Alan Reed was the original voice of Fred Flintstone; Henry Corden only took over after Reeds death in 1977. 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. [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). 5. Funny that T/A isnt on the movie poster, considering it was the obvious star of the show. I actually remember the construction of that segment of I-75, as it stopped around Tampa prior to that time. For a little visual variety of sorts, and possibly an indicator of what car was about to be wrecked, the producers did branch out to use the 1975-era Plymouth Fury as another police car. Anyone who enjoys Colonnade sedans will love Smokey & the Bandit. 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. Thanks for this, Jason. That is an excellent question. I ended up buying a 1969 Cadillac ambulance a year later! 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. Of course, it wasnt hard to wake them up. 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 . It took four evenings to see almost all of the movie in bits and pieces. She is a runaway bride, sitting on the side of the road in her 1973 Chevrolet Impala coupe. Cinemablend is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. So, for years one, two, and three, he got a shiny new Pontiac. Burt Reynolds' 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Sold for $240,000. 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. 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. The soundtrack album was released in 1977 on vinyl, cassette, and 8-track through MCA Records. I know that Trans Am that jumped that bridge broke the axle when it landed. 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. Got Greyhound cutout decals on the rear side windows. [6] It would become one of Reed's biggest hits and his signature song.[7]. Sales of the coupe exploded after the film hit the silver screen and set unprecedented records for both Pontiac and the Firebird nameplate. Nah, they survived by coming up with bras with very thin cups. [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. The tow truck driver was a local garage owner, Berlin Wike. 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. The movie, in fact, caused sales of the . Back in 1984, I went to look at a late 1970s Plymouth cop car as well. Needham originally planned the film as a low-budget B movie with a production cost of $1 million,[4] with Reed as the Bandit. This movie came out during my early formative years pre grade school. The dubbed version is awful. Coors wasnt pasteurized. Actor Henry Corden, who voiced Fred Flintstone after original performer Alan Reed died the same year the film was released, was used to replace a considerable amount of Sheriff Justice's dialogue. Pontiac should have made a radio that played that song automatically simply by pushing a button, or maybe made it the horn sound. In addition to the four Trans Ams, Needham also received two Pontiac LeMans models to serve as patrol cars in the movie. The cars were originally ordered by a car rental agency in Phoenix, who refused to accept the . 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". Im probably in the minority as usual, but I prefer the Black and Gold 50th Anne. In the original script, Carrie was called Kate while Big Enos and Little Enos were called Kyle and Dickey. The Trans Am was already pretty popular in the mid-1970s, with sales hitting 68,745 units in 1977. 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. Some fellow classmates were extras on the film set, and it was a big deal around here at the time. As a feature-length car chase, the car was as much of a star as Burt Reynolds, and the film gave birth to the cult of the Trans Am. The Trans Am was a high-performance package for the Firebird, Pontiac's take on the Chevrolet Camaro. 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. [12] The area around Helen, Georgia, was used for some locations. Check out the entire video below. For this purpose, they overdubbed dialogue deemed offensive, which was common practice. 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). 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. I dont know if I ever saw one in real life at the time, although I was pretty young then. It outsold its Chevrolet Camaro counterpart for the first time. [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. 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. 12 A Total Of 3 Trans Ams Were Destroyed During Filming. $30.00 + $11.45 shipping. It opened in other Northern states at the end of July. Unfortunately he passed away a few months ago or that would have been a great question to ask. At the time, Reynolds was the top box office star in the world. The Kenworth even achieves a trifecta of sorts, as it gave the first dent to Sheriff Justices LeMans. As I did Steve McQueen and Paul Newman. A dastardly scoundrel? I really enjoyed this discussion. Arguably the most iconic Pontiac Firebird in history. [23] It then opened in just the South of the United States over the Memorial Day weekend and grossed $2,689,851 in 386 theaters. Because sales were so high, Pontiac decided to delay the third-generation model. Good silly fun. Except that shes not sagging. how many cars were destroyed in smokey and the bandit 2. I am indeed a fan. Behind Sheriff Justices Pontiac, there is a nice looking 1965 or 1966 Ford Mustang fastback and a Toyota pickup. They quickly escape in one of Big Enos's 13 Cadillacs as police flood the racetrack. Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, Depends upon what he converted it from. His father was also the inspiration for the word "sumbitch" used in the film, a variation of the phrase "son-of-a-bitch" that, according to Reynolds, he uttered quite often. So why did they go with sound effects instead of the Trans Am's actually exhaust noise? It was the second-highest-grossing movie of 1977 after Star Wars. http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_301466-Ford-LTD-II-1977.html. 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!. It made no sense to me as it was fifty miles north and fifty miles south. Sally Field and Burt Reynolds began a relationship after meeting on set. The MASSIVE year over year sales gains came from somewhere. I know that Trans Am that . During a Q&A session on Saturday, filmed by ComicBook.com, a fan asked how many Trans Ams they burned through during production. 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. The 1977 features rectangular quad headlamps instead of only two round lights, a unique slanted and V-shaped nose, and a center-mounted hood scoop. 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. 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. The area around Helen, Georgia, was used for some locations. Set with his . [27] In his review in the Chicago Tribune, Gene Siskel gave the film two stars and complained that the film failed to tell the audience when the clock started on the beer run, thus reducing suspense. Gleasons Justice is the stereotypical Southern sheriff, as seen in this clip. Conversely, I could go to Paducah and be asked where up north I was from. While made to take advantage of the ongoing 1970s CB radio fad, the film added to the craze. Tragically, every Trans Am used in filming was destroyed. The theatrical release has a few lines deleted, including an edit in which Sheriff Justice tells a state trooper to "fuck off" after the sheriff called his vehicle "a piece of crap". When Im driving the Bandit Trans Am while playing one of my many Forza Motorsport games I always put that song on. New York, Coors is still brewed just outside Denver, Colorado. The scene featuring the racetrack was filmed at Lakewood Speedway at the old Lakewood Fairgrounds on Atlanta's south side. It became Reed's signature song and is on multiple albums, including Country Legends and his live album Jerry Reed "Live!" Other than Jackie Gleason upstaging every other cast member, the perceived star of the show is this 1977 Pontiac Trans Am. 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. In 1978, Pontiac delivered 93,351 Trans Ams and 93,944 regular Firebirds for a grand total of 187,295 cars. Soon as I get home, first thing Im gonna do is punch yo mamma in da mouth!. 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. Additionally, he can give you several reasons why theres still no replacement for displacement. [original research?] The new Hot Pants scene had to quickly be refilmed as a part of a second unit in the San Fernando Valley and was shot at a drive-in restaurant near Hansen Dam named Baby Beef Burgers, which has since been demolished. 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). I am still drawn to the shape of these cars, and others that have that long and low look about them. MN12 Thunderbirds had the same appeal to me, for similar reasons. The third film which had no involvement from either Hal Needham or Sally Field and contained only a short cameo appearance by Burt Reynolds revolved entirely around Jackie Gleason's character, was panned by critics, and was a box office bomb, earning only $7 million against a $9 million budget.[41][42][43]. The uncut version is the best. Originally, the film was going to be a B-movie played only in the Southern United States. That song often pops into my head at the start of long drives. The original Blues Brothers movie from 1980 is a classic, and fans were excited when a sequel was announced in 1998. . I own all three films on a dvd called the Smokey and The Bandit Pursuit Pack. Great write up. Reynolds and Field began dating during the filming.[13]. During their run, they are pursued by Texas county sheriff Buford T. Justice (Gleason). 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 differences between the two are major. Trigger had a big impact on my taste in cars with the Trans Ams of the late 70s being my favorite. With this, the Sheriff begins his pursuit of the Mann Act-violating Banditall the way to Georgia. Mrs Jason wont let me sell the sumbitch. . 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. 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. In the U.K., the heavily dubbed version was shown for several years, particularly by the BBC. 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. Although 1977 models also featured 6.6-liter engines, they were rated at only 200 horses. Id been driving for years by the time I was 15, so I just wanted to complete the course with as little static as possible. I'm afraid I was responsible for a good few of those. These questions all need to be answered. Reynolds was the top box office draw from 1975 to 1982, then his movies really started to go downhill. Musicians such as Beegie Adair and George Tidwell[20] played on the soundtrack. . Im gonna barbecue your ass in molasses., Re: The picture with 4 ladies and the wagon and van. Smokey and the Bandit is a 1977 American road action comedy film starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jackie Gleason, Jerry Reed, Pat McCormick, Paul Williams and Mike Henry. Rockford Files also featured Firebird, and was on since 1974, and Fs sold well despite gas crunch I and inflation. Jesus, did you just call Carmine a car novice? Mr. Reynolds made a bunch of low budget films before this , all had wild chase scenes with cop cars crashing & going into swamps . Reed would eventually play the Bandit in Smokey and the Bandit Part 3, in which Reynolds only appeared in a cameo near the end. And then they made the biggest mistake of their lives and went to national distribution. 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. Henry Corden, the voice of cartoon character Fred Flintstone. 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. You might think that seeing their cars routinely destroyed on movie screens across the country would give the manufacturer pause, but that is not the case at all. 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". All pictures from the movie were acquired from www.imcdb.org, Fred Lives!!! 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. J.J. & The Dixie Dance Kings was a milder one that had (I think) a 56 Buick Century . 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. Due to his financial difficulties in 2014, Reynolds put his vast collection of artwork and memorabilia up for auction, including the Trans Am. I was just tweaking Jason. That is why there are not any left. 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. Burt Reynolds himself drove the car on stage to the song "East Bound and Down" and signed it. It had the Modello cam kit, ported 69(I think) heads with upsized valves, headers, aftermarket intake, 3.21 gears (Up from 2.41 stock!) The truck at the shell station is actually a 75 or 76 Toyota Hilux. 46,000 in 1976, 68,000 in 1977, 93,000 in 1978, 117,000 in 1979. "Smokey and the Bandit Pursuit Pack" is formatted as a box set that in presented in full color in widescreen. 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. He claimed that the Bandit is never made aware of Frog's leaving Junior at the altar, which is why the Bandit continually asks why a Texas sheriff is chasing him. If it wasnt for Smokey & the Bandit, the Dukes of Hazzard TV series would not exist. 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. The other range car was a Chevette for people that wanted to learn on a manual transmission. Movies like Mad Max: Fury Road and Furious 7 may ruin a lot of cars, but they were far from the first. The comedy has been remastered to DVD standards. 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. If you watched the second clip above, this truck should look familiar. http://www.leelofland.com/wordpress/john-fedack-my-days-as-a-dekalb-county-police-officer/. 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. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Much of the surrounding scene comes from that immediate vicinity. Likely this isnt any rare engine venting package, but I could be wrong. 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. And it was worth it for the brand, as the nameplate sales decided following the redesign. 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). 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. Lets take a look. The theme music "East Bound and Down" was sung and co-written by Reed (credited under his birth name, Jerry Hubbard) and Dick Feller. Well, the Corvettes success is clearly due to Corvette Summer, @Jim I remember that movie! 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. His personaround, dumpy, and clipping wordsreminds one of another fictional southern sheriff. That girl from the McCoys video probably looks like Paula Deen now. Burt Reynolds recently revealed the ridiculous number of Pontiac Trans Ams they went through filming 1977s Smokey and the Bandit. I think you may be confusing the movie Honky-Tonk Freeway with the filming done during I-75 construction near Sarasota. . [40] Major portions of the audio background have been modified with different engine sounds or tire squeals from the original film. We just watched this with the kids the other week, along with Cannonball Run. How many smokey and the bandit movies are there? Jackie Gleason ad libbed a lot of his lines too. Heres how it works. The roundup sequence in the desert shows many new Pontiac Le Mans sedans decorated as police cars being destroyed. A Pontiac wagon from earlier in the decade. 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. Nice job, I know its cheesy as heck but I love this movie and still tend to watch it when I see its on TV. 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. Car movies are notorious for being tough on the very vehicles that give them their allure. The films are indeed classic and very funny to this day. And lets not forget the Trans Am rental car Steve McQueen drove in his very last movie, The Hunter from 1980. You will receive a verification email shortly. How many police cars were wrecked in Smokey and the Bandit? 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. 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. What were the police cars in Smokey and the Bandit? Needham stated that by the end of production, there really wasnt much left of any of the three. 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. I certainly hope the guy hired to drive that 74 Ford Torino wagon was paid well for his work. . The film features the custom clothing and costuming of Niver Western Wear of Fort Worth, Texas. Ive always wanted some sort of de-commission/ex unmarked cop car, something from the 70s preferably. 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. 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. 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. Needing a fast set of wheels to distract law enforcement, Reynolds character purchases this 1977 Pontiac Trans-Am. While watching the movie (yes, I did have to diligently research this article), one shot seemed to indicate this may be a dummy scoop. Of course, nobody else cared if it was in the trunk of the car when heading back home. Free shipping for many products! There was a problem. No more needs to be said. Chevy brought back the Z28, and cant say S&B was reason. I beg to differ Mr -Nate. a custom mandrel bent dual exhaust, and the Mondello bottom end plate to stabilize the windowed mains. The advertisements lampoon the film and feature a Pontiac Trans Am and a cover version of the song East Bound and Down. 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. 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. . WildI watched this for the first time in years after watching the latest Archer.the whole thing is an homage to S&B. The man does get around. The story replaced the Coors beer with Mobil 1 products. 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. News . In the movie . The cashier never batted an eye as she sold us the mass quantities of suds. Further, as Pontiac has deliciously obvious product placement, anyone who delights in 70s era Pontiac iron will experience visual ecstasy. The owner restored it and sold it at the Scottsdale 2016 auction by Barrett-Jackson. Yet when I think of a 70s T/A, thats the one I and Im sure millions of other folks think of. Smokey and the Bandit was one of the most iconic movies of the 1970s. 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. Smokey & The Bandit is the greatest movie of the 20th Century! Oh, and a hooker girlfriend that looked like Annie Potts. 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! They destroyed all those cars in the films he said. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). 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. 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. 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). As a former Club Wagon pilot, I happen to like his Econoline. The film was a sleeper hit, and following a poor initial performance, it went on to gross $126.7 million in North America, versus a budget of only $4.3 million. I developed a pretty good bootheel accent during my time in New Madrid. Despite growing up next to Cape, most of relatives are from the Mid-South.