‘Smokey and the Bandit’ car to go up for auction

Smokey and the Bandit star Burt Reynolds poses with the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am that was used to promote the movie and will be auctioned off Jan. 30 in Arizona. (Photo courtesy KCOMM)

The last remaining Pontiac Firebird Trans Am from the 1977 film Smokey and the Bandit is going up for auction.

The auction date is set for Jan. 30 at the Barrett-Jackson Auction Co. in Scottsdale, Arizona. Smokey and the Bandit star Burt Reynolds is expected to attend.

The car is the last of five vehicles used for the film. The car being auctioned was known as a “promo car,” used by Universal Studios solely to promote the film. The other cars experienced extensive damage during the filming of high-speed chase scenes, so those cars were taken to General Motors to be crushed.

The car has identical features to the ones used in the movie – among them, the Pontiac-build 400 ci TA 6.6 engine, 3-speed Turbo-Hydramatic transmission and an AM/FM radio with a stereo 8-track player.

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The car’s current owner purchased the vehicle at a 2014 estate sale. Inside, he found Smokey and the Bandit memorabilia, including an original film script, film location maps and a certificate from Universal Studios indicating that the car was used for promotional purposes. The owner also learned that the car had not been started since 1985.

The McLaughlin Museum in West Virginia restored the vehicle, and the Pontiac Historical Society in Michigan verified the car’s authenticity.