[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. I know, Ive owned a 75 for 23 years. He had quite a few orders for Coors beer, and when he stopped in Weed, CA, on the way home, he went into the Safeway and asked for twenty-four cases of Coors. [4] Reynolds said in 2015 that he most enjoyed this film, and had the most fun making it, of his career.[26]. The sound came from a 1955 Chevrolet Custom, the same car that was used in Two-Lane Blacktop and American Graffiti, films launched in 1971 and 1973, respectively. All pictures from the movie were acquired from www.imcdb.org, Fred Lives!!! That parking lot was full of Trans Ams! While it is doubtful Pontiac sold very many LeMans police packages, if one views this show as realistic, it would seem nearly every county and highway patrol in five states purchased one of Pontiacs heavy duty offerings. 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. 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. This movie trailer gives you an taste of this provocative film, but fails to effectively capture all the subtleties and nuances it contains. While I have read undocumented accounts of there being more than three Trans Ams, Needham stated three is all that were used. $30.00 + $11.45 shipping. However, the scene and the obscured expletive were played for comedy value and written as such, with the passing truck being the gag of the scene more than a way to avoid the censors. I'm afraid I was responsible for a good few of those. The LeMans police car did nothing for me because there was a colonnade LeMans sedan in the garage at home. It made no sense to me as it was fifty miles north and fifty miles south. Jana, another oddity was that I could go to Carbondale and be asked where down south I was from. I started cruising through EBay and the next thing I knew I won the auction for a clean 400/4 speed/T-Top 78 Trans Am. Additionally, he can give you several reasons why theres still no replacement for displacement. Always a favorite. [40] Major portions of the audio background have been modified with different engine sounds or tire squeals from the original film. Free shipping for many products! So lets explore this car (and truck) heavy flick, all while giving those who have not seen it a glimpse into a movie whose complexity and intellect remains unparalleled within the history of cinema. 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]. Needham originally planned the film as a low-budget B movie with a production cost of $1 million,[4] with Reed as the Bandit. 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. How many police cars were wrecked in Smokey and the Bandit? 12 A Total Of 3 Trans Ams Were Destroyed During Filming. I also own a Etrl replica of the Pontiac Bonneville Buford T. Justice drove in Smokey and The Bandit II. This was the lull between Gas Crisis I and II, 1976-78, and Boomers were wanting stylish cars. 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". Frederick Amon smuggled it from Colorado to North Carolina and sold it for four times the retail price.[19]. Alan Reed was the original voice of Fred Flintstone; Henry Corden only took over after Reeds death in 1977. 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. The third-generation Firebird was introduced in 1982, a full two years later than planned. As such, it took a lot of sweet talking by former stuntman Needham for Pontiac to cough up three Trans Ams and three LeManses. Always loved this movie growing up. February 27, 2023 . The scoops were added by the department because the engines ran so hot. The Ridiculous Number Of Cars Burt Reynolds Burned - CINEMABLEND (it did taste a lot better than Bud as I recall). The truck at the shell station is actually a 75 or 76 Toyota Hilux. 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! 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. That girl from the McCoys video probably looks like Paula Deen now. S&TB was filmed primarily off Route 400 in Georgia. Watching TV and Movies you would think that sales dropped to nil. [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. Reed would eventually play the Bandit in Smokey and the Bandit Part 3, in which Reynolds only appeared in a cameo near the end. The cars were wrecked on purpose to create the illusion of a high-speed chase. 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. Id be surprised. Cause theyre thirsty in Atlanta That said, an uncomplimentary accent does exist. [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. Check out the entire video below. And lets not forget the Trans Am rental car Steve McQueen drove in his very last movie, The Hunter from 1980. how many cars were destroyed in smokey and the bandit 2. 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. Smokey and the Bandit star Burt Reynolds passed away in 2018 . thebandit77transam 2009-04-14 14:04. andre1969 wrote Pontiac supplied 5 brand-new cars for "Smokey and the Bandit". 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. Earlier DVD releases and the 40th Anniversary Blu-ray of the film have the original soundtrack intact. 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. There was still a market for bras in the 1970s. Oh, and a hooker girlfriend that looked like Annie Potts. 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. 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. Much of the surrounding scene comes from that immediate vicinity. A series of four made-for-TV spin-off films (Bandit Goes Country, Bandit Bandit, Beauty and the Bandit, and Bandit's Silver Angel) were produced in 1994 for Universal Television's Action Pack with actor Brian Bloom playing a younger version of the Bandit. My drivers ed driving range car was an ex-patrol colonnade Pontiac LeMans Enforcer. I will confess that by the time this movie was out, I was a Mopar guy. Even when the 2nd gen was already coasting on fumes, and defanged, and after the reasonably shitty Smokey and the Bandit sequel, Pontiac managed to pump out 107,000 Trans Ams in 1980 and 70,000 for the 2nd gen Trans Ams swan song in 1981. 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. The 403 Olds T/A was a dog, stock, but with some easily obtained parts, could be turned into a very nice low 13 second tire melter. Burt Reynolds may be 79, but he shows no signs of slowing down. Gleason was a genius, but this was not one of his better outings I prefer the Hustler and Gigot. That is an excellent question. 1979 was equally successful for the brand, joining 1978 to create Pontiac's best sales years ever. You can see in some shots in the movie that the Bandit Trans Am has 1976 style gold honeycomb wheels instead of the gold snowflake wheels from the 1977, I think at least one of the cars used in filming was a 1976 converted with a 1977 front clip. 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. [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). [9] Though the film Moonrunners (1975) is the precursor to the television series The Dukes of Hazzard (19791985), from the same creator and with many identical settings and concepts, the popularity of Smokey and the Bandit and similar films helped get the Dukes series on the air. After the movie came out, Firebird sales increased even more, but the Trans Am was now the most popular one. This movie was filmed in Georgia as well. We gonna do what they say cant be done