It’s been forty years since the original Smokey and the Bandit premiered. That seems like a crazy long amount of time, longer than many of us have been around. This is why for so many of us Smokey and the Bandit, possibly Cannonball too, may just have been the movie that made kiddo us fall in love with cars. I know it was for me.
Decades ago pundits assumed that after year 2000 we all would have a flying hydrogen-powered cars and that the world would be out of oil. Fortunately the world today has a Challenger SRT Demon with a supercharged V8 that screams Fuck Yea louder than any 1970s Pontiac ever could (sorry, fact). While Pontiac is no longer around, we still have an equally awesome Camaro and many police departments still drive big sedans with V8 engines that send their power to the rear wheels.
Big rigs, despite the above image, have not changed much either. They still have 18 wheels and huge turbo-diesel engines with transmissions that many of us couldn’t shift. The biggest difference might be in the fact that the flat-nosed cab-over truck are just about gone from our roads.
Carspring.co.uk reimagined what some of the character cars from the movie might look like today. Except for the rig, they seem pretty much spot-on. Check out their site for a few more Bandit options. We have asked before what the Bandit would drive today, but those comments were unfortunately lost.
Most importantly, we can get Coors beer in just about every store.
Cars from Smokey and the Bandit reimagined for 40th anniversary
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24 responses to “Cars from Smokey and the Bandit reimagined for 40th anniversary”
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I was 17 when that premiered, and I’ve only ever seen bits and pieces of it. Heck, I only watched all of Saturday Night Fever a couple of years ago. Maybe I’ll check out Smokey this year.
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I’ve only seen the first F&F and I was about 24 when it premiered. Oh, and I hated it, which is why i haven’t watched any others.
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Vin makes his paychecks one crappy movie at a time.
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I’m proud to say I haven’t watched any of the F&F movies. Or any of the Transformers franchise.
I did recently watch the documentary about Steve McQueen, and the filming of Le Mans.-
I would recommend McQueen’s “Bullet”. wonderful to see someone violate San Francisco with a mustang gt and a 390. it sounds perverted but we are speaking of San Francisco, after all.
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I was a wee tyke, but my folks took me to see it at the drive-in (I think it must have been the summer of ’78, a year after it premiered as that drive-in never had first run shows. I would have been 3). I sobbed and sobbed over the closing credits because I didn’t want it to end.
(I can also remember crying at the end of Smokey and the Bandit II, and Cannonball Run) -
The trailer from Smokey and the Bandit showed up on The Walking Dead this past season.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C5E3DJkWEAACUv2.jpg-
I read about it… I think they debunked it that it wasn’t the real thing.
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Everything that heard said it was the real deal. The original sat in a lot South of Atlanta since the filming in the 1970s. Walking Dead is filmed in the same general area mostly. So was it all CGI then?
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Yep, the aero side skirts weren’t a thing in the 1970s. Looks like you are right.
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On the second trailer, notice the rock formation on the left, behind the horse? It’s longer. I think it may be a longer trailer, too.
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I’ll admit, the idea of the Bandit in a Raptor actually seems really fitting. But if that were the case, the Sheriff would probably be in a cop-spec Explorer (and while we’re at it, a Navigator for Big Enos and Little Enos?).
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Raptor top speed is 100 mph. Cop Explorers are 131 to 148. Wouldn’t be much of a chase unless it went off road, but then the Semi full of contraband from Colorado wouldn’t have a reason to leave the highway.
Rich people still buy Navigators? I think the 21st century equivalent of a convertible Cadillac is a blinged-out Escalade.-
Since when has Hollywood much cared for realism? But yes, I assume a Bandit Raptor would be used for its dirt prowess.
You’re also right about the Navigator, but if original Bandit used primarily GM products, I’d assume FoMoCo would want only their stuff used, especially with the new Navigator on its way.
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Also the sheriffs car needs to be a convertible https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c1ee32de85cd1cf934f180429c428270bdbd27de636484d0eb5901318ea737dd.jpg
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We need more cars with t-tops.
911 Targa then?
Disclaimer:
Hooniverse Industries, LTD does not support the rebooting of Smokey and the Bandit in any manner, shape, or form. No way. No how.
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Fact!
By an almighty coincidence I bought this on DVD just last week as part of a cheapo Amazon purge. Watched it on Saturday night. It was every bit as godawful as I remember it being, right down to the horrifically OTT engine sound overdubs and wildly sped-up chase footage.
Good stuff.
This weekend I’ll be raising the stakes with Cannonball Run, which I also bought.
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We will need a full report on that.
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“that’s a 454, 4 on the floor, full house with a blower”
(I can’t remember though, that quote might be from Cannonball Run II. Either way, still one of my favorite car related movie lines)-
Ah, the guy with the hot rod, I think. I used to say that all the time when I was seven, long before I knew what any of it meant.
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