how many cars destroyed in smokey and the bandit how many cars destroyed in smokey and the bandit

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. Many nameplates lost their performance credentials, and some of them, like the Ford Mustang, were redesigned without a V-8 engine. Likely this isnt any rare engine venting package, but I could be wrong. I imagine that they borrowed some of the character from Sheriff JW Pepper from the 1973 and 1974 James Bond movies, Live and Let Die and The Man with the Golden Gun. Trigger had a big impact on my taste in cars with the Trans Ams of the late 70s being my favorite. There has never been anything quite like late 1970s fashion in clothing. In its place was the nonsensical "scum bum." . Now, having only three Trans Ams to wreck for a movie is minimalist, to say the least. That came out in 1981. 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. Ive since read on the internet that it wasnt illegal so much as a practical thing with it being shipped in refrigerated trucks. Watching TV and Movies you would think that sales dropped to nil. Tragically, every Trans Am used in filming was destroyed. 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. [30] Upon meeting Reynolds, Billy Bob Thornton told him that the South considers the film to be less cinema and more documentary. Free shipping for many products! Your email address will not be published. It seems Plymouth was in a distant second for product placement. Rockford Files also featured Firebird, and was on since 1974, and Fs sold well despite gas crunch I and inflation. It outsold its Chevrolet Camaro counterpart for the first time. These were the cans with the two circular push buttons on top instead of pull tabs. When it is finally torn off along with the car's roof in the impact with the girder, the missing fender still reappears later on in the film. January 24, 2019 100 comments. Gas was a buck a gallon at the time so fuel economy wasnt a major issue. Plus , I loved those late 1960s through mid 1970s Plymouths even though Im a Bowtie Guy by default . One of our favorite movies. Burt Reynolds may be 79, but he shows no signs of slowing down. A blackguard? My favorite would have been an ex-WSP 1970 Plymouth they were all Fury IIIs, white on blue with factory air and 440s under the hood; but none ever turned up when I was buying. Lets take a look. 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. Car movies are notorious for being tough on the very vehicles that give them their allure. It was destroyed in Smokey and the Bandit II and in a flashback scene in Part 3. And back then what I wanted most of all was a highly customized Vette with exposed headlights. In addition to the four Trans Ams, Needham also received two Pontiac LeMans models to serve as patrol cars in the movie. Gleason has a treasure trove of hilarious lines and it was this movie that started my love affair of cars back in the early 1980s. [21], Smokey and the Bandit was a sleeper hit. Im east bound, just watch ol Bandit run.. Remember that Smokey and the Bandit was the 2nd biggest movie of the year, right after Star Wars. Great write up. This was the lull between Gas Crisis I and II, 1976-78, and Boomers were wanting stylish cars. It wasnt distributed in Washington in those days either. 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. Smokey and the Bandit is a 1977 American road action comedy film starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jackie Gleason, Jerry Reed, Pat McCormick, Paul Williams and Mike Henry. At the time, Reynolds was the top box office star in the world. 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!) radio to help him out. There was still a market for bras in the 1970s. I am still drawn to the shape of these cars, and others that have that long and low look about them. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. He is hired by Big Enos Burdette and his son Little Enos to transport a truck load of Coors beer from Texarkana, Texas, back to Georgia in 28 hours. These Furys, as well as some of the LeMans units, have hood scoops. I remember borrowing my brothers red 1976 T/A to take a girl to the theater to see Smokey and the Bandit. How many cars destroyed Blues Brothers 2000? The film's editors, Walter Hannemann and Angelo Ross, were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing. http://www.leelofland.com/wordpress/john-fedack-my-days-as-a-dekalb-county-police-officer/. His automotive adventure started reporting on various motorsport events as a sports writer before moving onto a full-time auto career with various sites, including This Week In Motors and Autoevolution. A 1975 Pontiac Grand Ville, seen toward the end of the movie. It took four evenings to see almost all of the movie in bits and pieces. 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. In Smokey and the Bandit, there were eight 1977 Trans-Am cars and approximately the same number of police cars (but some said ten). 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. Supposedly there was a stick car for the burnouts and an automatic car for other shots. Burt Reynolds plays truck driver Bo Bandit Darville. The scene where Sheriff Justice's car has the door knocked off by a passing semi-truck was shot on Georgia State Route 75, 3 miles (4.8km) north of Helen. This movie just showed how much an urban legend the supposed unobtainability had become. It opened in other Northern states at the end of July. 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. 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. I think you may be confusing the movie Honky-Tonk Freeway with the filming done during I-75 construction near Sarasota. [37], The first run in 2007 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the movie, The Bandit Run was the brainchild of Dave Hall, owner of Restore A Muscle Car. While the Snowman drives the truck carrying the beer, the Bandit drives a Pontiac Trans Am to distract law enforcement (called blocking) and keep the attention off the Snowman. The little packy there had Coors and even though it was horribly expensive, we thought it was the elixer of the Gods. The other range car was a Chevette for people that wanted to learn on a manual transmission. Further, as Pontiac has deliciously obvious product placement, anyone who delights in 70s era Pontiac iron will experience visual ecstasy. Please to note I didnt say _I_ didnt like them as I was in my 20s then (early 1970s) so I hustled my self and my Russian girlfriend right on down to the cinema every time Burt Reynolds had a new flick , I personally loved his movies even the chick flicks like The Man Who Loved Women , I just had to hear earfuls from everyone else about how awful he / those movies were.. We even bought one of those Pontiac Police Specials on auction from. I still couldnt resist lighting up the Pontiacs tires while executing my T-turns. I've heard . For Smokey and the Bandit II (1980), Needham asked for and received 10 Trans Ams and 55 Bonnevilles with no trouble. Round and dumpy, just like the Colonnade LeMans! Theres really nothing like an old cop car. 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: . Funny that T/A isnt on the movie poster, considering it was the obvious star of the show. In fact, after Smokey and the Bandit became a box office hit, Pontiac saw a marked increase in their stock prices. Coors was legal in Missouri and illegal in Illinois. The films are indeed classic and very funny to this day. And theres this nugget from the director of the coming new Shazam movie; I first watched Smokey on quiet swing shifts from the drivers seat of a 1977 Pontiac Le Mans patrol car, parked by thr back fence of the drive-in theater at the far end of town. Let me get the popcorn for this one. Thanks for this, Jason. Id been driving for years by the time I was 15, so I just wanted to complete the course with as little static as possible. [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. 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. The whereabouts of the remaining Smokey and the Bandit car, the one that was used to promote the movie, remained a mystery for years. Anyone with insight is encouraged to share their knowledge on this. Not that Id kick either front end style out of the garage for dripping oil, as long as they dont have the 403 in them anyway. The DVD set meets NTSC standards. The tow truck driver was a local garage owner, Berlin Wike. They retained the white steering wheels until 72 or so , just the thing to preveny burned fingers in the Desert sun . Hes fodder enough for his own article at some point. 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. [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. Reynolds and Needham owned the Skoal Bandit team at the time, so getting these other drivers to appear probably would not taken much more than a six pack of beer and a hug from co-star Loni Anderson . [40] Major portions of the audio background have been modified with different engine sounds or tire squeals from the original film. 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. 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. As deals were made for the actors and producers, the studio wanted to renegotiate my deal.