I remember that it had a bunch of trim badges on the center of the dashboard. Needham originally planned the film as a low-budget B movie with a production cost of $1 million,[4] with Reed as the Bandit. In Smokey and the Bandit, there were eight 1977 Trans-Am cars and approximately the same number of police cars (but some said ten). [35], The "diablo sandwich" ordered by Sheriff Justice in the Arkansas barbecue restaurant scene has entered popular culture as a minor reference to the film. Probably the most famous TV edit of all time is I have had it with these monkey-fightin snakes on this Monday-to-Friday plane!. And all of us easterners suddenly discovered it was nothing more than another Budweiser/Miller/etc. Here in Canada they didnt censor it, so we always got the sumbitch version. 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 was the lull between Gas Crisis I and II, 1976-78, and Boomers were wanting stylish cars. Except for Gleason, the original actors mostly redubbed their lines for the television version. It had amazing throttle response, with a hit that either scared people, or made them giggle. The secrets behind the cars and stunts in 'The Italian Job' - Top Gear Funny that T/A isnt on the movie poster, considering it was the obvious star of the show. This movie was filmed in Georgia as well. A paper on Cognitive psychology was published in the 1990 issue of Computers in Human Perception. While I have read undocumented accounts of there being more than three Trans Ams, Needham stated three is all that were used. 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. That parking lot was full of Trans Ams! 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. I was to be paid a salary plus own 7% of the profits. We also learn that every launched satellite will eventually fall back to Earth, such as this 1972 Plymouth Satellite (CC here). 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.. Burt Reynolds is originally a Georgia boy. And back then what I wanted most of all was a highly customized Vette with exposed headlights. His personaround, dumpy, and clipping wordsreminds one of another fictional southern sheriff. Cinemablend is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. The LeMans police car did nothing for me because there was a colonnade LeMans sedan in the garage at home. The theme music "East Bound and Down" was sung and co-written by Reed (credited under his birth name, Jerry Hubbard) and Dick Feller. A black Trans Am is parked in my garage because of this movie. 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. I've heard . The movies are rated PG with a run time of 282 minutes and released to video by Universal Studios. He enlists the help of fellow truck driver Cletus The Snowman Snow, played by country music singer Jerry Reed. Mr. Reynolds made a bunch of low budget films before this , all had wild chase scenes with cop cars crashing & going into swamps . CC Cinema: The Cars of "Smokey & The Bandit - Curbside Classic Burt Reynolds may be 79, but he shows no signs of slowing down. Smokey and the Bandit II - Wikipedia Musicians such as Beegie Adair and George Tidwell[20] played on the soundtrack. 1975 PLYMOUTH FURY HIGHWAY PATROL "SMOKEY & THE BANDIT" 1/18 BY . When it was over, I cried and cried and cried because I didnt want it to end. 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. The Bandit takes the bet on the risky and unprecedented task, and recruits his partner Cledus "Snowman" Snow to drive the truck, while Bandit drives a black Pontiac Trans Am bought in advance from the Burdettes as a "blocker" to divert attention away from the truck and its illegal cargo. Many of the film's original sounds were replaced. [21], Smokey and the Bandit was a sleeper hit. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). How much did the Smokey and the Bandit car sell for? There are an abundance of cars in this movie. 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 . 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. Sales jumped even higher in 1979 when Pontiac moved 117,108 Trans Ams. The Pontiac Firebird Trans Am from Smokey and the Bandit is one of the most famous movie cars of all time. And Coors itself limited its distribution to west of the Mississippi. 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! Always a favorite. 14 Little-Known Facts About The Smokey And The Bandit Trans-Am - HotCars I had a 78 Trigger lookalike for a while in the mid 90s, until a wrist pin went out, ended up selling it to one of my brothers buddys uncles. A couple of years ago, I was sitting around on a lazy Saturday afternoon and it was on TV. J.J. & The Dixie Dance Kings was a milder one that had (I think) a 56 Buick Century . The third-generation Firebird was introduced in 1982, a full two years later than planned. [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. A few other examples of sound effect replacement occur when the Bandit takes off after getting the reluctant Cledus involved in the bet, the Bandit comes to a screeching halt on a roadway moments before picking up Carrie, and when Buford's car top comes off. Ive always wanted some sort of de-commission/ex unmarked cop car, something from the 70s preferably. Smokey and the Bandit | 4K Ultra HD | The Bandit Takes a 28 Hour Trip It seems Plymouth was in a distant second for product placement. Producer Hal Needham intended Smokey and the Bandit to be one of the best product placement films of all time. Of course, nobody else cared if it was in the trunk of the car when heading back home. [30] Upon meeting Reynolds, Billy Bob Thornton told him that the South considers the film to be less cinema and more documentary. The three original films introduced two generations of the Pontiac Trans Am and the Dodge Stealth in the television movies. 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. Needing a fast set of wheels to distract law enforcement, Reynolds character purchases this 1977 Pontiac Trans-Am. 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. All pictures from the movie were acquired from www.imcdb.org, Fred Lives!!! 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. Nothing annoys him more than car electronics, and he just hates it when performance cars lack a third pedal. But 1978 returned sales of 93,351 examples, a jump of around 25,000 cars. How Many Cars Did Blues Brothers Wreck | Car Geek 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. 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. You want to questions bra sales, check out the youtube video of Hang on Sloopy by the Mccoys, the color version.wowza! Wouldnt the accent give you away? The cashier never batted an eye as she sold us the mass quantities of suds. Gleason was a genius, but this was not one of his better outings I prefer the Hustler and Gigot. Launched on the big screen in 1977, Smokey and the Bandit revolves around two bootleggers as they attempt to illegally transport 400 cases of Coors beer from Texarkana to Atlanta. It had not been used for some time and was repainted for the film. Anyone with insight is encouraged to share their knowledge on this. The Burdettes' car is a 1974 Cadillac Eldorado convertible painted in a "Candy Red" color scheme and is seen briefly at the beginning of the movie and in the final scene as the Bandit, the Snowman, Fred the dog, and Frog use it to make their escape. 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. 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". 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. 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. In October 2020, a Smokey and the Bandit TV series was revealed to be in development, with a pilot written by David Gordon Green and Brian Sides and also executive produced with his Rough House confederates Jody Hill, Danny McBride and Brandon James, as well as Seth MacFarlane and Erica Huggins of Fuzzy Door.[44]. Burt Reynolds recently revealed the ridiculous number of Pontiac Trans Ams they went through filming 1977s Smokey and the Bandit. 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. Burt Reynolds himself drove the car on stage to the song "East Bound and Down" and signed it. The secrets behind the cars and stunts in 'The Italian Job'. [12] The area around Helen, Georgia, was used for some locations. 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). Reynolds is referenced by name in several early episodes of the series. Supposedly there was a stick car for the burnouts and an automatic car for other shots. 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. how many cars were destroyed in smokey and the bandit 2 The muscle car market reached a peak in the late 1960s, as the car was becoming larger, more powerful, and more aggressive by looks. The 79-year-old 70s and 80s heartthrob made a rare public appearance over the weekend at Wizard World Chicago. There has never been anything quite like late 1970s fashion in clothing. 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. I certainly hope the guy hired to drive that 74 Ford Torino wagon was paid well for his work. Gator , Stroker Ace , lots of them . And Burt may be from GA originally, but he calls Florida home, which is another reason I heard the movie was filmed here. It opened in other Northern states at the end of July. Regular film-goers might not pay much attention to the car's engine sound, but gearheads will quickly notice that something is off. . If you somehow managed to miss Smokey and the Bandit in the years between the films 1977 release and now, you should rectify that situation immediately (to be fair, it was released two days after Star Wars, so its understandable if it slipped through the cracks). Additionally, he can give you several reasons why theres still no replacement for displacement. 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. Unfortunately he passed away a few months ago or that would have been a great question to ask. American Brands: AMC, Jeep and All Others, Tractors, Lawn Mowers, Off-Road Equipment, CC Outtake: The CC House, and With a New Recent Exotic Addition, CC TV Outtake: This Used Car Commercial Didn't Make It On The Air, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cODPt3T0cHE. 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. The MASSIVE year over year sales gains came from somewhere. What were the police cars in Smokey and the Bandit? Most of the dialogue was improvised on set. 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 . . They destroyed all those cars in the films he said. The production team wrecked three for the four cars it received from Pontiac. . 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. Reynolds was the top box office draw from 1975 to 1982, then his movies really started to go downhill. I was in West Plains the other day and there is yet another variation of it there. No more needs to be said. Smokey & The Bandit was the first of three movies in that franchise. how many cars were destroyed in smokey and the bandit 2 - onlytows.com.au . 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. These were the cans with the two circular push buttons on top instead of pull tabs. Theres really nothing like an old cop car. radio to help him out. 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. Mrs Jason wont let me sell the sumbitch. [6] It would become one of Reed's biggest hits and his signature song.[7]. Before Gleason was cast in the film, Richard Boone was originally considered for the role of Buford T. The scene where Sheriff Justice's car has the door knocked off by a passing . [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. He paid $550,000 for it, likely a record for any Pontiac Firebird. 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. Alan Reed was the original voice of Fred Flintstone; Henry Corden only took over after Reeds death in 1977. According to director Hal Needham in the DVD documentary, Pontiac gave them three Trans-Ams and two LeMans (Sheriff Justice's patrol car) for the film. Reynolds and Field began dating during the filming.[13]. 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%. Just do a search for Crown Victorias on your local CL. It wasnt distributed in Washington in those days either. A guy we knew drove his half-ton pickup from western WA to his reserve 2-week stint in his home state in California. Lets take a look. 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. It just seems wrong to see that car in any fashion without hearing that song. Round and dumpy, just like the Colonnade LeMans! 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. After the movie did well, Pontiac gave Burt a free Trans Am to drive for a few years. 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. How "Smokey and the Bandit" was born | Fortune Was it a heathen? It was destroyed in Smokey and the Bandit II and in a flashback scene in Part 3. Not all the police cars had hood scoops. Of course, it's difficult to asses whether these small decals did something to change buyer perception about the Trans Am, but it's an interesting part of the Smokey and the Bandit Trans Am's history. Her groom? Burt Reynolds' 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Sold for $240,000. I remember reading somewhere that one of the cars was equipped with a 455 for some of the higher speed scenes. The scoops were added by the department because the engines ran so hot. Coors was legal in Missouri and illegal in Illinois. I have worked a long time to eradicate the one I had but it still crops up periodically from exposure, like you experienced. Even today when I stumble across this cinematic masterpiece being rerun on cable tv, Ill watch the entire thing. 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). Great write up. Further, as Pontiac has deliciously obvious product placement, anyone who delights in 70s era Pontiac iron will experience visual ecstasy. I will confess, however, that it was a fun movie to watch and I have caught it on TV a time or two in recent years with my kids. 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. The rub? Anyone who enjoys Colonnade sedans will love Smokey & the Bandit. It was the second-highest-grossing movie of 1977 after Star Wars. That's because Pontiac almost canceled the Firebird in the early 1970s. I ended up buying a 1969 Cadillac ambulance a year later! One guy did a while ago a fan-made trailer of Smokey & the Bandit 4. Well, at least that's what you saw in the movie. Weve got a long way to go and a short time to get there Today, Smokey and the Bandit remains one of the most popular car action films ever made, and the 1977 Pontiac Trans Am will forever be wed to the movie. Thanks for this, Jason. The DVD set meets NTSC standards. Watching TV and Movies you would think that sales dropped to nil. 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. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Did Jerry Reed really drive the truck in Smokey and the Bandit A dastardly scoundrel? Will Walker: Independence Return For Season 2 Amid CW Shakeups? 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. The remaining Smokey and the Bandit Trans Am is currently owned by Florida car collector John Staluppi. 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. I beg to differ Mr -Nate. The man does get around. They quickly escape in one of Big Enos's 13 Cadillacs as police flood the racetrack. 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. A Pontiac wagon from earlier in the decade. What Sports Cars Are In Smokey And The Bandit - OsVehicle For Smokey and the Bandit II (1980), Needham asked for and received 10 Trans Ams and 55 Bonnevilles with no trouble. At one point in the movie, the Bandit wrecks a police car. The movie, in fact, caused sales of the . Not a bad deal, but on the fourth year, no new car. 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. That is why there are not any left. So, for years one, two, and three, he got a shiny new Pontiac. There was a true concern (for some minuscule reason) about it going east of the Mississippi River. I was just tweaking Jason. . 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. [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. From living there for my first two decades, I noticed the accent didnt get going good until around Sikeston (not Saxton as it would seem) and it progressed as you went deeper into the Bootheel. A 1975 Pontiac Grand Prix with a Buick Electra behind it. It was destroyed in Smokey and the Bandit II and in a flashback scene in Part 3. The cars were 1976 models, the engines fitted to them were 455ci powerplants, the last year these engines were offered for sale before withdrawal. Luckily, both cars survived, and the Trans Am became famous only five years later. Jana, another oddity was that I could go to Carbondale and be asked where down south I was from. 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. Some weren't that lucky and were discontinued altogether. 5. Out of four Trans Ams used for the filming of Smokey And The Bandit, three were completely totaled in the process. The unrestored car reportedly showed up on eBay back in 2015, but no one wanted to buy it. Chevy almost did the same with its counterpart, the Camaro. Smokey and the Bandit II is a 1980 American action comedy film directed by Hal Needham, and starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, . I distinctly remember my mother buying Coors and being asked if she lived in Missouri or Illinois by the cashier. 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. Also up for auction was a go-kart replica of the car, which sold for nearly $14,000. Apparently the engine sounds were lifted from another movie, I think two lane blacktop? In its place was the nonsensical "scum bum." . Dodge pitchman Sheriff Joe Higgins. 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. 20 Surprising Facts About The Trans Am From Smokey And The Bandit - HotCars 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. I dont know if Ive ever seen the unedited version though, so I never realized the orignal phrase was sum bitch, I always assumed it was worse.
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