It’s a classic tale: Moderately talented Florida State University athlete ditches the humidity of the Sunshine State for the bright lights of Hollywood, lands a handful of movie 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-tiny-also-close-for-comfort portrayal of a porn director in feel-very good, nostalgic look at the porn industry (Boogie Nights), only to wind up having to sell his Smokey and the Bandit–themed go-kart at auction for gas income. Who amongst us hasn’t been there?
To be fair, Burt Reynolds is also promoting an actual, complete-size 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. Sadly, this instance received no screen time but did serve as a promotional automobile about the time of the film’s release. Equipped with a 400-cubic-inch Poncho engine, 4-barrel carb, and an automatic transmission, it is just like the a single Reynolds drove in the movie. (Side note: Did you ever notice how the auto in the film is an automatic, but the audio is, at times, clearly that of a manual transmission being 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 simply overlooked when you contemplate 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 Residence to the Stars,” as if there were any question—has turned out to be ultraconservative, as the bidding has already 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, fit and finish on the go-kart is superior to that of the genuine automobile.
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. Presently, the bidding for the jacket is at $ 8000, far surpassing the preauction estimate. (Do these auctioneers not have cable Television or something?) For the record, it’s a size medium.
There’s also a stagecoach built 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 items 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 Far more Up for Grabs in Burt Reynolds Auction
