When I was a kid, there was an old record from the 50s around the house that was a collection of radio and tv bloopers. One was a radio ad for a movie that went something like: . I agree, despite people saying you sound cute, it seems like they think Ellie Mae Clapett or Jethro Bodean. With the Smokey and the Bandit actor gone, and the impact the actor had on the Trans Am community, having one of the few connections to him destroyed is too much. That is why there are not any left. Mr. Reynolds made a bunch of low budget films before this , all had wild chase scenes with cop cars crashing & going into swamps . The comedy has been remastered to DVD standards. Though no authoritative source identifies the composition of the sandwich, there are several possibilities. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Chevy almost did the same with its counterpart, the Camaro. Unfortunately he passed away a few months ago or that would have been a great question to ask. The updated version of the film features sound inaccurate for what would be produced by the Trans Am or the numerous other Pontiac vehicles in the film. Starring Bob Hope, that comedic star of the screen, and the lovely Jane Russell boy what a pair! I never forgot that one. In Smokey and the Bandit, there were eight 1977 Trans-Am cars and approximately the same number of police cars (but some said ten). When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. The Pontiac Firebird Trans Am from Smokey and the Bandit is one of the most famous movie cars of all time. I also own a 1:18 scale version of the Bandit Trans Am. Dodge pitchman Sheriff Joe Higgins. The tow truck driver was a local garage owner, Berlin Wike. The differences between the two are major. Actor Henry Corden, who voiced Fred Flintstone after original performer Alan Reed died the same year the film was released, was used to replace a considerable amount of Sheriff Justice's dialogue. [38], In 2014, petroleum company Mobil 1 produced television commercials, featuring then-NASCAR driver Tony Stewart, closely based on the film. And then they made the biggest mistake of their lives and went to national distribution. At the time, Reynolds was the top box office star in the world. HotCars covers all things automotive: the latest auto news and informative reviews on the car, pickup truck and motorcycle industries. [9] Though the film Moonrunners (1975) is the precursor to the television series The Dukes of Hazzard (19791985), from the same creator and with many identical settings and concepts, the popularity of Smokey and the Bandit and similar films helped get the Dukes series on the air. But the true standout of Smokey and the Bandit is the car driven by The Bandit, the iconic black and gold 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. Thank you for signing up to CinemaBlend. 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. February 27, 2023 . The other range car was a Chevette for people that wanted to learn on a manual transmission. The scoops were added by the department because the engines ran so hot. Called Smoke is the Bandit and playing on Stewart's nickname, the commercials featured him as the Bandit opposite commentators Darrell Waltrip as the Snowman and Jeff Hammond as Buford T. Justice. 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. The roundup sequence in the desert shows many new Pontiac Le Mans sedans decorated as police cars being destroyed. Chevy brought back the Z28, and cant say S&B was reason. Of the many cars saved from the fire was the only surviving Knight Rider KITT Super Pursuit Mode car created by Jay Orberg. It was his idea to have Junior alongside him throughout the film. I have at least 4 really good car buddies that will from time to time love popping this movie in to watch. It had an AM transmitter and you would tune in the sound on your AM car radio, or on my case, on a transistor radio. While I have read undocumented accounts of there being more than three Trans Ams, Needham stated three is all that were used. Of course, it wasnt hard to wake them up. Regular film-goers might not pay much attention to the car's engine sound, but gearheads will quickly notice that something is off. Sales jumped even higher in 1979 when Pontiac moved 117,108 Trans Ams. I recall a big smokey burnout right after they left Snowmans house that looked 455-worthy and also after Bandit picked up Fields he left two strips after nailing second (right before the tire thieves crossed the road), which makes me think there was also a 4 speed car used. Additionally, he can give you several reasons why theres still no replacement for displacement. Today, Smokey and the Bandit remains one of the most popular car action films ever made, and the 1977 Pontiac Trans Am will forever be wed to the movie. I've heard . Thats all true. 1975 PLYMOUTH FURY HIGHWAY PATROL "SMOKEY & THE BANDIT" 1/18 BY . Free shipping for many products! That song often pops into my head at the start of long drives. [5] Reynolds revealed in his autobiography that Needham had written the first draft script on legal pads. Needham saw an advertisement for the soon-to-be-released 1977 Pontiac Trans Am and knew right away that would be the Bandit's car, or, as Needham referred to it, a character in the movie. The cars were 1976 models, the engines fitted to them were 455ci powerplants, the last year these engines were offered for sale before withdrawal. The truck at the shell station is actually a 75 or 76 Toyota Hilux. 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]. 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. Needham served as the driver for the stunt (in place of Reynolds), while Lada St. Edmund was in the same car (in place of Field). They find local legend Bo "Bandit" Darville at a roadeo at Lakewood Fairgrounds and offer him US$80,000 (equivalent to $357,738 in 2021) to haul 400 cases of Coors from Texarkana (the closest place it could be legally sold at that time) to Atlanta in 28 hours. I dunno about the Foley sounds, I have a T/A with a 400 and an open/no catalytic true dual exhaust, and it sounds really close to how the Bandit car sounds at idle during some scenes from the movie. Trigger had a big impact on my taste in cars with the Trans Ams of the late 70s being my favorite. How did any bra manufacturers survive the 70s? There are an abundance of cars in this movie. I have since moved on from them, mainly because in stock form, they were not particularly great cars (though good enough for the times). Out of four Trans Ams used for the filming of Smokey And The Bandit, three were completely totaled in the process. Let us dissect this flick to better examine it. Anyone with insight is encouraged to share their knowledge on this. 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. Sonny Shroyer (Enos) was the motorcycle cop who was given the 1-finger salute by Sally Field. [original research?] (it did taste a lot better than Bud as I recall). It opened in other Northern states at the end of July. Got Greyhound cutout decals on the rear side windows. [30] Upon meeting Reynolds, Billy Bob Thornton told him that the South considers the film to be less cinema and more documentary. Justice. 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. 1-Smokey and the Bandit-The classic, the original, and the best one by FAR. Coors wasnt pasteurized. The rub? 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 was 10 when this movie came out and I loved it then and I still do. Free shipping for many products! 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. The Bandit's car was a second-generation Trans Am and the prize for completing the run was a new truck rather than $80,000. They return one minute after their time limit, but instead of taking the payoff, Carrie and Bandit accept a double-or-nothing offer from Little Enos: a challenge to run up to Boston and bring back clam chowder in 18 hours. I was in the Air Force during this era, stationed in California. The movies are rated PG with a run time of 282 minutes and released to video by Universal Studios. Some fellow classmates were extras on the film set, and it was a big deal around here at the time. The scene where Sheriff Justice's car has the door knocked off by a passing . By the end of June, it had played in major Southern markets, including Charlotte, Atlanta, Jacksonville, New Orleans, Memphis, Dallas, and Oklahoma City, grossing $11.9 million. radio to help him out. a custom mandrel bent dual exhaust, and the Mondello bottom end plate to stabilize the windowed mains. Its W.W. The original Blues Brothers movie from 1980 is a classic, and fans were excited when a sequel was announced in 1998. . Thanks for this, Jason. 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. A segment of the CMT program Reel Eats used a sloppy joe-style recipe consisting of seasoned ground beef, corn, and sour cream. Alan Reed was the original voice of Fred Flintstone; Henry Corden only took over after Reeds death in 1977. Five-string banjo player Bobby Thompson is prominent toward the end of "East Bound and Down". Wouldnt the accent give you away? Both sequels used another Trans Am, not a Cadillac Eldorado, as seen below. It airs on cable tv all the time. Burt Reynolds once claimed in an interview that there were actually 12 Trans Ams featured in Smokey and the Banditand he wrecked every one. Jackie Gleasons Buford T. Justice character is a supposedly an amalgamation of a few characters, including the real Buford T. Justicethere is obviously the Dodge safety sheriff from the 1970s ads, Burt Reynolds father was chief of police of Jupiter Florida, and a friend of his fathers, a Florida Highway Patrol officer was actually the REAL Buford T. Justice. [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. I'm afraid I was responsible for a good few of those. Lets take a look. 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. Misconception by casual novice car fans is that the Trams Am didnt sell well until S&B. If you notice there are several different angled skid marks on the road in the scene where the Bandit picks up Frog, you can see that they did a couple of takes of the T/A skidding to a stop and taking off again. It made no sense to me as it was fifty miles north and fifty miles south. On the DVD, there is a brief interview with both Burt Reynolds and Hal Needham, who directed this film. "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. how many cars were destroyed in smokey and the bandit 2. Reynolds is referenced by name in several early episodes of the series. It had the Modello cam kit, ported 69(I think) heads with upsized valves, headers, aftermarket intake, 3.21 gears (Up from 2.41 stock!) The commercials were produced after Stewart mentioned that the movie was one of his favorites.[39]. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Thats all well and good, and it worked smooth as silk for a good while. No, the T/A was selling fine before the movie, and the black/gold package dates to 1976, a full year before the movie was out in summer 77. While made to take advantage of the ongoing 1970s CB radio fad, the film added to the craze. Due to his financial difficulties in 2014, Reynolds put his vast collection of artwork and memorabilia up for auction, including the Trans Am. During this time, the Firebird also surpassed sales figures of the Chevrolet Camaro. A couple of years ago, I was sitting around on a lazy Saturday afternoon and it was on TV. In its place was the nonsensical scum bum. The voice over actor? 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. Im probably in the minority as usual, but I prefer the Black and Gold 50th Anne. Gas was a buck a gallon at the time so fuel economy wasnt a major issue. Earlier DVD releases and the 40th Anniversary Blu-ray of the film have the original soundtrack intact. As I did Steve McQueen and Paul Newman. All pictures from the movie were acquired from www.imcdb.org, Fred Lives!!! The 1978 Trans Am is an exact duplicate of the "Smokey and the Bandit" movie car, finished in black and gold with a screaming chicken on the hood. 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. Now then you mentionned Sheriff JW Pepper, I decided to post some Youtube clips of him. Great write up. Somebody locally is selling a Regis Plymouth Fury ex Florida Police with gasping 318 V8, he will for the right money toss in a 440 with it. Burt Reynolds recently revealed the ridiculous number of Pontiac Trans Ams they went through filming 1977s Smokey and the Bandit. . As if GM owes them something. When Smokey & The Bandit first aired on television in the early 1980s, the Gleason phrase "sum bitch"-a regional butchering of "son of a bitch"-had to be dubbed out. And all of us easterners suddenly discovered it was nothing more than another Budweiser/Miller/etc. . . I still regret selling mine almost 30 years ago. I think you may be confusing the movie Honky-Tonk Freeway with the filming done during I-75 construction near Sarasota. It was destroyed in Smokey and the Bandit II and in a flashback scene in Part 3. Dont let his grumpiness fool you though; hes more than excited to provide the latest news and reviews on the most interesting cars in the industry. S/E T/A with the round headlights. 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. I remember that it had a bunch of trim badges on the center of the dashboard. The area around Helen, Georgia, was used for some locations. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Naturally, it fetched the highest price with a . The cop cars with the hood scoops were ex-DeKalb County (Georgia) cruisers. The pair arrive in Texarkana one hour early and load up the truck, but just as they head back, Carrie, a runaway bride, intercepts Bandit and jumps in his car, unwittingly making him an indirect target of Sheriff Buford T. Justice, a career Texas lawman whose witless son Junior was to have married Carrie. Im gonna barbecue your ass in molasses., Re: The picture with 4 ladies and the wagon and van. A 1977 special-edition model once owned by the late actor Burt Reynolds recently wound up on the car auction website Bring a Trailer. 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. You will receive a verification email shortly. 46,000 in 1976, 68,000 in 1977, 93,000 in 1978, 117,000 in 1979. Sales of the coupe exploded after the film hit the silver screen and set unprecedented records for both Pontiac and the Firebird nameplate. It follows the adventures of a couple of truck drivers bootlegging Coors, which couldnt legally be sold East of the Mississippi River at the time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cODPt3T0cHE, We got a cage strong enough to hold you [28] However, this is inaccurate; within seconds of Bandit picking her up, Frog tells him "there is a wedding in search of a bride" and goes on to explain her ill-advised romance with Junior, as the Bandit holds up the CB mic for the Snowman to hear. Producer Hal Needham intended Smokey and the Bandit to be one of the best product placement films of all time. What were the police cars in Smokey and the Bandit? Well, the Corvettes success is clearly due to Corvette Summer, @Jim I remember that movie! However, the U.S. government introduced new emission controls in 1972, and automakers had to step back. Anyone who enjoys Colonnade sedans will love Smokey & the Bandit. Mines never gone away, especially now that I spend every thee month in Memphis. Olds 88. This movie trailer gives you an taste of this provocative film, but fails to effectively capture all the subtleties and nuances it contains. The Trans Am used in the movie was a 1976 model with the front end of a 1977 car. Sally Field and Burt Reynolds began a relationship after meeting on set. Apparently the engine sounds were lifted from another movie, I think two lane blacktop? I had no idea that it was going to become a 70s classic. However, the scene and the obscured expletive were played for comedy value and written as such, with the passing truck being the gag of the scene more than a way to avoid the censors. It outsold its Chevrolet Camaro counterpart for the first time. I remember reading somewhere that one of the cars was equipped with a 455 for some of the higher speed scenes. Frog not included. We also learn that every launched satellite will eventually fall back to Earth, such as this 1972 Plymouth Satellite (CC here). I just dont like car novices that assume the Pontiac T/A was soley a movie tie in car and the it started in 1977.. The 1977 Firebird Trans Am once owned by Burt Reynolds was sold at auction Saturday for $495,000 at a sale held by Barrett-Jackson.