This blog is the first of a series showcasing the cars that played an integral part in a movie. In some instances, the writers gave the cars a character of their own. You could say that without these cars, the movie wouldn’t have been the same, or might not have been made. It makes you wonder if the writers understood that they were building a legacy – dare we call it cinematic history – with these four-wheeled icons.
Tim’s Pick: 1977 Pontiac Trans Am from Smokey and the Bandit
What is possibly the most recognizable of all movie cars, the iconic black 1977 Pontiac Trans Am, and T-tops and a gold firebird emblazoned across the hood. The standard 1977 Trans Am would have had a 400-ci, 6.6-liter V8 engine and four-barrel carburetor, allowing for somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 horsepower, but to make the movie believable, we’re going to assume the Bandit had something a bit more powerful under the hood. After all, an assembly line Trans Am could not have jumped the Mulberry Bridge without some serious modifications.
In the movie, the “Bandit,” played by Burt Reynolds and his famous mustache, deftly drives the Trans Am to draw attention away from his partner Cledus Snow, a.k.a. “Snowman” in his Kenworth W900 rig as Cledus, and his Basset hound Fred, illegally transports their cargo of 400 cases of Coors beer across state lines, from Texarkana to Atlanta, where Coors could not be sold legally. In fact, Coors could not be sold east of the Mississippi River until 1986 when it finally got national distribution.
As if providing a distraction from the transport of the illegal beer across state lines wasn’t enough to deal with, Burt’s character “Bo” picks up “Frog,” a hitchhiker played by Sally Field. Frog is a runaway bride, leaving Sherriff Buford T. Justice’s son, Junior, standing at the altar. Soon, the Sherriff, brought to life in all his Texan glory by none other than the incomparable Jackie Gleason, with Junior in tow, is in hot pursuit of the Bandit. But hey, there’s $80,000 and bragging rights at stake if the Bandit can deliver the beer to “Big Enos,” a Texas tycoon and his mini-me, so they can “celebrate in style” when their sponsored car wins a race in the Southern Classic in Atlanta in 28 hours. Forking out money for a fast car, gas, and an $80,000 payday sounds like a perfectly reasonable request from a man with a hankerin’ for some cold Silver Bullets and more money than he knows what to do with.
Was Bandit’s 1977 Trans Am really a 1977 Trans Am?
Now, here’s a little movie car trivia for you: technically, the Bandit’s car was not a 1977. Nope, it was a 1976 outfitted with the newly designed front clip of the yet-to-be-released 1977 Trans Am. The ’77 clip had a V-shaped nose and rectangular quad headlamps replacing the two round headlamps of the previous model. Of course, it had the now-iconic gold firebird, which was first introduced on the ’77 Trans Am, emblazoned across the hood and other gold accents. With or without appearing in the movie, there’s no doubt, the sleek design and black and gold finish would have become an instant classic.
In 1977, the year Smokey and the Bandit was released, sales of the Pontiac Trans Am were solid, at 68,475 units. But the success of the movie helped Pontiac to boost sales to 93,351 units in 1978, and 117,078 in 1979 – beating sales of the Camaro for the first time.
Before film production began, Pontiac needed convincing to have the Trans Am be part of the movie. Eventually, they gave in, but only provided three Trans Ams and two 1977 Pontiac Bonnevilles for the movie, according to writer/director Hal Needham. Any fan of the movie knows that the Bandit’s car was subjected to quite a bit of abuse in the making of the film, and three of the cars used in the original movie were destroyed in the process — the aforementioned bridge jump alone was the death knell for one. Only the promo car survived and, according to Motorious.com, that car is now owned by a car collector in Florida.
The success of Smokey and the Bandit led to two sequels, released in 1980 and 1983, and Pontiac had no qualms about supplying plenty of cars for the sequels.
Burt Finally Gets His Bandit Trans Am
Purportedly, the president of Pontiac had promised to give Burt Reynolds a new Pontiac Firebird Trans Am if the movie was a success. According to an interview with Burt, several months passed and he hadn’t received his car, he decided to reach out to Pontiac, he was told that the man who promised him the car had passed away, and the new president wasn’t inclined to give him a car. But, not to be deterred, Burt bought himself a 1977 Bandit Trans Am, which he had modified, including an 8.2-liter engine to produce six hundred horsepower. Other sources claim that Pontiac eventually did gift the Trans Am to Burt.
What happened to Burt Reynold’s Smokey and the Bandit car?
In 2014, Burt Reynolds decided to sell his iconic Starlight Black-and-Gold 1977 Pontiac Trans Am. It was to be sold by Julien’s Auctions, and the value was estimated at $60,000 – $80,000 at the time. But Burt’s charisma and the public’s love of the movie should not have been underestimated. The car sold for a whopping $500,000.
Although Burt Reynolds passed away in 2018, his star power lives on. His beloved Bandit car sold at a Barrett-Jackson auction in 2022 for $495,000.
Image by Tima Miroshnichenko.