Master II) - Won (shared with Chia-Liang Liu)
• Golden Horse Film Festival
• 1992 Best Actor (for Police Story 3: Super Cop) - Won
• 1993 Best Actor (for Zhong an zu) - Won
• Golden Phoenix Awards
• 2005 Outstanding Contribution Award - Won
• Golden Rooster Awards
• 2005 Best Actor (for New Police Story) - Won
• Hollywood Film Festival
• 1999 Actor of the Year - Won
• Hong Kong Film Awards
• 1983 Best Action Choreography (for Dragon Lord) - Nominated (shared with Hark-On Fung and Yuen Kuni)
• 1985 Best Actor (for Project A) - Nominated
• 1986 Best Director (for Police Story) - Nominated
• 1986 Best Actor (for Police Story) - Nominated
• 1986 Best Actor (for Heart of Dragon) - Nominated
• 1989 Best Picture (for Rouge) - Won
• 1990 Best Actor (for Miracles) - Nominated
• 1993 Best Actor (for Supercop) - Nominated
• 1994 Best Actor (for Crime Story) - Nominated
• 1994 Best Action Choreography (for Crime Story) - Nominated
• 1996 Best Actor (for Rumble in the Bronx) - Nominated
• 1996 Best Action Choreography (for Rumble in the Bronx) - Won
• 1997 Best Actor (for Dragon Lord) - Nominated
• 1999 Best Actor (for Who Am I?) - Nominated
• 1999 Best Action Choreography (for Who Am I?) - Won
• 2000 Best Action Choreography (for Gorgeous) - Nominated (shared with Jackie Chan Stunt Team)
• 2005 Best Actor (for New Police Story) - Nominated
• 2005 Professional Achievement Award - Won
• 2006 Best Original Film Song (for The Myth) - Nominated (shared with Choi Jun Young, Wang Zhong Yan, and Hee-seon Kim)
• 2006 Best Action Choreography (for The Myth) - Nominated (shared with Stanley Tong, Tak Yuen)
• 2007 Best Action Choreography (for Robin-B-Hood) - Nominated (shared with Chung Chi Li)
• 2010 Best Film (for Shinjuku Incident) - Nominated
• Hundred Flowers Awards
• 2006 Best Actor (for New Police Story) - Nominated
• Kids' Choice Awards
• 2002 Favorite Male Movie Star (for Rush Hour 2) - Nominated
• 2002 Favorite Male Action Hero (for Rush Hour 2) - Won
• 2003 Favorite Movie Actor (for The Tuxedo) - Nominated
• 2003 Favorite Male Butt Kicker (for The Tuxedo) - Won
• 2011 Favorite Butt Kicker (for The Karate Kid) - Won
• Montreal World Film Festival
• Grand Prix des Amériques - Won
• MTV Movie Awards
• 1995 Lifetime Achievement Award - Won
• 1996 Best Fight (for Rumble in the Bronx) - Nominated
• 1997 Best Fight (for Police Story 4: First Strike) - Nominated
• 1999 Best Fight (for Rush Hour) - Nominated (shared with Chris Tucker)
• 1999 Best On-Screen Duo (for Rush Hour) - Won (shared with Chris Tucker)
• 2002 Best On-Screen Team (for Rush Hour 2) - Nominated (shared with Chris Tucker)
• 2002 Best Fight (for Rush Hour 2) - Won (shared with Chris Tucker)
• 2003 Best On-Screen Team (for Shanghai Knights) - Nominated (shared with Owen Wilson)
• 2008 Best Fight (for Rush Hour 3) - Nominated (shared with Chris Tucker and Sun Mingming)
• People's Choice Awards
• 2008 Favorite On Screen Match-up (for Rush Hour 3) - Nominated (shared with Chris Tucker)
• 2011 Favorite On-Screen Team (for The Karate Kid) - Nominated (shared with Jaden Smith)
• 2011 Favorite Action Star - Won
• Shanghai International Film Festival
• 2005 Outstanding Contribution to Chinese Cinema - Won
• Teen Choice Awards
• 2002 Film - Choice Chemistry (for Rush Hour 2) - Nominated (shared with Chris Tucker)
• 2008 Choice Movie Actor: Action Adventure (for The Forbidden Kingdom) - Nominated
• Walk of Fame
• 2002 Motion Picture - Won (Star on the Walk of Fame)
• World Stunt Awards
• 2002 Taurus Honorary Award - Won

Personal life[link]

In 1982, Jackie Chan married Lin Feng-Jiao (aka Joan Lin), a Taiwanese actress. That same year, the two had a son, singer and actor Jaycee Chan.^[35] Elaine Ng Yi-Lei had a daughter, Etta, in 1999, and claimed Chan was the father; Chan admitted the affair, but did not formally acknowledge her as his daughter.^{[129][130][131]} Chan is a Buddhist.^[132][133]

He speaks Cantonese, Mandarin, American Sign Language, and English fluently, and also speaks some German, Korean and Japanese, as well as a little Spanish.^[134]