It is a classic tale: Moderately talented Florida State University athlete ditches the humidity of the Sunshine State for the bright lights of Hollywood, lands a couple of film roles, becomes the go-to man when the script calls for a southern gentleman with a ’70s sensibility, grows mustache, poses nude in Cosmopolitan magazine, dates some starlets, trades peg-leg trousers for patch-pocketed hip-hugger bell-bottoms, dons a cowboy hat, and finds box-workplace success playing second fiddle to a 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am and original Bushwick hipster Jackie Gleason, gets kick-ass “Trans Am” windbreaker, marries the hot secretary from WKRP in Cincinnati, falls out of the public eye, returns to relevancy in the late 1990s with his a-little-too-close-for-comfort portrayal of a porn director in really feel-good, nostalgic look at the porn business (Boogie Nights), only to wind up having to sell his Smokey and the Bandit–themed go-kart at auction for gas funds. Who among us hasn’t been there?
To be fair, Burt Reynolds is also promoting an actual, full-size 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. Sadly, this example received no screen time but did serve as a promotional car around the time of the film’s release. Equipped with a 400-cubic-inch Poncho engine, 4-barrel carb, and an automatic transmission, it’s just like the one particular Reynolds drove in the film. (Side note: Did you ever notice how the automobile in the movie is an automatic, but the audio is, at times, clearly that of a manual transmission getting shifted?) Claimed to be a correct Y82 auto, it is got the qualifying black exterior and gold screaming chicken and pinstriping, despite the fact that it lacks the gold-colored, machine-turned dash. But that discrepancy is effortlessly overlooked when you think about the gold plaque residing on the driver’s door that is emblazoned with: “1977 Pontiac Trans Am Owned By Burt Reynolds.” (Note to self: Up game by ordering customized gold plates to affix to all belongings.) As if any doubt of the car’s true provenance remains, there’s also a hand-lettered “Bandit” logo painted on the door.
The $ 60,000–$ 80,000 estimate listed for the Banditmobile by Julien’s Auctions—“The Auction Property to the Stars,” as if there had been any question—has turned out to be ultraconservative, as the bidding has currently crested $ 130K with 6 days left to go in the auction. Bids on the go-kart have likewise exceeded expectations, currently resting a cool $ 2500—more than triple the estimate of $ 600–$ 800.
Curiously, match and finish on the go-kart is superior to that of the true car.
Arguably the most Burtrrific item to hit the block is the nylon Trans Am / Bandit jacket that Reynolds wore in the provocatively titled sequel, Smokey and the Bandit II. Currently, the bidding for the jacket is at $ 8000, far surpassing the preauction estimate. (Do these auctioneers not have cable Tv or something?) For the record, it is a size medium.
There’s also a stagecoach constructed on the chassis of an International Harvester Scout—oh, the humanity!—and a 1997 Dodge pickup with a “portrait” of Burt on the hood but these things represent just a tiny smattering of the Burtorabilia that make up the contents of this auction. Those who want to personally inspect the vehicular artifacts of Mr. Reynolds’s life can do so at the House from the Life and Profession of Burt Reynolds auction in Las Vegas, Nevada, on December 11 and 12, 2014 at The Palms Casino Resort.
The Bandit’s Empire of Dirt: 1977 Pontiac Trans Am, Go-Kart, and A lot more Up for Grabs in Burt Reynolds Auction
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