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. The redesign was originally planned for 1980, but 1978 and 1979 became record years for GM's division, so the new model was pushed back. 1975 Plymouth Fury Police Pursuit Arkansas State Police "Smokey and The [10], Principal photography of the film began on August 30, 1976. High estimates for the car were up to $80,000, but the actual sale price was $450,000. [21], Smokey and the Bandit was a sleeper hit. Some fellow classmates were extras on the film set, and it was a big deal around here at the time. 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. 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. With Reynolds agreement to do the movie, and his insistence upon casting Gleason as Sheriff Justice, the movie became a larger venture. Other sources in East Texas (from whence Sheriff Justice hails) are familiar with the popular regional delicacy known as the Diablo Sandwich. Film critic Leonard Maltin gave the film a good rating (3 stars out of a possible 4) and characterized it as "about as subtle as The Three Stooges, but a classic compared to the sequels and countless rip-offs which followed". Free shipping for many products! Ive always wanted some sort of de-commission/ex unmarked cop car, something from the 70s preferably. While watching the movie (yes, I did have to diligently research this article), one shot seemed to indicate this may be a dummy scoop. For this purpose, they overdubbed dialogue deemed offensive, which was common practice. Needham and assistant director David Hamburger spent 30 hours revising the shooting schedule.[4]. Free shipping for many products! I also own a Etrl replica of the Pontiac Bonneville Buford T. Justice drove in Smokey and The Bandit II. After the movie did well, Pontiac gave Burt a free Trans Am to drive for a few years. Id like to hear from Mr. Needham why so many of those police cars had what look like shaker hood scoops. Back then if Ida wanted an ex Police Car its be a CHP salvage Dodge or Plymouth ~ BIG roomy and _comfy_ , handled well and went like stink . I know that Trans Am that . . Just after re-entering Georgia, Snowman is rescued by Bandit after being stopped by a Georgia State Patrol motorcycle trooper, and state and local police intensely pursue Bandit with roadblocks and a helicopter to track his movement. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cODPt3T0cHE, We got a cage strong enough to hold you 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. The truck at the shell station is actually a 75 or 76 Toyota Hilux. It was his idea to have Junior alongside him throughout the film. Needing a fast set of wheels to distract law enforcement, Reynolds character purchases this 1977 Pontiac Trans-Am. [14] The Trans Ams were actually 1976-model cars with 1977 front ends (from 1970 to 1976, both the Firebird/Trans Am and Chevrolet Camaro have two round headlights and in 1977, the Firebird/Trans Am was changed to four rectangular headlights, and the Camaro remained unchanged). Burt Reynolds recently revealed the ridiculous number of Pontiac Trans Ams they went through filming 1977s Smokey and the Bandit. (it did taste a lot better than Bud as I recall). Producers of Smokey and the Bandit wrecked 26 cars while filming the movie in 1977. The film's editors, Walter Hannemann and Angelo Ross, were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing. And Coors itself limited its distribution to west of the Mississippi. I am still drawn to the shape of these cars, and others that have that long and low look about them. 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. The three movie cars were destroyed during various stunts, so the promo car is the only surviving Trans Am connected to this film. CC Cinema: The Cars of "Smokey & The Bandit - Curbside Classic The owner restored it and sold it at the Scottsdale 2016 auction by Barrett-Jackson. I recall reading somewhere that the Trans Am that did the bridge jump had a tweaked Chevy 350 in it with a stick, and of course that it was WO after the jump. 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. 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. A diablo sammich from my understanding is a like a Sloppy Joe but with taco seasoning added in for spice. 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". a custom mandrel bent dual exhaust, and the Mondello bottom end plate to stabilize the windowed mains. This same restaurant was used for a scene in the 1983 Stephen King Movie Christine, which was ultimately cut in the final film (it can be viewed as a deleted scene on the DVD release of the film). In the U.K., the heavily dubbed version was shown for several years, particularly by the BBC. [31] Smokey and the Bandit was released in the United Kingdom on August 28 and was a success there, garnering positive reviews. Somewhere along the line, the company acquired a new president who told Reynolds: Im the new president, and I dont like your movies. 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. [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 will confess that by the time this movie was out, I was a Mopar guy. A black Trans Am is parked in my garage because of this movie. The advertisements lampoon the film and feature a Pontiac Trans Am and a cover version of the song East Bound and Down. 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. Gas was a buck a gallon at the time so fuel economy wasnt a major issue. Justice. Im probably in the minority as usual, but I prefer the Black and Gold 50th Anne. I was in the Air Force during this era, stationed in California. During this time, the Firebird also surpassed sales figures of the Chevrolet Camaro. [32], After the debut of the film, the Pontiac Trans Am became wildly popular, with sales almost doubling within two years of the film's release. Out of four Trans Ams used for the filming of Smokey And The Bandit, three were completely totaled in the process. The roller coaster in the movie was the Greyhound. As such, it took a lot of sweet talking by former stuntman Needham for Pontiac to cough up three Trans Ams and three LeManses. Car movies are notorious for being tough on the very vehicles that give them their allure. I prefer Buford T. Justices 1980 Pontiac Bonneville and his 1983 Pontiac Bonneville in Smokey and The Bandit III. No more needs to be said. I think thats another line theyve edited out for the television version. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. If it wasnt for Smokey & the Bandit, the Dukes of Hazzard TV series would not exist. I have since moved on from them, mainly because in stock form, they were not particularly great cars (though good enough for the times). A 1975 Pontiac Grand Ville, seen toward the end of the movie. 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. A Pontiac wagon from earlier in the decade. 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. 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. Olds 88. A paper on Cognitive psychology was published in the 1990 issue of Computers in Human Perception. Supposedly there was a stick car for the burnouts and an automatic car for other shots. That parking lot was full of Trans Ams! "Smokey and the Bandit" stars Burt Reynolds, Sally . While it's sad that the other two cars were destroyed . Burt Reynolds himself drove the car on stage to the song "East Bound and Down" and signed it. J.J. & The Dixie Dance Kings was a milder one that had (I think) a 56 Buick Century . It wasnt distributed in Washington in those days either. Chevy almost did the same with its counterpart, the Camaro. 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. This phrase achieved a level of popularity with children and the 2007 Hot Wheels release of the 1970s Firebird Trans Am has "scum bum" emblazoned on its tail. In the movie . Tragically, every Trans Am used in filming was destroyed. Nah, they survived by coming up with bras with very thin cups. Misconception by casual novice car fans is that the Trams Am didnt sell well until S&B. 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. What were the police cars in Smokey and the Bandit? 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. All I know is, at the time, if you lived in the east, Coors was some really special beer not unlike microbrews are now. AWESOME! And it was worth it for the brand, as the nameplate sales decided following the redesign. The film features the custom clothing and costuming of Niver Western Wear of Fort Worth, Texas. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1980 ERTL SMOKEY & THE BANDIT PONTIAC FIREBIRD DIECAST CAR police car set at the best online prices at eBay! A 1977 special-edition model once owned by the late actor Burt Reynolds recently wound up on the car auction website Bring a Trailer. The Trans Am was already pretty popular in the mid-1970s, with sales hitting 68,745 units in 1977. [40] Major portions of the audio background have been modified with different engine sounds or tire squeals from the original film. Field enjoyed making the film, but remembers that virtually the entire project was improvised. The scene where Sheriff Justice's car has the door knocked off by a passing . Im still trying to get clarification on what a diablo sandwich is though. Set with his . It was a powerful car, and I was glad to be issued it as my range car instead of one of the new but already disintegrating 1985 Oldsmobiles supplied by a local dealer that most people had. 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. But while the cars shown in the movie look like 1977-model-year Trans Ams, they were actually 1976 models. 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. One guy did a while ago a fan-made trailer of Smokey & the Bandit 4. 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.. Required fields are marked *. 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. But 1978 returned sales of 93,351 examples, a jump of around 25,000 cars. The area around Helen, Georgia, was used for some locations. It had not been used for some time and was repainted for the film. Smokey and the Bandit was all realistic and non fictional, and it still was a big hit that brought a lot of money to Hal Needham and the actors, to pay Pontiac back. 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. The 1977 model wasn't out yet when filming began, so General Motors provided 1976 cars with front clips from the soon-to-be-released 1977 update. [29] Alfred Hitchcock claimed that the film was one of his favorites. I enjoyed the hell out of my 1976 Dart Pursuit. However, the U.S. government introduced new emission controls in 1972, and automakers had to step back. The Trans Am used in the movie was a 1976 model with the front end of a 1977 car. About two seconds after this picture was taken, these motorcycles were doing their best imitation of a stack of pancakes. An effort to recreate a jump from Smokey and the Bandit doesn't go perfectly when the car takes a rough course off the ramp. He gave Needham a preview of the song and, getting no reaction, offered to rewrite it. Despite growing up next to Cape, most of relatives are from the Mid-South. Cause theyre thirsty in Atlanta Its amazing, you should watch it. The 79-year-old 70s and 80s heartthrob made a rare public appearance over the weekend at Wizard World Chicago. The MASSIVE year over year sales gains came from somewhere. [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. Jana, another oddity was that I could go to Carbondale and be asked where down south I was from. Now then you mentionned Sheriff JW Pepper, I decided to post some Youtube clips of him. 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. Due to his financial difficulties in 2014, Reynolds put his vast collection of artwork and memorabilia up for auction, including the Trans Am. S/E T/A with the round headlights. It was something regarding distribution limits. Reynolds is referenced by name in several early episodes of the series. 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. There are an abundance of cars in this movie. The dubbed version is awful. January 24, 2019 100 comments. Most of the shots that show Reynolds and Field in the car talking were filmed with the T/A being towed along on a lowboy trailer. Have the movie, cheesy as hell, but does have appearances by several NASCAR drivers of the day, including Dale Earnhardt (Senior, not Jr) Kyle Petty, Harry Gant, and one of my favorites of the era, Tim Richmond. Jane Russell hawked bras on television for full-figured gals like her, a line that evoked snickers among my high-school classmates. Much of the surrounding scene comes from that immediate vicinity. how many cars were destroyed in smokey and the bandit 2 - onlytows.com.au Somehow this store had a regular supply. Thats all true. I drive a conversion van. 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. Thank you for signing up to CinemaBlend. 14 Little-Known Facts About The Smokey And The Bandit Trans-Am - HotCars Stroker Ace is after S&B, 1983, and features the then new for 83 aero Fox Body Thunderbird. I'm afraid I was responsible for a good few of those. The remaining Smokey and the Bandit Trans Am is currently owned by Florida car collector John Staluppi. At the time, it was illegal to transport Coors east of the Mississippi River and a series of other truckers had been apprehended for trying to accomplish this feat for the Burdettes. Now, having only three Trans Ams to wreck for a movie is minimalist, to say the least. 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. 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! At one point in the movie, the Bandit wrecks a police car. But would the black and gold T/As be as desirable today without the movie? http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_301466-Ford-LTD-II-1977.html.
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