After the acquisition, the bodywork of the vehicle was finished in black with the “Screaming Chicken” emblem emblazoned on the hood and the interior was given black and gold leather seats. The ‘78 was not terribly different from the ‘77 Firebirds, and, in fact, Pontiac produced significantly fewer Formulas than Trans Ams, this particular example being one of around 24,000.
That car is up for auction today via Bring a Trailer.
Despite auctioning off most of his collection back in 2015, Reynolds acquired a 1978 Pontiac Firebird Formula a year later, which he then modified to look like the ‘77 Trans Am that Bandit drove in the film.
1978 FIREBIRD MOVIE
Reynolds was the most bankable star in the world and the success of his latest movie helped Pontiac nearly double the sales of its recently-facelifted Firebird after audiences watched the titular bootlegger use a ‘77 Trans Am model as a diversion for his partner carrying a truck-load of Coors beer to a dry county for a rich Texan played by Jackie Gleason.īecause the movie was able to push the Firebird’s sales ahead of the Chevy Camaro for the first time ever, Pontiac made a deal to give the actor a Trans Am every year from then on. In 1977, Burt Reynolds had the biggest hit of his career with Smokey and the Bandit, a film that came in second at the box office behind Star Wars during one of the best cinematic years in history.