Latterly in 97’, after a long lean run, he achieved his first acting awards with Boogie Nights, but the comeback faded away again. Five years later in 1977 we have his biggest hit - Smokey and the Bandit. That was 40 years ago now when Burt was in his prime. And then I’d have to live in the backseat of it because I’d be homeless. ‘Deliverance’ will always be the film that I associate with Burt a great movie. Shit, I know that if I won one of Burt’s sweet Trans Ams at auction, I’d be doing donuts of joy up and down my street. With Burt Fever making a resurgence since his death, I can imagine this lot of 4 cars, signed by Burt, and certified “bitchin’” (by me), are going to sell for a pretty penny. They sent it to auction at Barrett-Jackson and it cleared a smooth $550,000. It was a wreck and the seller didn’t get any bids so they decided to fix it up themselves. In 2015, one of the cars Universal Pictures used for promo wound up on Ebay.
#Burt reynolds smokey and the bandit year of trans m movie#
None of the original Smokey cars were thought to survive the rigors of movie stunts like having had Sally Field’s bare feet on their dashboards (probably because they combusted from ecstasy). TMZ thinks the lot will go for “upwards of $1 million,” but that sounds low to me. Sure, they probably smell like cologne, sweat and mustache juice, but damn they’re sexy! Just like Burt! The other cars you can’t afford are a red hot 1978 Trans Am that’s a recreation of the car Burt drove in Hooper, a 1984 Trans Am that Burt used to promote his very own United States Football League team the Tampa Bay Bandits (that one’s black and gold, just like Old Smokey), and a 1987 Chevrolet R30 pickup truck that’s a replica of the one that appeared in Cannonball run. The Smokey car is just one of 4 automobiles from Burt’s personal “Bandit Movie Cars Collection”.
None of the original cars from the film survived Burt’s driving, but his very own personalized recreation, a 1978 Trans Am, will be available to the highest bidder at a televised auction in Las Vegas later this month.
In cahoots with Smokey director Hal Needham (who went on to direct Burt in eventual Hot Wheels fodder Hooper, Cannonball Run and Stroker Ace), Burt picked out a retrofitted 1977 Trans Am he saw on the cover of Pontiac’s annual brochure as his chariot for the film. Burt was born to drive muscle cars, and his passion for hot rods superseded his role in Smokey And The Bandit, which not only ushered in the era of the porn stache, it helped put the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am on the map. No doubt that movies are great publicity for cars, and Smokey & The Bandit proved so successful that Pontiac reported record sales numbers. No person has done more for the Pontiac brand than Burt Reynolds.