http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_301466-Ford-LTD-II-1977.html. As luck and script writing would have it, Frog has left her groom at the altar. How many smokey and the bandit movies are there? 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. A couple of years ago, I was sitting around on a lazy Saturday afternoon and it was on TV. Trigger had a big impact on my taste in cars with the Trans Ams of the late 70s being my favorite. [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. Let me get the popcorn for this one. Burt Reynolds' 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Sold for $240,000. 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. Burt Reynolds is originally a Georgia boy. 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. 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?????? 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. Other than Jackie Gleason upstaging every other cast member, the perceived star of the show is this 1977 Pontiac Trans Am. radio to help him out. 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. Some of the original sound effects (such as Cledus's dog Fred barking) and music (such as the final chase to the Southern Classic) were removed and not replaced. The side vents give it away. For this purpose, they overdubbed dialogue deemed offensive, which was common practice. With this, the Sheriff begins his pursuit of the Mann Act-violating Banditall the way to Georgia. Funny that T/A isnt on the movie poster, considering it was the obvious star of the show. A dastardly scoundrel? So why did they go with sound effects instead of the Trans Am's actually exhaust noise? 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. While made to take advantage of the ongoing 1970s CB radio fad, the film added to the craze. In particular, the scene where Sheriff Justice unknowingly encounters the Bandit in the "choke and puke" (a roadside diner) was not in the original story but was rather Gleason's idea. I still think its more entertaining than Star Wars. I actually remember the construction of that segment of I-75, as it stopped around Tampa prior to that time. Most of the dialogue was improvised on set. 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. This reminds me of the classic introduction (actually written by Dick Cavett) said by Jack Paar on The Tonight Show: I was 3 years old when the original came out, and do not remember any of these details but, supposedly this was the first movie my parents ever took me to. 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. Due to his financial difficulties in 2014, Reynolds put his vast collection of artwork and memorabilia up for auction, including the Trans Am. And theres beer in Texarkana.. After the movie did well, Pontiac gave Burt a free Trans Am to drive for a few years. Car movies are notorious for being tough on the very vehicles that give them their allure. UNIVERSAL CUT THE BUDGET JUST AS PRODUCTION WAS ABOUT TO BEGIN. What were the police cars in Smokey and the Bandit? Weve got a long way to go and a short time to get there Whaddya expect outta a guy what drives a conversion van? [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. Burt Reynolds once claimed in an interview that there were actually 12 Trans Ams featured in Smokey and the Banditand he wrecked every one. If I recall correctly, Firebirds in general (along with Camaros) were selling well prior to 1977, but the Trans Am was not the best-selling one. He paid $550,000 for it, likely a record for any Pontiac Firebird. Just do a search for Crown Victorias on your local CL. I am still drawn to the shape of these cars, and others that have that long and low look about them. Needham originally planned the film as a low-budget B movie with a production cost of $1 million,[4] with Reed as the Bandit. S&TB was filmed primarily off Route 400 in Georgia. When I was a kid I thought they were the same person. 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. 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. 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. I think thats another line theyve edited out for the television version. The unrestored car reportedly showed up on eBay back in 2015, but no one wanted to buy it. After passing Buford's badly damaged cruiser on the roadside, Bandit gets on the CB and initially directs him to the Burdettes, but then respectfully gives his real locationright behind Buford, who continues his chase leaving Junior behind, and with more parts falling off his cruiser as he limps off after Bandit. The story replaced the Coors beer with Mobil 1 products. This movie came out during my early formative years pre grade school. Thank you for signing up to CinemaBlend. Seven: (Three with Burt Reynolds and Crew, and Four without) Smokey and the Bandit - 1977 Smokey and the Bandit II - 1980 Smokey and the Bandit III . ", "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. 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. Ive always loved this movie. East bound and down, loaded up and truckin 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. His expletive is obscured when a passing big rig sounds its horn. Want proof? 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. 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. Ask him to choose between a BMW M4 and an Audi RS5, and hell gladly trade both for a beat-up Cuda. My drivers ed driving range car was an ex-patrol colonnade Pontiac LeMans Enforcer. Duarte or maybe ir was Arcadia , it was white with a red & blue pinstripe , we dropped $400 (an ungodly sum back then) on a re paint and pin striping but could _not_ sell that wretched POC , it took us two years IIRC . I drive a conversion van. . Many of the film's original sounds were replaced. For Smokey and the Bandit II (1980), Needham asked for and received 10 Trans Ams and 55 Bonnevilles with no trouble. Here's What We Know So Far, Jonathan Majors On Getting Jacked To Play Kang The Conqueror: Hes In The Avenger (Weight) Class, How 90 Day Fianc: The Other Way's Kris And Jeymi Might Have Already Spoiled Their Storyline, Why Creed IIIs Michael B. Jordan Avoided Saying Action Or Cut On The Set, Young Sheldon's Iain Armitage Reacting To Surprise Video From Survivor's Jeff Probst Is Like Sheldon Cooper Meeting Leonard Nimoy. Filmmakers destroyed 230 cars in the filming of 'Furious 7.' Smokey And The Bandit: A Car-chase Classic. It outsold its Chevrolet Camaro counterpart for the first time. 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. how many cars were destroyed in smokey and the bandit 2 how many cars were destroyed in smokey and the bandit 2 (No Ratings Yet) . About two seconds after this picture was taken, these motorcycles were doing their best imitation of a stack of pancakes. [12] The area around Helen, Georgia, was used for some locations. The scenes set in Texarkana were filmed in Jonesboro and the surrounding area and many of the chase scenes were filmed in the surrounding areas on Highway 54 between Fayetteville and Jonesboro for a majority of the driving scenes, Mundy's Mill Road, Main Street in Jonesboro, Georgia State Route 400, I-85 (Pleasant Hill exit) and in McDonough. Needing a fast set of wheels to distract law enforcement, Reynolds character purchases this 1977 Pontiac Trans-Am. 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. Learn how your comment data is processed. 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 advertisements lampoon the film and feature a Pontiac Trans Am and a cover version of the song East Bound and Down. 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. The scoops were added by the department because the engines ran so hot. In a rare public appearance, Burt Reynolds revealed how many cars they wrecked making Smokey and 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! I had no idea that it was going to become a 70s classic. Many hardcore fans of Burt Reynolds' most iconic movie, 1977's "Smokey and The Bandit," know that none of those cool black Pontiac Trans Ams with gold trim survived the stunts in the film. How much did the Smokey and the Bandit car sell for? 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. Some weren't that lucky and were discontinued altogether. If it wasnt for Smokey & the Bandit, the Dukes of Hazzard TV series would not exist. Here's everything you should know about one of the most iconic movie cars ever. I prefer Buford T. Justices 1980 Pontiac Bonneville and his 1983 Pontiac Bonneville in Smokey and The Bandit III. Gas was a buck a gallon at the time so fuel economy wasnt a major issue. Several other groups, such as the U.S. rock band Tonic and U.K.-based country cover band We Be Ploughin' have also covered it. Thanks for this, Jason. How many police cars were wrecked in Smokey and the Bandit? As I did Steve McQueen and Paul Newman. If you watched the second clip above, this truck should look familiar. The film's theme song, "East Bound and Down", was written virtually overnight by Reed. 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. Amazing how a combination of desire and unobtainability can make an ordinary product special. 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. The MASSIVE year over year sales gains came from somewhere. The truck at the shell station is actually a 75 or 76 Toyota Hilux. Wouldnt the accent give you away? . 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. Soon as I get home, first thing Im gonna do is punch yo mamma in da mouth!. Anyway, on the trip east, we stopped at a grocery in Topeka, Kansas and bought 16-18 cases of Coors, all that we had room for in the car. Well, at least that's what you saw in the movie. However, as our heroes were successful in delivering their truckload of Coors, the writers effectively poised themselves for a sequel. How many police cars were wrecked in Smokey and the Bandit? In fact, after Smokey and the Bandit became a box office hit, Pontiac saw a marked increase in their stock prices. And lets not forget the Trans Am rental car Steve McQueen drove in his very last movie, The Hunter from 1980. I'm afraid I was responsible for a good few of those. . However, the scene where they drive through the Shell gas station was filmed in Ojai, California, on the corner of Ojai Avenue and El Paseo Road. Burt Reynolds plays truck driver Bo Bandit Darville. 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 black Trans Am is parked in my garage because of this movie. I am indeed a fan. . Reynolds actively pushed for her casting after Universal initially resisted, claiming Field was not attractive enough. And it was worth it for the brand, as the nameplate sales decided following the redesign. One guy did a while ago a fan-made trailer of Smokey & the Bandit 4. [22] It premiered at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, where it performed badly. I have at least 4 really good car buddies that will from time to time love popping this movie in to watch. It was something regarding distribution limits. Nothing annoys him more than car electronics, and he just hates it when performance cars lack a third pedal. For instance, the diesel engine start and run-up sequence in the opening sequence of the film were completely dubbed over with a new sound. Coors was legal in Missouri and illegal in Illinois. Ive also looked at a Fox based LTD cop car and an early 1991 whale Caprice 9C1 detective model, burgundy on burgundy cloth. Reynolds is referenced by name in several early episodes of the series. The little packy there had Coors and even though it was horribly expensive, we thought it was the elixer of the Gods. Oh, and a hooker girlfriend that looked like Annie Potts. A blackguard? 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 agree, despite people saying you sound cute, it seems like they think Ellie Mae Clapett or Jethro Bodean. They destroyed all those cars in the films he said. Here in Canada they didnt censor it, so we always got the sumbitch version. The owner restored it and sold it at the Scottsdale 2016 auction by Barrett-Jackson. S&B is one of my all-time favorite movies and Im not apologizing. While the initial concern was it having a regional appeal, it would ultimately play as well in New York City and Chicago as it did Atlanta, Georgia, or Biloxi, Mississippi. In 1976-78, while a high school student in Norwalk, CT, me and a few buddies would routinely drive up to Vista, NY, which was just over the state line. Originally, the film was going to be a B-movie played only in the Southern United States. Gator , Stroker Ace , lots of them . He gave Needham a preview of the song and, getting no reaction, offered to rewrite it. Of course, it wasnt hard to wake them up. 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. Im east bound, just watch ol Bandit run.. Anyone with insight is encouraged to share their knowledge on this. I ended up buying a 1969 Cadillac ambulance a year later! [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. [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). Im still trying to get clarification on what a diablo sandwich is though. MN12 Thunderbirds had the same appeal to me, for similar reasons. Required fields are marked *. These two 1967 Ford Galaxies (CC here), soon to be redecorated by a Kenworth road tractor, do not. Jackie Gleason ad libbed a lot of his lines too. Five-string banjo player Bobby Thompson is prominent toward the end of "East Bound and Down". 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). Coors wasnt pasteurized. 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. (Still). 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. 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. you can find it on amazon.com . News . 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. I have worked a long time to eradicate the one I had but it still crops up periodically from exposure, like you experienced. 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. The whereabouts of the remaining Smokey and the Bandit car, the one that was used to promote the movie, remained a mystery for years. It seems Plymouth was in a distant second for product placement. 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 . 12 A Total Of 3 Trans Ams Were Destroyed During Filming. I enjoyed the hell out of my 1976 Dart Pursuit. Burt Reynolds may be 79, but he shows no signs of slowing down. At the drive-in of all places. Reynolds replied: We went through 12. In the movie . 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. 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. a custom mandrel bent dual exhaust, and the Mondello bottom end plate to stabilize the windowed mains. Sales jumped even higher in 1979 when Pontiac moved 117,108 Trans Ams. 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. It had amazing throttle response, with a hit that either scared people, or made them giggle.
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