Car Spot: Trans Am Firebird

Made famous by the movie Smokey and the Bandit

I can’t think of a movie making a car more famous than Smokey and the Bandit and the Pontiac Firebird. Oh sure, there was the 68 Bullitt Mustang made famous by Steve McQueen but this was different because this was Burt Reynolds. In 1977 Smokey and the Bandit was a story about two bootleggers attempting to illegally transport 400 cases of Coors beer from Texarkana to Atlanta. The Trans Am is the subject of this week’s spot.

Initially, the film only did okay but then got legs and went on to gross $126.7 million in North America, versus a budget of only $4.3 million. It was the second-highest-grossing movie of 1977 after Star Wars starring Burt Reynolds and Sally Fields. It’s funny but maybe my car thing hadn’t kicked in yet because I saw Star Wars 14 times in the theater but didn’t notice Smokey and the Bandit. There were a total of seven movies, three for the big screen and four for TV.

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The movie cars provided by GM needed some modifications. While they looked like 77s, they were actually 76 models because when filming began, the 77s weren’t out yet, so General Motors provided 76 cars with front clips from the soon-to-be-released 77s. What’s the big deal? The 77 featured rectangular quad headlamps instead of only two round lights, a unique slanted and V-shaped nose, and a center-mounted hood scoop.

The engine was the same 400 cid V8. One other modification was the sticker on the hood which read “T/A 6.6,” a reminder of the engine’s 6.6-liter displacement. A bit different as most automakers used cubic-inch numerals to advertise engines.

RELATED Spot: See its bigger older brother the Catalina.

Pontiac gave the movie a total of four cars, three to use in the movie and one as a promotional vehicle. Life was not good for these cars three movie cars were destroyed during stunts, so the promo car is the only surviving Trans Am connected to this film in a museum in Palmetto, Florida.

When you think about product placements the Bandit was one of the best ever. Sales of the coupe exploded after the film hit the silver screen, setting unprecedented records for the Pontiac and Firebird nameplates. The Trans Am was already pretty popular in the mid-1970s, with sales hitting 68,745 units in 1977. However, 1978 returned sales of 93,351 examples, a jump of around 25,000 cars. Sales soared even higher in 1979 when Pontiac moved 117,108 Trans Ams.

What are they worth now? Last year the one gifted to Reynolds as a Thank You, sold for almost $500,000. The Special Edition Trans Ams were produced in 1978 and 1979. They were all black in color and included the graphics that appeared on the movie car. These are affordable classics. I found several on Hemmings for sale in the mid-50s with the 79s commanding low six figures. Fun car to own.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out this week’s spot. Come back next week for another one of my spots along with some of its history. Have a great weekend.