[Region Warrior]

They featured Smoky Bandit cars.
One guy claimed he was the original owner of an untouched 76.
Still had original invoice.
What caught my eye was when they showed the front end.
It had a 77 nose on it.

Anyone see or here of any before?
I've heard there where some late 76's with 77 noses do to production problems, but never seen one.

[1971WARBIRD]

one rumor was that they used 76 trans ams with 77 noses because of when the filming was done.
i do know my 78 bandit(35th ta built and 98th bird built)had 77 formula bumpers.77 had the two tone black and gold,found out the hard way spraying mine off at the car wash when the black flaked off where it covered the gold.don't know if i still have the letter or not,but Mooreman pontiac in Dayton was told by the regional rep to repaint it any time i wanted as long as i owned it.

[Transam Stripper]

I know my parents bought a '77 new and it wasn't long till the movie came out. I really always wondered how they got those '77 cars so early in production.

[1971WARBIRD]

talking of Smoky and the Bandit it was on movie plex tonight.anyway next time look close at the interior and you will see the 76 deluxe seats.i think there were a couple other things pointed out by guys but they slip my mind right now.can't remember if there is a good shot of the door panels or not.

[360Rocket]

I remember reading an interview by HPP with Hal Needham, the director and him stating that the movie cars were in fact 1976 T/A's with 77 front ends mounted. The factory production cars were not ready for filming but were on the showroom floor by the time the movie hit the screen.

[flying69gto]

Originally Posted by 1971WARBIRD

talking of Smoky and the Bandit it was on movie plex tonight.anyway next time look close at the interior and you will see the 76 deluxe seats.i think there were a couple other things pointed out by guys but they slip my mind right now.can't remember if there is a good shot of the door panels or not.

Speaking of the interior, in one scene you can clearly see the 76 pull strap on the door panel . The 77 pull strap ends have the chrome caps. These didn't. I'm sure the cars were 76 models with 77 front ends. John

[crider]

Also at least one scene with gold honeycombs on it instead of the snowflakes

[Region Warrior]

This really has me intrigued, and dont even own a 76-78.
76 TA with 77 front nose. That would make it a really rare model.
I'm gon'a rent the movie if it doesnt come on soon.

[1971WARBIRD]

i haven't watched it yet,but they rereleased it on dvd with up graded sound and better picture quality.i think it was about 10.00 at wally world.

[Wareagle]

Originally Posted by Region Warrior

They featured Smoky Bandit cars.
One guy claimed he was the original owner of an untouched 76.
Still had original invoice.
What caught my eye was when they showed the front end.
It had a 77 nose on it.

Anyone see or here of any before?
I've heard there where some late 76's with 77 noses do to production problems, but never seen one.

Cool-- a fellow on www.transamcountry.com mentioned he knew someone that was friends
with the nephew of Jerry Reed . According to the story Jerry Reed gave his nephew one of
the T/A's from the movie -- it had a built 455 with 4 speed and went like stink --could have been a 76 with 77 add ons .

[Father&Son73T/A]

Hal Needham stated in the interview though that all the TA's were stock,except the one that jumped the pbidge,it had a NASCAR motor in it.
So,the scene you see in the beginning of the movie with the hairy stop light burnout,my opinion if it was stock,HAD to be a 4spd 455,and that came ONLY stock in 76........make sense?
Talk about dumpin the clutch.......

[se428bandit]

I think there was a mixture of 1977 and 1976 T/A's used.Some of the cars had snowflakes and 6.6 litre on the shaker and were using 1977 shakers [1976 used 400/455 on the shaker].I knew someone who worked at the place where the cars were crushed in Union City Ga According to Pontiac all the cars were to be crushed and NOT sold to the public because of warranty issues.But from what i understand some of the cars were stripped before then were crushed .So there chances are that there are parts floating around but cars i don't think so.


******Notice how low the decal is on the sail panel******

[LeighP]

Read an interview with the guy who ran Pontiac Media/Advertising section when he was approached to supply cars for Smokey and The Bandit. They used 6 vehicles, 1976 T/As modified with 77 model pre-production parts to match the upcoming 77 model release (movie was filmed over the summer before the model year commenced). The cars had a mix of engines, although all cars had 6.6 litre decals on the shaker engine callout for continuity purposes. The vehicles were all supposed to have been destroyed as they were not production vehicles.
What actually happened to all of them is up for conjecture......however no one has ever appeared with a documented vehicle that was used in the first S&TB movie...to my knowledge anyway. Lots of people claim to own one.......yeah, riiiight.....
Was an interesting interview....he got permission to supply the cars for the movie as long as they came out of his advertising budget....lol, you think he got his money's worth?

[1971WARBIRD]

Originally Posted by LeighP

Read an interview with the guy who ran Pontiac Media/Advertising section when he was approached to supply cars for Smokey and The Bandit. Was an interesting interview....he got permission to supply the cars for the movie as long as they came out of his advertising budget....lol, you think he got his money's worth?

IMO one of the best investments in a long time.6 cars 7000-8000 each,his cost alot less ,now how much did trans am production jump in 77-78-79?

[Wareagle]

Originally Posted by Father&Son73T/A

Hal Needham stated in the interview though that all the TA's were stock,except the one that jumped the pbidge,it had a NASCAR motor in it.
So,the scene you see in the beginning of the movie with the hairy stop light burnout,my opinion if it was stock,HAD to be a 4spd 455,and that came ONLY stock in 76........make sense?
Talk about dumpin the clutch.......

I doubt the Nascar thing --as Needham did'nt get involved with them till the 80's .
Also it would be no problem to soup up a 400-455 4 spd - auto to those standards- some dealers would do that for there customers-- like Royal Pontiac-- it Would take very
little time .

[Father&Son73T/A]

Originally Posted by Wareagle

I doubt the Nascar thing --as Needham did'nt get involved with them till the 80's .
Also it would be no problem to soup up a 400-455 4 spd - auto to those standards- some dealers would do that for there customers-- like Royal Pontiac-- it Would take very
little time .

Well,I don't have it in front of me,but he said he "called" some guys from NASCAR for the bridge jump car.
The rest were stock.
Did any dealers still soup up there cars for customers anymore in 76 like RP?
None I heard of.
I highly doubt Royal Pontiac did that anymore by then,but then again,for the movies.....

[Wareagle]

Originally Posted by Father&Son73T/A

Well,I don't have it in front of me,but he said he "called" some guys from NASCAR for the bridge jump car.
The rest were stock.
Did any dealers still soup up there cars for customers anymore in 76 like RP?
None I heard of.
I highly doubt Royal Pontiac did that anymore by then,but then again,for the movies.....

I'm pretty sure Pontiac would know someone that could tweak a stock 76-77 T/A to
burn some rubber etc. LOL.

[Norwood]

Originally Posted by Father&Son73T/A

Well,I don't have it in front of me,but he said he "called" some guys from NASCAR for the bridge jump car.
The rest were stock.
Did any dealers still soup up there cars for customers anymore in 76 like RP?
None I heard of.
I highly doubt Royal Pontiac did that anymore by then,but then again,for the movies.....

Royal was long gone by 76.....I think

[2manyT/A'S]

Originally Posted by Father&Son73T/A

Hal Needham stated in the interview though that all the TA's were stock,except the one that jumped the pbidge,it had a NASCAR motor in it.
So,the scene you see in the beginning of the movie with the hairy stop light burnout,my opinion if it was stock,HAD to be a 4spd 455,and that came ONLY stock in 76........make sense?
Talk about dumpin the clutch.......

FYI: The 455 4 speed T/A's in 75 & 76 were a bit of a "lame duck" in stock form.
with a "dismal" 7.6 to 1 compression ratio,mild cam shift & restrictive cat. converter,single exhaust,lean carb jetting & retarded timing.(it probably wouldn't even do a burnout,in stock condition)
The engine was just a stationwagon engine stuffed into the T/A with a 3:23 gearset which made it feel like it had some (minimal) performance.

The factory HP rating was only like 15 higher than the 400 that year & the 77 W72 400was promoted as having the same HP & MORE torque than the previous years 455.

Those engines need better heads,exhaust,cam & tuning to wake them up.

I'm sure that ALL of the T/A's exhaust soundtracks were dubbed.

[bonneville Joe]

The scene with the honeycomb wheels is when the car is parked on the side of the road in front of the "Welcome to Texarkana" sign. When he pulls back onto the street you can see the honeycombs plain as day. Its really obvious when you watch it on a HD plasma lol..