I think Stroker Ace is after Smokey and the Bandit, though there was Hooper, which was about a stuntman, it also had Sally Field, it was from 1978 or so. In fact, after Smokey and the Bandit became a box office hit, Pontiac saw a marked increase in their stock prices. While Sheriff Justice doesnt deal well with the pressures of high speed pursuit, as seen above, his Pontiac LeMans (CC here) withstands the most abuse of any car in this entire movie. Needham originally planned the film as a low-budget B movie with a production cost of $1 million,[4] with Reed as the Bandit. via iconic premier. A 1977 special-edition model once owned by the late actor Burt Reynolds recently wound up on the car auction website Bring a Trailer. There are an abundance of cars in this movie. . Wealthy Texan Big Enos Burdette and his son Little Enos have sponsored a racer in Atlanta's Southern Classic and want to celebrate in style when he wins, so they are seeking a trucker willing to bootleg Coors Beer to Atlanta for their refreshment. One of our favorite movies. The T/A is just as quick as my present Challenger is, but the Challenger doesnt have anything close to the throttle response it had, and I miss it. The sound came from a 1955 Chevrolet Custom, the same car that was used in Two-Lane Blacktop and American Graffiti, films launched in 1971 and 1973, respectively. Everything You Should Know About The The Trans Am From Smokey And The Bandit, 10 Most Potentially Unreliable Electric Vehicles According To Consumer Reports, 10 Reasons Why It's Time You Should Buy A Bagger, Here's How Solid-State Batteries Will Change EVs Forever. Of course, we could argue that Needham could have used the engine note of a Pontiac GTO from the golden muscle car, but the 1955 Custom recordings were probably readily available, and he just didn't need the hassle. During this time, the Firebird also surpassed sales figures of the Chevrolet Camaro. Henry Corden, the voice of cartoon character Fred Flintstone. A guy we knew drove his half-ton pickup from western WA to his reserve 2-week stint in his home state in California. There was a problem. Mrs Jason wont let me sell the sumbitch. Free shipping for many products! Luckily, both cars survived, and the Trans Am became famous only five years later. As Fred Flintstone was modeled off Ralph Kramden, the Jackie Gleason character from the 1950s television showThe Honeymooners, the tone and intonation of the dubbing was highly convincing. The hood scoop on these cars says "6.6 LITRE", which, in 1977, would have denoted an Oldsmobile 403-equipped car or a non-W-72, 180 hp version of the 400 Pontiac engine. On top of Burt Reynold's top-notch acting, Smokey and the Bandit is also famous for the Pontiac Trans Am that the actor drove throughout the film. Bandit attracts more police attention across Dixie as Snowman barrels on toward Atlanta with the contraband beer, but they are helped en route by many colorful characters via CB radio. Banzai! [31] Smokey and the Bandit was released in the United Kingdom on August 28 and was a success there, garnering positive reviews. Although 1977 models also featured 6.6-liter engines, they were rated at only 200 horses. A CC for a 1973 Grand Ville convertible can be found here. [33] Reynolds was given the 1977 vehicle used during promotion of the film as a gift, though the car itself never actually appeared in the film. Even when the 2nd gen was already coasting on fumes, and defanged, and after the reasonably shitty Smokey and the Bandit sequel, Pontiac managed to pump out 107,000 Trans Ams in 1980 and 70,000 for the 2nd gen Trans Ams swan song in 1981. How many cars destroyed Blues Brothers 2000? He paid $550,000 for it, likely a record for any Pontiac Firebird. I developed a pretty good bootheel accent during my time in New Madrid. Learn how your comment data is processed. AWESOME! The Pontiac Trans Am seems like a natural choice for Smokey and the Bandit, but the car was only a few inches close to not being used in the movie. The MASSIVE year over year sales gains came from somewhere. Sure Smokey helped, but was not the sole reason T/A and F body sales went up. The movie had an even bigger impact on the Trans Am. Most of the dialogue was improvised on set. There has never been anything quite like late 1970s fashion in clothing. The cars were wrecked on purpose to create the illusion of a high-speed chase. The paint code for each truck was coffee brown with gold trims and the 48-foot (15m) mural trailer used was manufactured by Hobbs Trailers in Texas with a non-operational Thermo King Refrigeration unit. It was destroyed in Smokey and the Bandit II and in a flashback scene in Part 3. Watching TV and Movies you would think that sales dropped to nil. Many nameplates lost their performance credentials, and some of them, like the Ford Mustang, were redesigned without a V-8 engine. It consists of any of the various Louisiana-style hot sauces on Texas toast-style bread alongside the fourth most famous product of Pittsburg, Texas (behind Pilgrim's Pride, Cavender's, and Carroll Shelby)Pittsburg Hot Links. Please refresh the page and try again. In the movie . Two cars were reportedly badly damaged in early stunts in the film, while a third car was completely destroyed during the famous bridge jump scene. I agree, despite people saying you sound cute, it seems like they think Ellie Mae Clapett or Jethro Bodean. One guy did a while ago a fan-made trailer of Smokey & the Bandit 4. The cars were originally ordered by a car rental agency in Phoenix, who refused to accept the . We stopped in that same Safeway later on the way back home from southern Cal, and they had a huge display of cases of Coors out on the floor near the checkstands. This small modification was made to remind viewers of Trans Am models from 1969, which had in excess of 300 horsepower. It had not been used for some time and was repainted for the film. Upon showing it to his friend, Reynolds told Needham that it was the worst script he had ever read, but that he would still make the movie. Now, having only three Trans Ams to wreck for a movie is minimalist, to say the least. If you somehow managed to miss Smokey and the Bandit in the years between the films 1977 release and now, you should rectify that situation immediately (to be fair, it was released two days after Star Wars, so its understandable if it slipped through the cracks). The Trans Am was a high-performance package for the Firebird, Pontiac's take on the Chevrolet Camaro. The production team wrecked three for the four cars it received from Pontiac. The comedy has been remastered to DVD standards. And Burt may be from GA originally, but he calls Florida home, which is another reason I heard the movie was filmed here. 1975 PLYMOUTH FURY HIGHWAY PATROL "SMOKEY & THE BANDIT" 1/18 BY . By the film's ending, the final surviving Trans Am and LeMans were both barely running and the other cars had become parts donors to keep them running. Two units were 1974 models, as evidenced by standard silver Kenworth emblems on the truck grille, and one unit was a 1973 model, as evidenced by the gold-painted Kenworth emblem on the truck's grille, signifying Kenworth's 50 years in business. While made to take advantage of the ongoing 1970s CB radio fad, the film added to the craze. The film was a sleeper hit, and following a poor initial performance, it went on to gross $126.7 million in North America, versus a budget of only $4.3 million. Behind Sheriff Justices Pontiac, there is a nice looking 1965 or 1966 Ford Mustang fastback and a Toyota pickup. I was a junior high school age kid when this film came out. Cape was far enough north that it was watered down and there was so much cross-pollination with the Illinois side you really didnt discern much difference. The commercials were produced after Stewart mentioned that the movie was one of his favorites.[39]. [15] All four of the cars were badly damaged during production,[16] one of which was all but destroyed during the jump over the dismantled Mulberry bridge. Im still trying to get clarification on what a diablo sandwich is though. Some weren't that lucky and were discontinued altogether. Get ready to tear up the highway with the Bandit (Burt Reynolds), a fun-loving, fast-talking trucker who takes on his craziest haul yet - delivering 400 case. ARRGH! The value of their stock rose a startling 70 percent after the films release, and to show their appreciation to Reynolds, the president said they would give the actor a new car each and every year. A few other examples of sound effect replacement occur when the Bandit takes off after getting the reluctant Cledus involved in the bet, the Bandit comes to a screeching halt on a roadway moments before picking up Carrie, and when Buford's car top comes off. For Smokey and the Bandit II (1980), Needham asked for and received 10 Trans Ams and 55 Bonnevilles with no trouble. And theres beer in Texarkana.. The trip to Texarkana is uneventful; soon after leaving for the return trip to Georgia, The Bandit encounters Frog, played by Sally Field. Put one on and the lady looks like shes not wearing a bra. That's because the Trans Am in Smokey and the Bandit didn't sound like a Trans Am. The new Hot Pants scene had to quickly be refilmed as a part of a second unit in the San Fernando Valley and was shot at a drive-in restaurant near Hansen Dam named Baby Beef Burgers, which has since been demolished. A paper on Cognitive psychology was published in the 1990 issue of Computers in Human Perception. Her groom? Ive also looked at a Fox based LTD cop car and an early 1991 whale Caprice 9C1 detective model, burgundy on burgundy cloth. Plus , I loved those late 1960s through mid 1970s Plymouths even though Im a Bowtie Guy by default . With Reynolds' salary at $1 million, Needham was left with only $3.3 million to make the film. Im gonna barbecue your ass in molasses., Re: The picture with 4 ladies and the wagon and van. In the original script, Carrie was called Kate while Big Enos and Little Enos were called Kyle and Dickey. From what I have read the artist did the poster rendering from some blown up stills that he was shown from the movie, and none of them for some mysterious reason included the Trans Am, the truck, Reynolds, Gleason, Sally Field, crashing police cars, but no T/A. Five-string banjo player Bobby Thompson is prominent toward the end of "East Bound and Down". It was the second highest-grossing film of the year, trailing only Star Wars: A New Hope, and it made Burt Reynolds into a certifiable superstar. One of those things that will make my kids think Im crazy some day. So these kind of represented a rebellion attitude to the government mandated diesel econo hatches everyone thought we were going to be forced to drive in the 80sinterestingly 1979 was also the best year for the Corvette too. January 24, 2019 100 comments. [23] It then opened in just the South of the United States over the Memorial Day weekend and grossed $2,689,851 in 386 theaters. [12] The area around Helen, Georgia, was used for some locations. I know that Trans Am that jumped that bridge broke the axle when it landed. If you watched the second clip above, this truck should look familiar. This was the lull between Gas Crisis I and II, 1976-78, and Boomers were wanting stylish cars. The next movie, Smokey and the Bandit II, featured the same cast and an updated version of the Trans Am.The second version of the Smokey and the Bandit car was a 1980 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am that had a similar paint job, the updated front end, and gold "Turbine" style wheels.The 1980 models featured a turbocharged 4.9L Pontiac V8, but that still wasn't enough power for the stunt personnel. I guess the Trans Am proved to have more staying power than the hot 71 Ford in the earlier movie. Reed also penned and performed the song for the opening credits, entitled "The Legend", which tells of some of the Bandit's escapades before the events of the film, and the ballad "The Bandit", which is in several versions in the movie and on the soundtrack. According to Wikipedia, the second movie was able to get away with destroying an INSANE number of brand-new Pontiac LeMans police cars because Pontiac had them sitting around in the southwest region, having been sent to a rental fleet in Phoenix without a/c. http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_301466-Ford-LTD-II-1977.html. [4] Just two days before production was to begin, Universal sent a "hatchet man" to Atlanta to inform Needham that the budget was being trimmed by $1 million. Needham and assistant director David Hamburger spent 30 hours revising the shooting schedule.[4]. February 27, 2023 . Launched on the big screen in 1977, Smokey and the Bandit revolves around two bootleggers as they attempt to illegally transport 400 cases of Coors beer from Texarkana to Atlanta. The 403 Olds T/A was a dog, stock, but with some easily obtained parts, could be turned into a very nice low 13 second tire melter. "Buford T. Justice" was the name of a real Florida Highway Patrolman known to Reynolds' father, who was once Police Chief of Riviera Beach, Florida. One time a friend and I drove back to Kentucky on leave rather than flying; no particular reason, we had plenty of time and wanted to see some of the country. It took four evenings to see almost all of the movie in bits and pieces. When Im driving the Bandit Trans Am while playing one of my many Forza Motorsport games I always put that song on. The Trans Am used for said jump was equipped with a booster rocket, the same type that was used by Evel Knievel during his failed Snake River Canyon jump. Except for Gleason, the original actors mostly redubbed their lines for the television version. Chevy almost did the same with its counterpart, the Camaro. Producers of Smokey and the Bandit wrecked 26 cars while filming the movie in 1977. They quickly escape in one of Big Enos's 13 Cadillacs as police flood the racetrack. I ended up buying a 1969 Cadillac ambulance a year later! I still regret selling mine almost 30 years ago. WildI watched this for the first time in years after watching the latest Archer.the whole thing is an homage to S&B. And all of us easterners suddenly discovered it was nothing more than another Budweiser/Miller/etc. Along the way they tussle with tough as nails Texas Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason), pick up a runaway bride nicknamed Frog (Sally Field), and have all kinds of awesome times on the highway. These were the cans with the two circular push buttons on top instead of pull tabs. The roller coaster in the movie was the Greyhound. They called out equipment like Radial Tuned Suspension, Calibrated Speedometer, and Power Disc Brakes. Maybe even the dual exhausts and the 400-4 merited badges. Needham stated that by the end of production, there really wasnt much left of any of the three. I dont know whose idea was to replace the wicked Two Lane Blacktop Chevy sourced engine sound effects with an authentic 200 horsepower muffled smogger 400, but that sumbitch is a scumbum!!! (first posted 2/28/2014) The fourth highest grossing film in the United States in 1977 was the Academy Award nominatedSmokey & The Bandit. The third film which had no involvement from either Hal Needham or Sally Field and contained only a short cameo appearance by Burt Reynolds revolved entirely around Jackie Gleason's character, was panned by critics, and was a box office bomb, earning only $7 million against a $9 million budget.[41][42][43]. That parking lot was full of Trans Ams! The movies are rated PG with a run time of 282 minutes and released to video by Universal Studios. The scoops were added by the department because the engines ran so hot. This gives rise to various continuity errors with Justice's patrol car, which during some chase sequences is shown with a black rear fender, which then reverts to the car's bronze color again in later scenes. He has no less than four movies listed as coming out, and they run the gamut from romantic drama to family comedy to horror mystery to action thriller. Burt Reynolds' 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Sold for $240,000. You might think that seeing their cars routinely destroyed on movie screens across the country would give the manufacturer pause, but that is not the case at all. Bill Justis is the first name on the credits for the soundtrack, as he composed and arranged original music throughout the film. The second film was a modest box office success, earning $66.1 million against a $17 million budget. Somewhere along the line, the company acquired a new president who told Reynolds: Im the new president, and I dont like your movies. Reynolds was the top box office draw from 1975 to 1982, then his movies really started to go downhill. The gag with the overpass being blown up was actually a bridge built for the movie on the unfinished highway, and AFAIK, the truck driver who jumps the void ended up breaking his back in the stunt. (it did taste a lot better than Bud as I recall). At the drive-in of all places. I started cruising through EBay and the next thing I knew I won the auction for a clean 400/4 speed/T-Top 78 Trans Am. The Kenworth even achieves a trifecta of sorts, as it gave the first dent to Sheriff Justices LeMans. MN12 Thunderbirds had the same appeal to me, for similar reasons. The decals were changed to 1977-style units, as evidenced by the engine size callouts on the hood scoop being in liters rather than cubic inches, as had been the case in 1976. Smokey and the Bandit II is a 1980 American action comedy film directed by Hal Needham, and starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, . I have to admit, thats a pretty fantastic story, and as a major movie star, Im sure Burt Reynolds was able to figure out another way to acquire a means of transportation. Great article! Comments . Lets take a look at some more cars found in the movie. It wasnt distributed in Washington in those days either. Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, I am pretty sure it was filmed in Florida, when I-75 was under construction so they could use the highways while empty. Gotta love that guy! No more needs to be said. Filmmakers destroyed 230 cars in the filming of 'Furious 7.' Smokey And The Bandit: A Car-chase Classic. However, in more recent years, the original version has been shown (on ITV, a commercial channel), usually with the stronger language edited out, often quite awkwardly. All I know is, at the time, if you lived in the east, Coors was some really special beer not unlike microbrews are now. In the U.K., the heavily dubbed version was shown for several years, particularly by the BBC. I know that Trans Am that . Arguably the most iconic Pontiac Firebird in history. As I am finishing this article while Big Truck Week is winding down, here is a Kenworth with a 1973 Dodge Polara patrol car. a custom mandrel bent dual exhaust, and the Mondello bottom end plate to stabilize the windowed mains. A series of four made-for-TV spin-off films (Bandit Goes Country, Bandit Bandit, Beauty and the Bandit, and Bandit's Silver Angel) were produced in 1994 for Universal Television's Action Pack with actor Brian Bloom playing a younger version of the Bandit. For Smokey and the Bandit II (1980), Needham asked for and received 10 Trans Ams and 55 Bonnevilles with no trouble. His expletive is obscured when a passing big rig sounds its horn. A group of Trans Am owners and fans of the movie take part in an annual road trip from Texarkana to Jonesboro, recreating the route taken by the characters in the film. [17], In 1977, Coors was unavailable for sale east of Oklahoma. Yet when I think of a 70s T/A, thats the one I and Im sure millions of other folks think of. Back in 1984, I went to look at a late 1970s Plymouth cop car as well. Coors is still brewed just outside Denver, Colorado. There definitely was a halo cast around the 2nd gen F-body from its appearance in the movie, which I believe even did extend to the Camaro, which was probably the cheapest way to at least get some of the Bandit vibe, where there other factors too, probably, the 70s, disco, cocaine, mustaches and probably a bunch others.many thought that these car would be the last hurrah for anything performance oriented. I thought at the time that it was a newer version of White Lightning (also with Burt Reynolds) and that Smokey would be forgotten just as soon. Nuts about any form of classic motorsport and muscle cars, Ciprian's currently working on a time machine that would take him back to the 1960s for a long vacation alongside Dan Gurney and Jim Hall. [36] Another proposal, based more closely on images from the film and the shooting location of the scene (at an Old Hickory House restaurant in Georgia), is pulled pork and hot sauce on a hamburger bun. At the time, Reynolds was the top box office star in the world. Cledus "Snowman" Snow (Jerry Reed) drives the truck while his good buddy Bo "Bandit" Darville (Reynolds) serves as the "blocker," a fast car used to divert police attention away from payload. I grew up in Illinois, within eyeshot of the banks of the MIssissippi River, and ten miles from Cape Girardeau, Missouri. I think more of Smokey and the Bandit II and the awful part 3 were filmed largely in Florida, I dont know if I-75 construction was started by 1976-77, at least the section down to Miami part, when they filmed. How many police cars were wrecked in Smokey and the Bandit? Supposedly there was a stick car for the burnouts and an automatic car for other shots. Gator , Stroker Ace , lots of them . The story replaced the Coors beer with Mobil 1 products. Ive since read on the internet that it wasnt illegal so much as a practical thing with it being shipped in refrigerated trucks. The most noted change made for network broadcast was the replacing of Buford's often-spoken phrase "sumbitch" (a contraction of "son of a bitch"; usually in reference to the Bandit) with the phrase "scum bum". As Frog leaves, we are introduced to Sheriff Buford T. Justice, played by Jackie Gleason. Its amazing, you should watch it. Field enjoyed making the film, but remembers that virtually the entire project was improvised. 2-Smokey and the Bandit II-Pretty bad, still has some funny campy crap, the Dom DeLuise Italian Dr. bit is ok, Gleason is still pretty funny, the Turbo T/A is pretty weak, but still cool to see. Jason, Using the words nuance, subtlety, complexity and intellect to describe this movie, is, as they say, trs amusant! As a kid that T/A, the General Lee, and KITT were largely responsible for defining my taste in cars and that carries through to today. [6] It would become one of Reed's biggest hits and his signature song.[7]. I beg to differ Mr -Nate. Wanting to promote the aesthetically modified 1977 model, but lacking cars owing to delays in production start-up, GM modified four 1976 Trans Ams with '77 spec bodywork and decals for the film. Gleasons Justice is the stereotypical Southern sheriff, as seen in this clip. Im probably in the minority as usual, but I prefer the Black and Gold 50th Anne. It is now sold in all states as Coors ships it in refrigerated train cars and bottled locally and sold in different parts of the country including the eastern US states. Justice. [27] In his review in the Chicago Tribune, Gene Siskel gave the film two stars and complained that the film failed to tell the audience when the clock started on the beer run, thus reducing suspense. What were the police cars in Smokey and the Bandit? We just watched this with the kids the other week, along with Cannonball Run. He obtained the attention of studios and aimed the film at a more mainstream release after his friend Reynolds read the script and agreed to portray the Bandit, with Reed now portraying the Bandit's friend the Snowman. Required fields are marked *. Smokey & The Bandit is the greatest movie of the 20th Century! The remaining Smokey and the Bandit Trans Am is currently owned by Florida car collector John Staluppi. For this purpose, they overdubbed dialogue deemed offensive, which was common practice. In return, Reynolds portrayed Boss Hogg (originally portrayed by Sorrell Booke) in the film adaptation The Dukes of Hazzard (2005). Mr. Reynolds elevated the dreck that he appeared in to a higher level, that is, enjoyable. $30.00 + $11.45 shipping. During a Q&A session on Saturday, filmed by ComicBook.com, a fan asked how many Trans Ams they burned through during production. According to an interview with Susie McIver Ewing on The RetroZest Podcast, she was picked to play the role of Hot Pants Hilliard after the dailies footage (shot in the Atlanta area) of the original actress playing the role was inadvertently destroyed on its way from Atlanta to Los Angeles. The site's consensus states: "Not much in the head but plenty beneath the hood, Smokey and the Bandit is infectious fun with plenty of car wrecks to keep your eyes glued". 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