Many of us have fallen in love with cars through movies. For me, it was Steve McQueen's Ford Mustang from "Bullitt," but the movie industry made several vehicles famous. The 1978 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am is one of them, and even though it comes from a difficult era for muscle cars, its presence in Burt Reynolds' "Smokey and the Bandit" helped it become a legend. If you love this car, now's your chance to buy it!
A Firebird Trans Am identical to the one Reynolds drove in the movie is going under the hammer at a Barrett Jackson even in Las Vegas on September 29.
The Firebird Trans Am in the movie was based on the second-generation model, which had received a big facelift in 1977. Dubbed Special Edition, it had black paint and gold graphics on the hood. Pontiac offered the package with other exterior colors as well. The livery remained highly popular after the film and was offered for different model years too. The car was powered by a massive, 6.6-liter V-8 engine rated at 200 horsepower and 325 pound-feet of torque.
Sales of the Trans Am surged after "Smokey and the Bandit" hit the silver screen, almost doubling on two years of the release.
There's no estimate as to how much this replica could fetch, but another Trans Am, also owned by Reynolds, went under the hammer for $450,000 back in 2014. We'll keep you posted.
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