They will be accompanied by the 1984 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am USFL Tampa Bay Bandits promo car. The recreations are a 1978 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am from Smokey and the Bandit, a 1978 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am from Hooper, and a 1987 Chevrolet R30 Pickup from The Cannonball Run. On September 29, at the Barrett Jackson auction to be held at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, four of the cars owned or registered by the actor will be sold, three recreations and a promo car.
And as is the case when someone of his magnitude dies, most of his possessions will be sold at various auctions across the world.
Over the course of his life, Reynolds' passion for cars translated into a great collection of motor vehicles fans ahve come to call the Bandit Movie Cars. He was the one who helped the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am rise to its glory, after driving it in Smokey and the Bandit. Reynolds, star of classics like The Longest Yard or The Cannonball Run, was a big fan of cars, ever since his early days as an actor. He got back up and said, "Well, I guess it's time to get dressed.He also left behind an impressive collection of cars. He was sitting in a little actor's chair and he leaned back and lost his balance, and there was about a 12-foot drop behind him. He had his legs crossed and his shoes were on the wrong feet. He was wearing the same clothes he had on the night before, except for one thing. Don't be late." So I got to the set the next morning and he was already there. Gleason, I have to get up early tomorrow morning. Gleason, I've had a long day, why don't we get a drink?" and he said, "Absolutely." So we moved to the bar and we never said one word about the script. "Here we go, on the eve of my directorial debut, a big actor wants to talk to me about the script." So, I went over to his hotel, he invited me in and I said, "Mr. Director, would you come over to my hotel? I'd like to talk about the script." "Uh-oh," I thought. The night before we were to shoot he called me and said, "Mr.
I had yet to meet with Gleason prior to shooting. I thought, "What a good idea bootleg a little Coors, get in a truck, lots of fast cars and a lot of cops chasin' em." I said, "What on Earth are you doing?" She said, "Well, you can't buy Coors down here and my boyfriend really likes it, so I was just takin' it home to him." Then she told me the story about how she couldn't buy Coors east of the Mississippi, so I just gave her both cases and said, "Thank you very much." That gave me the idea for Smokey and the Bandit. Finally, I set a trap and caught the maid stealin' my Coors beer. They'd disappear one or two at a time, so I kept replacing them. So I stuffed six bottles in the fridge and went about my business. Can I put a couple cases in your room?" I don't drink beer, but I said okay.
Talk to the people and they'll tell you, "Yeah, we used to make a Coors run every weekend across the border." Anyway, the driver captain came down, and he said, "Hey Hal, I bought some Coors. Stories about smuggling Coors beer are legendary. Hal Needham: I was down in Georgia with Burt, working on Gator, and at that time, you could not buy Coors beer east of the Mississippi.