Although there is another Trans Am to be found. The last car was the star of the Julien’s event, which featured over 850 items from Reynolds’ estate, including scripts, clothing and a 35 mm print of Smokey and the Bandit that recieved. He drove some pretty sweet machines in some of those films too. Some before the character Bo Darville, aka The Bandit, made him a box office superstar, and many after.
Reynolds made over 60 movies in his long career. Although he would go on the drive another black and gold Trans Am in the Smokey sequel, a 1981 Turbo model, contrary to popular belief, Burt Reynolds did not drive black and gold Firebirds in all of his films. (Getty Images) We actually did an event in August in Tennessee up in Knoxville, he said. Like Fred and Ginger and Lester and Earl. And it’s the moment sales of Pontiac’s Trans Am began to skyrocket.įour decades later, the man, the mustache and the car continue to matter. American actor Burt Reynolds as Bo 'Bandit' Darville, in 'Smokey And The Bandit,' 1977. The moment, 40 years ago this summer, that would forever link the actor Burt Reynolds and Pontiac’s festooned muscle car. It’s the moment the audience sees the 1977 Trans Am Special Edition for the very first time. The moment is just 11 minutes into the 1977 blockbuster Smokey and the Bandit. And, yes, Burt Reynolds’ untameable sexuality. For a beat the roar of the Pontiac’s 400 cubic inches reverberates within the tight confines of the trailer before the Bandit drives the black and gold beauty out of the truck, screaming chicken first, and into pop culture history. Turns out the plot of Smokey and the Bandit is centered on one lovable tycoon’s deep-seated thirst for Coors. We all know about a certain black and gold Trans Am.
Image Credit: Bettmann via Getty Images.