who drove the car in smokey and the bandit
Reynolds Needham
title: Smokey and the Bandit text: jump was equipped with a booster rocket, the same type that was used by Evel Knievel during his failed Snake River Canyon jump. Needham served as the driver for the stunt (standing in for Reynolds) while Lada St. Edmund was in the same car (standing in for Sally Field during the jump). By the movie's ending, the final surviving Trans Am and LeMans were both barely running and the other cars had become parts donors to keep them running. The Burdettes' car is a 1974 Cadillac Eldorado convertible painted in a "Candy Red" color scheme, and is seen briefly at title: Smokey and the Bandit text: sponsored a racer in Atlanta's Southern Classic and wants to celebrate in style when he wins. They find local legend Bo "Bandit" Darville at a roadeo at Lakewood Fairgrounds in Atlanta and offer him $80,000 to pick up 400 cases of Coors from Texarkana (the closest place it could be legally sold at that time), and bring it back to Atlanta in 28 hours. Bandit takes the bet and recruits his partner Cledus "Snowman" Snow to drive the truck, while Bandit drives a black Pontiac Trans Am bought on an advance from the Burdettes as a "blocker" to divert attention title: Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 text: films. Big Enos and Little Enos offer retiring Sheriff Buford T. Justice a wager, betting $250,000 against his badge on his ability to transport a large stuffed fish from Florida to Texas. Buford picks up the fish and starts driving with his son, Junior. The Enoses set many traps, but Buford dodges them, so they try to hire the Bandit to stop him. Deciding that the original Bandit is too hard to manage, they hire the Snowman to act as the Bandit. The new Snowman/Bandit parks his truck so he can drive a black and gold 1983 Pontiac Trans Am. title: Smokey and the Bandit text: episodes of the series. Needham saw an advertisement for the soon-to-be-released 1977 Pontiac Trans Am and knew right away that would be the Bandit's car, or, as Needham referred to it, a character in the movie. He contacted Pontiac and an agreement was made that four 1977 Trans Ams and two Pontiac LeMans 4-door sedans would be provided for the movie. The Trans Ams were actually 1976-model cars with 1977 front ends. (From 1970 to 1976, both the Firebird/Trans Am and Chevrolet Camaro had two round headlights, and in 1977, the Firebird/Trans Am was changed to four rectangular headlights, while title: Smokey and the Bandit text: away from the truck and its illegal cargo. They arrive in Texarkana an hour ahead of schedule, load the truck and head back toward Atlanta. Immediately upon starting the second leg of the run, Bandit is stopped by a runaway bride named Carrie who hitches a ride with him, but in so doing Bandit becomes a target of Sheriff Buford T. Justice, a career Texas lawman whose son Junior was to have been Carrie's bridegroom. Ignoring his own jurisdiction, Sheriff Justice, with dimwitted Junior in tow, pursues Bandit all the way to Georgia to get Carrie back, even as various