Burt Reynolds Was Promised Free Trans Ams For Life Until Pontiac Changed Its Mind

Only Star Wars sold more movie tickets than "Smokey and the Bandit" in 1977, and Burt Reynolds' antics as the Bandit helped sell thousands of Firebird Trans Ams just like the one he drove on screen. Pontiac was understandably thrilled and promised Reynolds a new car every year for life. But the deal didn't last.

Trans Am production jumped from 46,701 in 1976 to 68,745 in 1977, and exploded again to 93,341 in 1978, at which point it accounted for nearly half of all Firebird sales. And while it's hard to put an exact figure on how much of that was down to the movie, and how much was a result of the handsome new beaky nose introduced for '77, there's no doubting Smokey kept Pontiac showrooms busy.

The general manager of Pontiac at the time was a fan of the movie, Reynolds would later claim, and allegedly promised the actor a free Trans Am every year for life. For a while, GM's sportiest brand honored that deal, and Reynolds gave his first free car to his sister, and the second to his stepbrother. But then the Trans Am tap ran dry, and not because Pontiac had stopped making them.

When Reynolds called up Pontiac to find out why his supply of freebies had stopped, he learned the new management wasn't as much of a Bandit fan as the old one. "That was the old president, he liked your movies," Reynolds recalled the man on the other end of the line telling him, in an interview with Car and Driver magazine. "I'm the new one. I don't like your movies!" Pontiac got three films' worth of exposure from "Smokey and the Bandit" and its two sequels, before enjoying another massive PR boost when the third-generation Firebird Trans Am landed a starring role on TV's "Knight Rider" in the early '80s. 

The Firebird and Trans Am lasted until 2002, and could have been resurrected for 2010 when Chevrolet rebooted its Camaro twin, if GM hadn't decided to kill off the entire Pontiac brand in 2009 amid bankruptcy restructuring. Fortunately for fans, Pontiac's demise hasn't prevented tuning companies and restoration shops from building Trans Am tributes out of modern day Camaros to show us all what might have been.

Almost half a century after Smokey first hit movie theaters, a black and gold 1977 Trans Am remains one of the most recognizable of all muscle cars, even if it wasn't the fastest. The big 455 (7.4-liter) V8 was gone by 1977, and the most powerful option going forward was a 6.6-liter motor pushing out 200 horsepower that year, and 220 hp in '78. But many 1977-78 Trans Ams came with as little as 180 hp.

Fast or not, demand is always high for examples in Bandit colors, especially if they're in Special Edition Y81 or Y82 trim. Both got gold pinstriping and a gold grille recess not seen on regular black Trans Ams, but only the Y82 came with removable T-top roof panels. A Y82 is currently worth around $71,000 in excellent condition, Hagerty says.

But it's possible to pay far more. In 2022, a black and gold 1977 Trans Am SE once owned by Reynolds himself sold for $495,000 at Barrett-Jackson's Scottsdale auction. The real-life Bandit had hung onto the car until four years before he passed away in 2018 at the age of 82.