Burt’s Firebird sold at Las Vegas auction
Burt Reynolds’ 1978 Firebird Trans Am “Bandit” replica sold for an incredible US$192,500 at Barrett-Jackson’s Las Vegas auction.
The vehicle was from the personal collection of the actor who died in September. It was sold along with three other cars, including two more Trans Am movie replicas, bringing in a total of US$379,500.
The Bandit replica is a perfect re-creation of the original Smokey and the Bandit movie car with a few modern upgrades, including a custom-built 200-R4 four-speed automatic transmission, a freshly rebuilt Pontiac 400 engine with Butler Performance parts, and air conditioning. The Firebird even has a movie-correct CB radio and antenna.
It’s no surprise this car was his favourite of all the film cars.
The other two Trans Ams were a red 1978 model, and a black-andgold 1984 model. The former, a replica of the car Reynolds drove in Hooper, fetched US$88,000. The latter is one of two surviving cars used to promote his United States Football League team, the Tampa Bay Bandits. It sold for US$49,500.
The fourth car in Burt’s collection wasn’t a Trans Am, but it was another movie car replica, a 1987 Chevy R30 pickup done up like the Indy Pace Hauler he drove in Cannonball Run. In the movie it jumps over a moving freight train; in real life, it hammered for US$49,500.