- #WHAT WAS THE YEAR OF TRANS AM IN SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT MOVIE#
- #WHAT WAS THE YEAR OF TRANS AM IN SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT FULL#
That film’s only surviving Mustang Bullitt, which was unveiled at the Detroit auto show in 2018 after having been hidden for decades in the owner’s garage, is valued at some $4 million. “As a high school senior, that was about as awesome a car as I could drive,” McElroy said.įord hit the jackpot with the 1968 action thriller film "Bullitt," which featured Steve McQueen driving a Mustang through the hills of San Francisco. While McElroy never owned a Trans Am, his father, who worked at Ford, did own a 1971 Mustang Mach 1. “When you hit that magic, and a car becomes a star, wow, it can really help sales.” “When it all comes together with the actor, the car, the script and that moment in pop culture? For an automaker that’s better than advertising,” McElroy said. Sometimes the car is part of the backdrop. I had the mustache back in the day, but I didn't look like him." And my wife fell in love with Burt Reynolds.
#WHAT WAS THE YEAR OF TRANS AM IN SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT MOVIE#
"The movie made the car popular, really more with non-car people. It was a big car for us," said Art Douglas, 61, of Jim Douglas Auto Sales on Baldwin Avenue in Pontiac, which his father founded in 1975.
#WHAT WAS THE YEAR OF TRANS AM IN SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT FULL#
"We could have our whole front line full with Trans Ams. And the quickest way to be like him was to get a Pontiac Trans Am.”Īuto companies love to see their cars featured in movies. They want to be a movie star with a hot babe. “There were so many young men who wanted to be exactly like Burt Reynolds. “Burt Reynolds exemplified a crazy wild reckless handsome persona and he had this babe of a girlfriend at the time,” said John McElroy, 65, longtime industry observer and host of Autoline.TV. It turned out to be a top grossing film that year, along with "Star Wars," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "Saturday Night Fever."
Justice, aka "Smokey," (played by Jackie Gleason).Ī chase ensues with a bride on the run. En route, Bo "Bandit" Darville (played by Burt Reynolds) picks up a pretty hitchhiker (played by Sally Field) who refuses to marry the son of Sheriff Buford T. The 1977 action romance is about a guy who makes a Coors beer run from Texas to Georgia within 28 hours. By comparison, the top Camaro of the same year - a 1977 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 - is worth $22,000 in the current market.” “In the current market, a 1977 Pontiac Trans Am Special Edition - similar to what Burt Reynolds drove in the film - is worth $76,000. "We specifically refer to late second-generation Trans Ams as the '“Smokey and the Bandit'-era Trans Am.” “Without a doubt, the popularity of late ‘70s Pontiac Trans Ams is due to its prominent role in the 'Smokey and the Bandit' film," said Jonathan Klinger, spokesman for Hagerty, which specializes in classic car valuation and insurance. The buyer also received a certificate of authenticity from Universal Pictures, a Plaque from General Motors, the Original Movie Script, film location maps, pictures from behind the scenes, the Original Press Release kit, and an autograph from Burt Reynolds himself.Watch Video: Remembering the legendary Burt Reynoldsīurt Reynolds will always be remembered for the high-speed chase scenes in “Smokey and the Bandit.”Īnd those images directly impacted the car industry. The restoration process was a complete “nut and bolt” rotisserie, that involved cleaning and repainting every part of the body to attain a factory finish. However, the MY 1977 Pontiac Trans Am that went under the hammer at the Scottsdale auction was previously titled to the “ Burt Reynolds Institute for Film and Theater.” The car was restored and retains its original drivetrain. Reynolds sold his personal Pontiac Trans Am “Bandit,” the last of the cars made for him. Reynold’s co-star in the Smokey and the Bandit film.Ĭuriously, this car sold for more than previous authorized “Bandit” Pontiac Trans Am models ever achieved at an auction. The Pontiac Trans Am was being driven by a Sally Field lookalike, Mr. The actor was riding shotgun and appeared on stage while “ Eastbound and Down” (by Jerry Reed) was playing on the hall’s audio system. We believe that only one of the original cars that appeared in the movie could have attained a higher price, and that would have happened if they were the same shape as this exhibit.Īs promised, Burt Reynolds was present on the auction block when the car was sold. This marks the highest ever price achieved at an auction by a Pontiac Firebird Trans Am.
The latter will exhibit the 1977 Pontiac and keep it in the best shape possible. The price includes a 10% buyer’s premium and was paid by John Staluppi’s Cars of Dreams Museum in Florida. Even though the car didn’t appear in the actual film, as it was just a promotional vehicle that was exhibited in selected locations to promote the Burt Reynolds motion picture, LOT number 7004 sold for $550,000.
0 kommentar(er)
