[77 TRASHCAN]

If so, did they have 455 engines??? Never heard this discussed, engine wise anyhoo. Have heard they were 75 cars with 77 body upgrades...

[72projectbird]

They were 76 LEs with 77 noses and shakers. In a couple scenes you can catch a glimpse of a car with honeycombs instead of the flakes.

[marxjunk]

where ya been? thats a known source for decades...

although...i only learned about t las yearmyself..lol

[ponyakr]

I never heard that 'til now. Never bothered to look up any info on the movie.

If this is true, it brings up some questions.

WHY ?

Was it:

(1) because they needed to film some car scenes BEFORE any '77's were available ?

(2) because the older cars were more readily available & cheaper, even with needed mods ?

(3) because they thought the '76 had a performance advantage ?

https://www.hotcars.com/things-about...nd-the-bandit/

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076729/trivia

https://www.streetmusclemag.com/news...e-bandit-1977/

There's so many lies online, sometimes you don't know what the truth is.

https://www.cinemablend.com/new/Ridi...dit-79437.html

I've read that they used up LOTS of Chargers, makin the Dukes of Hazard series.

https://www.thevintagenews.com/2019/...es-of-hazzard/

[John V.]

The only problem with this 2007 claim, according to NASCAR records, Needham’s race team formed in 1981 long after the movie was made.

[77 TRASHCAN]

Originally Posted by marxjunk

where ya been? thats a known source for decades...

although...i only learned about t las yearmyself..lol

I knew about the 76 switch overs, mostly wondering about the 455 engines...

[John V.]

From an HPP interview with Hal Needham:

HPP: How were the Pontiacs that you had gotten for the first movie modified to do the stunts?
HN: They weren't modified, except the one for the bridge jump. We were using a dirt road and the stuntman only had a short distance to get up to speed. We tried running the car stock with an automatic and it wouldn't get it done; it wouldn't go fast enough. Well, I had a NASCAR race team, so I just called my shop and said, "Send me up a 750 hp engine and a stick trans." Those are the only modifications we did, aside from safety equipment.

[unruhjonny]

I seem to recall reading that *SOME* of the cars were '76 cars with '77 noses;
I have heard this was mostly about availability at the time of production.

[unruhjonny]

This is from the "Echos of Norwood" book;
Pretty hard to refute stuff like this.

[John V.]

'76 455 TA was man trans only and the movie cars were automatic, so no to the 455 question.

Filming started Aug 30, 1976. The pic with snow on the ground doesn't appear to connect with the 1st film, I'm wondering if maybe that is a later than '77 model used for a sequel.

A news report from mid Dec '76 stated that the filming had recently wrapped up in Atlanta.

It was a very, very low budget film and a surprise hit. Hal Needham the stunt driver turned director of the film reportedly had wanted more cars but PMD only obliged with 4 TAs. As the film was to be released in '77, PMD wanted them to look like '77s but supposedly had yet to produce the '77 model so they went with retrofitted '76 models.

Hobbyists with more knowledge of the TA than me have noted specific details that support the '76 vs. '77 contention.

Burt Reynolds was given a '77 TA to use for promotional work when the film was released. But it was not used in the movie.

The movie cars were all badly damaged and the one used for the bridge jump (driven by stuntman Needham) was pretty much destroyed.

I'm not familiar with the sequels.

[se428bandit]

Originally Posted by unruhjonny

This is from the "Echos of Norwood" book;
Pretty hard to refute stuff like this.

Filming started for Smokey and the Bandit in early August 1976, the '77 weren't built yet they used 1976 TA with '77 front clips. This photo is the from the scene (were going 110) if you look you can a see the 8 grand tach, 1977 TAs used a 6 grand tach.

[Mike Davis]

Originally Posted by se428bandit

Filming started for Smokey and the Bandit in early August 1976, the '77 weren't built yet they used 1976 TA with '77 front clips. This photo is the from the scene (were going 110) if you look you can a see the 8 grand tach, 1977 TAs used a 6 grand tach.

Always got a kick out of the speedo only reading 70 and the key off.

[77 Canamman]

Originally Posted by se428bandit

Filming started for Smokey and the Bandit in early August 1976, the '77 weren't built yet they used 1976 TA with '77 front clips. This photo is the from the scene (were going 110) if you look you can a see the 8 grand tach, 1977 TAs used a 6 grand tach.

There is no way, no way that photo is even remotely correct. Principal filming was wrapped up first week Oct. 1976 in the greater Jonesboro, Georgia area. There were some reshoots in California that were needed after the film was edited.

There were many indications that they were 1976 Trans Ams- the tach. door pulls, seat belt guides, the sheen of the seat material, some cars used honeycombs, etc.

[Mike Davis]

My dad set all those cars up for the movie when he worked for Pontiac. There were 4 cars used. The cars were 76's with 77 noses/ shakers and 77 decals as mentioned.
At 78 years old his memory is not as good as it was but he said he thought they were all 400 autos
Hurst Hatch in Tucker Ga did the T-tops on a few of them.

My dad also set up the T/A's for Smokey and the Bandit 2. The cars couldn't do a burnout so they ran the windshield washer hoses in front of the rear tires to squirt water on them.

[Chief of the 60's]

Around the late 80's, maybe '88, a wholesaler offered us a T/A that was one of the back-up movie cars. Now, because it was so long ago I don't remember a lot about the car but I do remember a few things about it that were strange back then but now, reading this thread, make a little sense. The car was your typical Bandit T/A. It had a CB, a CB antenna, a small plaque on the dash denoting the number of the car (I think it was #10), and a 455 with nitrous. Now I don't recall exactly what year the car was but I knew that year didn't come with a 455. So between the condition (a bit rough) the 455 and the $6500.00 wholesale price (ridiculous money at the time) I passed.

A few years ago I was thinking, I wish I had another shot at it.

[se428bandit]

The biggest giveaway is the 8 grand tach in the car. In 1977 they went to a 6 grand tach.

[Mike Davis]

Originally Posted by se428bandit

The biggest giveaway is the 8 grand tach in the car. In 1977 they went to a 6 grand tach.

What's funny in these pics is the ignition switch is off and the car is running 60+mph.

[burd]

It’s harder to get parts for a car that is t out yet.

[77 Canamman]

Originally Posted by se428bandit

The biggest giveaway is the 8 grand tach in the car. In 1977 they went to a 6 grand tach.

The door pull straps, the sheen of the seat material, and seat belt escutcheons on the seats are other clues to support the use of 1976 T/A's in this film.

I have replicated all of these details on my car, plus the correct CB antenna mounted to the roof.

[77 TRASHCAN]

Originally Posted by 77 Canamman

The door pull straps, the sheen of the seat material, and seat belt escutcheons on the seats are other clues to support the use of 1976 T/A's in this film.

I have replicated all of these details on my car, plus the correct CB antenna mounted to the roof.

I give, on the fact that the movie cars were all automatics.......If GM went to all the trouble to put 77 front clips on 76 cars (and shakers)...76 455 T/A's with automatics wouldn't have been anything difficult to pull off, although 76 455's likely didn't run any better than the choked down 455's of that year. (Yes, I have read on this thread of witnesses to the 76's be 400's...kinda for sure...)

My only street racing experience was against a 76 black TA, 455. He had about 30,000 miles on his car, mine about 4,000 miles....It was a dead heat!