Everyone knows that Burt Reynolds was one of Hollywood’s biggest names so it should come at no surprise that the cars that he filmed with became celebrities in their own right. You probably know that Burt left us September 6 at the age of 82, but the legacy he leaves will rest on film and in minds of car enthusuasts for-ever. Here are several cars that Reynolds made famous.
Here are the Five Burt Reynolds Cars
1977 Pontiac Trans Am
Image Credit: Wikimedia
For the movie, Smokey and the Bandit, director Hal Needham contacted Pontiac after seeing photos for the 1977 Pontiac Trans Am. Apparently, the Trans Ams were actually 1976-model cars with 1977 front ends. Ra-ther than using a stuntman, Reynolds actually drove in many of the scenes. All four of the Trans Ams that GM provided were badly damaged during production, one of which was destroyed after it made the famous jump over a dismantled bridge. The movie ignited interest for the 1977 Trans Ams, which outsold its Camaro sibling for the first time in history.
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1971 International Harvester Scout
Image Credit: Flickr
The beat-up old International Harvester Scout 800B Scout fit perfectly in Deliverance. Our film buff friend at Fullerton Ford (Somerville, NJ) came up this piece of trivia: Reynolds apparently used that very Scout to travel back and forth from the local County Airport to the Chattooga River during filming! Produced in Fort Wayne, Indiana, between 1961 and 1980, the Scout and Scout II were developed as a competitor to Jeep. The look and sheet metal remained unchanged until production ceased in 1980, after some 532,674 were produced.
1969 Porsche 911
Image Credit: Flickr
The sixth most popular 1981 movie at U.S. and Canadian box-offices, Cannonball Run showcased several cars, but early in the film, Reynolds drives a 1969 Porsche 911 dressed as a 935 Turbo painted in brown pri-mer, “said to be good for reflecting radar.” Reynolds crashes the Porsche trying to avoid a police road block, and spends much of his time in a 1978 Dodge Sportsman ambulance van modified with a HEMI engine.
1968 Chevrolet Camaro
Image Credit: Wikimedia
The movie might be forgettable, but the 1968 Camaro in Cop and a Half remains a pretty cool car. Unlikely a true SS car with a big-block 396, the Camaro in the film is missing the SS front spoiler, SS hood and SS stripes. Filmed in the Tampa, Florida area, the movie used three 1968 SS Camaros complete with suspension up-grades, black tail-light panels and either a 350 or 396 engines.
1978 GMC K10 Stepside
In the movie Hooper, Reynolds plays an aging Hollywood stuntman looking to make one last great stunt so he can retire before the money, and his body, quit on him. Much of the film sees him driving a 1978 GMC K10 Stepside square-body pickup. Introduced in 1960, the Chevrolet C/K trucks were a hit for nearly 40 years, replaced by the Silverado in 1999. The ‘C’ designated two-wheel-drive trucks, the ‘K’ designated four-wheel-drive. ’10’ designated half-ton. In Hooper, Reynolds spins the stepside on the Pacific Coast Highway, then drives it in reverse at 55 mph in order to get beer for his passenger. He finally gets pulled over and ticketed for, ha, ha: “unsafe backing.”
