Burt Reynolds’ movie-car collection scores $330,000 at Barrett-Jackson auction
Although the original Smokey and the Bandit movie cars were apparently destroyed because Universal wouldn’t release any cars with potential frame damage from stunts, people are still willing to shell out big bucks even for a re-creation or homage car. That is, one with ties to the late Burt Reynolds himself. The three cars from Reynolds’ personal collection (in affiliation with friend Gene Kennedy of Bandit Movie Cars Florida) all crossed the block at Barrett-Jackson’s Las Vegas auction and commanded $330,000 in total.
The Bandit’s 1978 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am re-creation was the headliner, with a winning bid of $192,500. Altered to appear as movie-correct as possible, this car has all the right looks, a 400-cubic-inch V-8 lurking under that poultry-festooned hood, and a Reynold’ signature on the glove box for good measure. Next up was the 1978 Pontiac Firebird Formula re-creation, based on the car that appeared in Hooper in 1978. The Firebird Formula went for $88,000, and despite not having the same allure as a Bandit car, Reynolds apparently did many of his own stunts in the original Hooper Firebird. Last of the Reynolds movie cars was the 1987 Chevrolet R30 pickup, a later recreation of the pace truck that appeared in 1981’s Cannonball Run. Smattered with Indy Hauler graphics from the 1980 Indy 500, this truck also sports a host of modern drivetrain upgrades.
“These are faithful recreations of the movie cars done under the direction of Burt Reynolds,” says Hagerty valuation data expert Greg Ingold. “While these particular cars never actually saw screen time, they still went for much more than the average market rate. That’s the price for a vehicle associated with Burt Reynolds.”
And when you compare any of these cars to the actual Bandit promo car that sold for a whopping $550,000 back in 2016, you might even say these tidbits of Reynolds history were snatched at a bargain.
