1-Smokey and the Bandit-The classic, the original, and the best one by FAR. 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. how many cars were destroyed in smokey and the bandit 2. That song often pops into my head at the start of long drives. I also own a Etrl replica of the Pontiac Bonneville Buford T. Justice drove in Smokey and The Bandit II. [5] Reynolds revealed in his autobiography that Needham had written the first draft script on legal pads. The rub? There has never been anything quite like late 1970s fashion in clothing. I certainly hope the guy hired to drive that 74 Ford Torino wagon was paid well for his work. [17], In 1977, Coors was unavailable for sale east of Oklahoma. The change was somewhat strange as most automakers were using cubic-inch numerals to advertise engines. During their run, they are pursued by Texas county sheriff Buford T. Justice (Gleason). That girl from the McCoys video probably looks like Paula Deen now. The Trans Am was a high-performance package for the Firebird, Pontiac's take on the Chevrolet Camaro. For Smokey and the Bandit II (1980), Needham asked for and received 10 Trans Ams and 55 Bonnevilles with no trouble. . It took four evenings to see almost all of the movie in bits and pieces. Amazing how a combination of desire and unobtainability can make an ordinary product special. How much did the Smokey and the Bandit car sell for? Thats all true. 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. 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. A CC for a 1973 Grand Ville convertible can be found here. 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. Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox would bring several cases after playing on the West Coast, by stashing them in the equipment trunks on the team's plane. IMCDb.org: 1977 Pontiac LeMans in "Smokey and the Bandit, 1977" [21], Smokey and the Bandit was a sleeper hit. Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, Two of the most high-octane films of 2015, Mad Max: Fury Road and Furious 7, each burned through hundreds (Furious 7 alone destroyed a reported 230 cars), but theyre far from the first to do so. 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. I have only seen pieces of the second and none of the third; I plan to keep it that way. I still regret selling mine almost 30 years ago. "Smokey and the Bandit Pursuit Pack" is formatted as a box set that in presented in full color in widescreen. Ironically I never really cared all that much for Coors, I dont think it has much flavor, but it was well received when we got to Kentucky. 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. how many cars were destroyed in smokey and the bandit 2 - onlytows.com.au 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. So, for years one, two, and three, he got a shiny new Pontiac. Sheriff Justices son, Junior. The roller coaster in the movie was the Greyhound. He paid $550,000 for it, likely a record for any Pontiac Firebird. Burt Reynolds himself drove the car on stage to the song "East Bound and Down" and signed it. Television censorship and alternative versions, second highest-grossing domestic film of 1977, AFI's 100 Years100 Heroes and Villains, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Smokey and the Bandit at 35: A Case for the Genius of Hal Needham", "Greyhound Lakewood Park (Atlanta, Georgia, USA)", "Burt Reynolds' old Pontiac Trans Am replica sold for $317,500", "An Interview With Jim Wangers: Pontiac and the 1970's", "How the Bandit, Coors and a bunch of Makers changed the course of booze history", "Various Smokey And The Bandit (Music From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)", "Smokey and the Bandit, Box Office Information", "Burt Reynolds at the 2015 Macon Film Festival", "Seven Quirky Lowbrow Favorite Films of Highbrow Directors", "Remembering Hal Needham and the Birth of Redneck Cinema", "Smokey and the Bandit Film from RadioTimes", "Burt Reynolds' Bandit Trans Am sells for $450,000", "See a "New" Vintage Bandit Trans Am Approved by Burt Reynolds Himself", "Diablo Sandwich Recipe from CMT's Reel Eats", "Diablo Sandwich / "Diablo & Doc" From Smokey & the Bandit, Identified! CC Cinema: The Cars of "Smokey & The Bandit - Curbside Classic Smokey and the Bandit | 4K Ultra HD | The Bandit Takes a 28 Hour Trip Three actors from the main cast of The Dukes of Hazzard appear in small uncredited roles in Smokey and the Bandit: Ben Jones, John Schneider, and Sonny Shroyer (who played a police officer in both). The Trans Am used in the movie was a 1976 model with the front end of a 1977 car. That's because Pontiac almost canceled the Firebird in the early 1970s. 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. A 1977 special-edition model once owned by the late actor Burt Reynolds recently wound up on the car auction website Bring a Trailer. I own all three films on a dvd called the Smokey and The Bandit Pursuit Pack. No more needs to be said. I am pretty sure it was filmed in Florida, when I-75 was under construction so they could use the highways while empty. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1975 Plymouth Fury Police Pursuit Arkansas State Police "Smokey and The Bandit" at the best online prices at eBay! In Smokey and the Bandit, there were eight 1977 Trans-Am cars and approximately the same number of police cars (but some said ten). Not a bad deal, but on the fourth year, no new car. If you watched the second clip above, this truck should look familiar. The trip to Texarkana is uneventful; soon after leaving for the return trip to Georgia, The Bandit encounters Frog, played by Sally Field. A 1975 Pontiac Grand Ville, seen toward the end of the movie. I think you may be confusing the movie Honky-Tonk Freeway with the filming done during I-75 construction near Sarasota. Many nameplates lost their performance credentials, and some of them, like the Ford Mustang, were redesigned without a V-8 engine. . You can see in some shots in the movie that the Bandit Trans Am has 1976 style gold honeycomb wheels instead of the gold snowflake wheels from the 1977, I think at least one of the cars used in filming was a 1976 converted with a 1977 front clip. [5], Universal Studios bankrolled Smokey and the Bandit for $5.3 million, figuring it was a good risk. I have worked a long time to eradicate the one I had but it still crops up periodically from exposure, like you experienced. January 24, 2019 100 comments. Back in 1984, I went to look at a late 1970s Plymouth cop car as well. The secrets behind the cars and stunts in 'The Italian Job' - Top Gear Burt Reynolds may be 79, but he shows no signs of slowing down. ", "The Bandit Run Brought to you by Restore A Muscle Car", "Stewart plays off 'Smokey and the Bandit in Mobil 1 ad", "Smokey and the Bandit: 40th Anniversary Edition", "Smokey and the Bandit II, Box Office Information", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Smokey_and_the_Bandit&oldid=1142751918, Pages using multiple image with auto scaled images, Album articles lacking alt text for covers, All articles that may contain original research, Articles that may contain original research from April 2022, Articles needing additional references from September 2018, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, "Incidental CB Dialogue" (Voice ["Bandit"] , "Incidental CB Dialogue" (Voice ["Bandit"] Burt Reynolds, Voice ["Smokey"] , "Incidental CB Dialogue" (Voice ["Bandit"] Burt Reynolds, Voice ["Smokey"] Jackie Gleason), George Reynolds as Sheriff George Branford, This page was last edited on 4 March 2023, at 04:45. 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). Good silly fun. With four miles left, Bandit, discouraged by the unexpected mounting attention, is ready to give up, but Snowman, who initially thought they would fail, takes the lead and smashes through the roadblock at the fairgrounds' main entrance. Somewhere along the line, the company acquired a new president who told Reynolds: Im the new president, and I dont like your movies. 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. I remember that it had a bunch of trim badges on the center of the dashboard. Your email address will not be published. Free shipping for many products! Im pretty sure that the car that barks second when he takes off with Frog had to be a stick. Hes fodder enough for his own article at some point. The Smokey and the Bandit Car - Carsforsale.com What were the police cars in Smokey and the Bandit? Needing a fast set of wheels to distract law enforcement, Reynolds character purchases this 1977 Pontiac Trans-Am. Over many viewings I noticed some scenes the car would skate around and take off like an animal while in others there were one-tire-fires and it would struggle to get going. 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. Olds 88. Required fields are marked *. The owner restored it and sold it at the Scottsdale 2016 auction by Barrett-Jackson. Due to his financial difficulties in 2014, Reynolds put his vast collection of artwork and memorabilia up for auction, including the Trans Am. The area around Helen, Georgia, was used for some locations. 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. http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_301466-Ford-LTD-II-1977.html. How many cars did they wreck in Smokey and the Bandit? Other sources in East Texas (from whence Sheriff Justice hails) are familiar with the popular regional delicacy known as the Diablo Sandwich. 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. In fact, after Smokey and the Bandit became a box office hit, Pontiac saw a marked increase in their stock prices. Except that shes not sagging. Sally Field and Burt Reynolds began a relationship after meeting on set. I loved the fact that Jackie Gleasons brown Lemans had a blue vinyl interior and it even had the luxury cushion steering wheel! As if GM owes them something. (Still). Neither Buford nor any other lawmen know of Snowman's illegal manifest, while Bandit is likewise unaware that Buford is chasing him because of Carrie, whose jumpiness inspires Bandit to give her the CB handle "Frog". Misconception by casual novice car fans is that the Trams Am didnt sell well until S&B. Lets take a look at some more cars found in the movie. Coors wasnt pasteurized. This movie came out during my early formative years pre grade school. a custom mandrel bent dual exhaust, and the Mondello bottom end plate to stabilize the windowed mains. 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". Great fun! The original uncut sumbitch version. I have since moved on from them, mainly because in stock form, they were not particularly great cars (though good enough for the times). 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. Somehow this store had a regular supply. Burt Reynolds plays truck driver Bo Bandit Darville. 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. At the time, using "fuck" would immediately require an R rating and this self-censorship allowed the film to avoid this rating and reach a much larger audience. [22] It premiered at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, where it performed badly. 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.. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. [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. As the 1969 classic 'The Italian Job' turns 50 years old, TG.com caught up with David Salamone, the man who piloted the red Mini in . [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. 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. These questions all need to be answered. Banzai! Smokey and the Bandit | East Bound and Down - YouTube Nice article Jason I was a fan of this movie when it came out I look back now and think, wow, did I really think this was entertainment?????? Except for Gleason, the original actors mostly redubbed their lines for the television version. The directorial debut of stuntman Hal Needham, the film follows Bo "Bandit" Darville (Reynolds) and Cledus "Snowman" Snow (Reed), two bootleggers attempting to illegally transport 400 cases of Coors beer from Texarkana to Atlanta. A paper on Cognitive psychology was published in the 1990 issue of Computers in Human Perception. And all of us easterners suddenly discovered it was nothing more than another Budweiser/Miller/etc. 14 Little-Known Facts About The Smokey And The Bandit Trans-Am - HotCars 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. I prefer Buford T. Justices 1980 Pontiac Bonneville and his 1983 Pontiac Bonneville in Smokey and The Bandit III. Well, the Corvettes success is clearly due to Corvette Summer, @Jim I remember that movie! 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. Cause theyre thirsty in Atlanta Theres really nothing like an old cop car. Round and dumpy, just like the Colonnade LeMans! In the Reynolds portion of the interview, he stated the movie prompted Trans Am sales to jump around 700%. While they did jump, from 46,700 in 1976 to 69,000 for 1977 with another 93,300 for 1978, it wasnt exactly 700%. News . Ive since read on the internet that it wasnt illegal so much as a practical thing with it being shipped in refrigerated trucks. For this purpose, they overdubbed dialogue deemed offensive, which was common practice. When Smokey and the Bandit first aired on American network television in the early 1980s, censors were faced with the challenge of toning down the raw language of the original film. 1975 Plymouth Fury Police Pursuit Arkansas State Police "Smokey and The He claimed that the Bandit is never made aware of Frog's leaving Junior at the altar, which is why the Bandit continually asks why a Texas sheriff is chasing him. He gave Needham a preview of the song and, getting no reaction, offered to rewrite it. Reynolds replied: We went through 12. The side vents give it away. Director Hal Needham convinced Pontiac to feature the Pontiac Trans Am in the movie. Burt Reynolds as the Bandit can always count on the truckers on the other end of his C.B. The cars were originally ordered by a car rental agency in Phoenix, who refused to accept the . So why did they go with sound effects instead of the Trans Am's actually exhaust noise? 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. [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. 13 Fast Facts About Smokey and the Bandit - Mental Floss 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. In its place was the nonsensical scum bum. The voice over actor? S&B is one of my all-time favorite movies and Im not apologizing. 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. Her groom? 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. Actually, there were 2 future Dukes stars in the movie: Ben Jones (Cooter) was in an early scene helping Big Enos find Bandit. [12] The area around Helen, Georgia, was used for some locations. I was to be paid a salary plus own 7% of the profits. I have always loved this movie, watched it dozens and dozens of times on TV, video, DVD, laserdisc, almost any form of media. There was a true concern (for some minuscule reason) about it going east of the Mississippi River. 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. It was his idea to have Junior alongside him throughout the film. In 2006, a DVD re-release was issued of Smokey and the Bandit featuring a digitally remastered audio track with 5.1 Dolby-compatible surround sound. [30] Upon meeting Reynolds, Billy Bob Thornton told him that the South considers the film to be less cinema and more documentary. The uncut version is the best. AWESOME! You want to questions bra sales, check out the youtube video of Hang on Sloopy by the Mccoys, the color version.wowza! MN12 Thunderbirds had the same appeal to me, for similar reasons. 3-Smokey and the Bandit 3-A crime against humanity, not even LSD can make it watchable since you spend the whole night fighting imaginary flying cobras with Jackie Gleasons head on them. At the time, Reynolds was the top box office star in the world. 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. Not everything was Pontiac, as evidenced by this 1973 Plymouth Satellite coupe (CC here). Id like to hear from Mr. Needham why so many of those police cars had what look like shaker hood scoops. 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 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. In the U.K., the heavily dubbed version was shown for several years, particularly by the BBC. Many people believed beforehand that the film was not right for . Sure Smokey helped, but was not the sole reason T/A and F body sales went up. Sales of the coupe exploded after the film hit the silver screen and set unprecedented records for both Pontiac and the Firebird nameplate. Some differences included the use of a supercharged 454-CID (7.4-liter) Chevrolet-sourced engine that put out 840 HP, and four round headlights, which appeared on the 196769 Firebirds/Trans Ams only; the actual 197781 models had rectangular headlights. I guess the Trans Am proved to have more staying power than the hot 71 Ford in the earlier movie. The whereabouts of the remaining Smokey and the Bandit car, the one that was used to promote the movie, remained a mystery for years. And back then what I wanted most of all was a highly customized Vette with exposed headlights. 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. 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. 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.

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