In a rare public appearance, Burt Reynolds revealed how many cars they wrecked making Smokey and 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. For Smokey and the Bandit II (1980), Needham asked for and received 10 Trans Ams and 55 Bonnevilles with no trouble. The remaining Smokey and the Bandit Trans Am is currently owned by Florida car collector John Staluppi. Bill Justis is the first name on the credits for the soundtrack, as he composed and arranged original music throughout the film. Pontiac should have made a radio that played that song automatically simply by pushing a button, or maybe made it the horn sound. 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 I was a kid I thought they were the same person. That said, an uncomplimentary accent does exist. Ive always wanted some sort of de-commission/ex unmarked cop car, something from the 70s preferably. The movie, in fact, caused sales of the . Please refresh the page and try again. I always think scumbum because when I watched it as a kid in the early 90s, it was usually on TBS. Some fellow classmates were extras on the film set, and it was a big deal around here at the time. As I am finishing this article while Big Truck Week is winding down, here is a Kenworth with a 1973 Dodge Polara patrol car. The dubbed version is awful. 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. Actually, there were 2 future Dukes stars in the movie: Ben Jones (Cooter) was in an early scene helping Big Enos find Bandit. Only one survived, and it's priceless. That song often pops into my head at the start of long drives. Sales almost doubled in two years, which is a very big deal given that the Trans Ams 1978 facelift was rather minor save for the front fascia. 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. Its W.W. The story replaced the Coors beer with Mobil 1 products. 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. Dodge pitchman Sheriff Joe Higgins. If you watched any of these clips, you heard a goodly number of phrases that still cannot be used on television in the United States. 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. 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. Additionally, he can give you several reasons why theres still no replacement for displacement. I grew up in Illinois, within eyeshot of the banks of the MIssissippi River, and ten miles from Cape Girardeau, Missouri. ARRGH! Field enjoyed making the film, but remembers that virtually the entire project was improvised. Thats all well and good, and it worked smooth as silk for a good while. With Reynolds agreement to do the movie, and his insistence upon casting Gleason as Sheriff Justice, the movie became a larger venture. 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. Buford, with Junior along, ignores his jurisdiction and doggedly chases Bandit all the way to Georgia to retrieve Carrie while various mishaps cause his cruiser to disintegrate on the way. 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. As a publicity stunt, the Trans Ams used in the movie had different decals on the hood scoop. The sticker read "T/A 6.6," which was a reminder of the engine's 6.6-liter displacement. The film's editors, Walter Hannemann and Angelo Ross, were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing. Free shipping for many products! The trip to Texarkana is uneventful; soon after leaving for the return trip to Georgia, The Bandit encounters Frog, played by Sally Field. you can find it on amazon.com . and the Dixie Dance Kings, and Burts car was a 57 [56?] About two seconds after this picture was taken, these motorcycles were doing their best imitation of a stack of pancakes. Watching TV and Movies you would think that sales dropped to nil. Amazing how a combination of desire and unobtainability can make an ordinary product special. The films are indeed classic and very funny to this day. 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. Regular film-goers might not pay much attention to the car's engine sound, but gearheads will quickly notice that something is off. Movies like Mad Max: Fury Road and Furious 7 may ruin a lot of cars, but they were far from the first. Here is the LeMans; Gleason literally drives the wheels off: As an aside, heres a curious bit of trivia. If it wasnt for Smokey & the Bandit, the Dukes of Hazzard TV series would not exist. Ive also looked at a Fox based LTD cop car and an early 1991 whale Caprice 9C1 detective model, burgundy on burgundy cloth. Starring Bob Hope, that comedic star of the screen, and the lovely Jane Russell boy what a pair! I never forgot that one. [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. [5] Reynolds revealed in his autobiography that Needham had written the first draft script on legal pads. Jackie Gleason ad libbed a lot of his lines too. Needing a fast set of wheels to distract law enforcement, Reynolds character purchases this 1977 Pontiac Trans-Am. 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. 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. Sure Smokey helped, but was not the sole reason T/A and F body sales went up. The decals were changed to 1977-style units, as evidenced by the engine size callouts on the hood scoop being in liters rather than cubic inches, as had been the case in 1976. Musicians such as Beegie Adair and George Tidwell[20] played on the soundtrack. 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. It had amazing throttle response, with a hit that either scared people, or made them giggle. Its weird how it works. The unrestored car reportedly showed up on eBay back in 2015, but no one wanted to buy it. As such, it took a lot of sweet talking by former stuntman Needham for Pontiac to cough up three Trans Ams and three LeManses. 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: . 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. After the movie came out, Firebird sales increased even more, but the Trans Am was now the most popular one. 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. 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. The original uncut sumbitch version. I remember borrowing my brothers red 1976 T/A to take a girl to the theater to see Smokey and the Bandit. Heres how it works. S&B is one of my all-time favorite movies and Im not apologizing. I developed a pretty good bootheel accent during my time in New Madrid. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). I ended up buying a 1969 Cadillac ambulance a year later! Ask him to choose between a BMW M4 and an Audi RS5, and hell gladly trade both for a beat-up Cuda. At the drive-in of all places. The commercials were produced after Stewart mentioned that the movie was one of his favorites.[39]. However, the U.S. government introduced new emission controls in 1972, and automakers had to step back. Gleason was given free rein to ad-lib dialogue and make suggestions. Her groom? 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. 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. $30.00 + $11.45 shipping. The comedy has been remastered to DVD standards. In its place was the nonsensical scum bum. The voice over actor? Before Gleason was cast in the film, Richard Boone was originally considered for the role of Buford T. I am pretty sure it was filmed in Florida, when I-75 was under construction so they could use the highways while empty. I drive a conversion van. 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 . 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. All I know is, at the time, if you lived in the east, Coors was some really special beer not unlike microbrews are now. As I did Steve McQueen and Paul Newman. So many classic quotes in this movie. 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. In addition to the four Trans Ams, Needham also received two Pontiac LeMans models to serve as patrol cars in the movie. Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, There was still a market for bras in the 1970s. The Trans Am was a high-performance package for the Firebird, Pontiac's take on the Chevrolet Camaro. 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. Luckily, both cars survived, and the Trans Am became famous only five years later. Except for Gleason, the original actors mostly redubbed their lines for the television version. Nuts about any form of classic motorsport and muscle cars, Ciprian's currently working on a time machine that would take him back to the 1960s for a long vacation alongside Dan Gurney and Jim Hall. Remember that Smokey and the Bandit was the 2nd biggest movie of the year, right after Star Wars. [24] With an original budget of $5.3 million (cut to $4.3 million two days before initial production),[4] the film eventually grossed $126,737,428 in North America,[25] making it the second-highest-grossing movie of 1977 (only Star Wars earned more, with $221.3 million). Gotta love that guy! The rub? Soon as I get home, first thing Im gonna do is punch yo mamma in da mouth!. Mrs Jason wont let me sell the sumbitch. A couple of years ago, I was sitting around on a lazy Saturday afternoon and it was on TV. I was in the Air Force during this era, stationed in California. His personaround, dumpy, and clipping wordsreminds one of another fictional southern sheriff. It just seems wrong to see that car in any fashion without hearing that song. A dastardly scoundrel? She is a runaway bride, sitting on the side of the road in her 1973 Chevrolet Impala coupe. I prefer Buford T. Justices 1980 Pontiac Bonneville and his 1983 Pontiac Bonneville in Smokey and The Bandit III. J.J. & The Dixie Dance Kings was a milder one that had (I think) a 56 Buick Century . Henry Corden, the voice of cartoon character Fred Flintstone. 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. The Bandit Run quickly became a fixture, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the movie with a special 2017 screening of the film attended by Reynolds and a recreation of the jump undertaken by the Bandit and Frog across a river. Let us dissect this flick to better examine it. Tragically, every Trans Am used in filming was destroyed. S&TB was filmed primarily off Route 400 in Georgia. 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. These questions all need to be answered. Most of the dialogue was improvised on set. 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. Comments [11] The movie was primarily filmed in Georgia, in the cities of McDonough, Jonesboro, and Lithonia. When Smokey & The Banditfirst aired on television in the early 1980s, the Gleason phrase sum bitcha regional butchering of son of a bitchhad to be dubbed out. I remember that it had a bunch of trim badges on the center of the dashboard. Was it a heathen? My drivers ed driving range car was an ex-patrol colonnade Pontiac LeMans Enforcer. Cinemablend is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. 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. 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. Gator , Stroker Ace , lots of them . These new models were built off the same Camaro platform, came with the Pontiac arrowhead, flaming bird, and Bandit logos, and the instrument panels, center consoles, and hood scoops emulating their 1977 counterparts, and were signed by Reynolds. 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. And the 400 Pontiac or 403 Olds versions could be made to run well. The scene where Sheriff Justice's car has the door knocked off by a passing . 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. 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. Gleason probably wanted too much money to provide the dubbing, which is a shame because it ruins the TV version. So, for years one, two, and three, he got a shiny new Pontiac. A Pontiac wagon from earlier in the decade. When it was over, I cried and cried and cried because I didnt want it to end. The cars were 1976 models, the engines fitted to them were 455ci powerplants, the last year these engines were offered for sale before withdrawal. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. A segment of the CMT program Reel Eats used a sloppy joe-style recipe consisting of seasoned ground beef, corn, and sour cream. Smokey and the Bandit was the second highest-grossing domestic film of 1977 in the United States. I looked at a Bluesmobile worthy 1977 Plymouth Grand Fury, the big ones, it was an ex Florida Highway Patrol car, but it had a pretty good amount of rust and it was pretty beat. While watching the movie (yes, I did have to diligently research this article), one shot seemed to indicate this may be a dummy scoop. And it was worth it for the brand, as the nameplate sales decided following the redesign. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cODPt3T0cHE, We got a cage strong enough to hold you "Smokey and the Bandit Pursuit Pack" is formatted as a box set that in presented in full color in widescreen. Burt Reynolds is originally a Georgia boy. http://www.leelofland.com/wordpress/john-fedack-my-days-as-a-dekalb-county-police-officer/. My family did all grocery shopping in Cape. Many nameplates lost their performance credentials, and some of them, like the Ford Mustang, were redesigned without a V-8 engine. 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). Some of the more recent DVD releases of it redid all of the engine sounds and it sounds much more mellow than the original(not happy about that). Many people believed beforehand that the film was not right for . In response, Needham told Reed that he liked the song so much that if Reed changed even a word or a note, Needham would "choke him". Some people have ripped this film as being thin on plot; others have called it a documentary about life south of the Mason-Dixon Line. And lets not forget the Trans Am rental car Steve McQueen drove in his very last movie, The Hunter from 1980. We gonna do what they say cant be done . 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. Oh, and a hooker girlfriend that looked like Annie Potts. 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. Wouldnt the accent give you away? Burt Reynolds himself drove the car on stage to the song "East Bound and Down" and signed it. Smokey and the Bandit star Burt Reynolds passed away in 2018 . As Frog leaves, we are introduced to Sheriff Buford T. Justice, played by Jackie Gleason. I know, Ive owned a 75 for 23 years. The movie is responsible for something, by 1979 Pontiac was selling 100,000 plus Trans Ams, not the whole Firebird line, JUST Trans Ams, Pontiac sold more T/As in 1979 than any of the cheaper Firebirds combined, Smokey and the Bandit had to have a hand in that. You will receive a verification email shortly. 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. It outsold its Chevrolet Camaro counterpart for the first time. 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". This movie just showed how much an urban legend the supposed unobtainability had become. I loved the fact that Jackie Gleasons brown Lemans had a blue vinyl interior and it even had the luxury cushion steering wheel! But 1978 returned sales of 93,351 examples, a jump of around 25,000 cars. He paid $550,000 for it, likely a record for any Pontiac Firebird. 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. The Trans Am used in the movie was a 1976 model with the front end of a 1977 car. Will Walker: Independence Return For Season 2 Amid CW Shakeups? The truck at the shell station is actually a 75 or 76 Toyota Hilux. 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. In 1978, Pontiac delivered 93,351 Trans Ams and 93,944 regular Firebirds for a grand total of 187,295 cars. At the time, Reynolds was the top box office star in the world. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Burt Reynolds recently revealed the ridiculous number of Pontiac Trans Ams they went through filming 1977s Smokey and the Bandit. The film's theme song, "East Bound and Down", was written virtually overnight by Reed. Misconception by casual novice car fans is that the Trams Am didnt sell well until S&B. It took four evenings to see almost all of the movie in bits and pieces. With Reynolds' salary at $1 million, Needham was left with only $3.3 million to make the film. 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. In return, Reynolds portrayed Boss Hogg (originally portrayed by Sorrell Booke) in the film adaptation The Dukes of Hazzard (2005). In the 1977 movie Smokey and the Bandit, a high-speed chase ensues between the police and the Bandit (Burt Reynolds). With that in mind, Ill go with what Ive heard from my Georgia friends, to wit Sheriff Justices diablo sandwich is the Macon version, which is made with fried eggs and red hots. 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. . Revisit this scene featuring "East Bound and. Want proof? 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. Below is probably another DeKalb County cop car. 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. [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. 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. 1979 was equally successful for the brand, joining 1978 to create Pontiac's best sales years ever. I actually remember the construction of that segment of I-75, as it stopped around Tampa prior to that time. Pontiac gave Needham a total of four cars, three to use in the movie, and one as a promotional vehicle to drive around and advertise Smokey and the Bandit following its release. How many police cars were wrecked in Smokey and the Bandit? All pictures from the movie were acquired from www.imcdb.org, Fred Lives!!! Well, the Corvettes success is clearly due to Corvette Summer, @Jim I remember that movie! 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 . It cornered amazingly well for such a large car, but the posi rear end emitted ominous sounds so I passed on it (I was in college and didnt have any place to do major repairs).
