FAST FACTS Vol. 1, Issue 3 – Smokey & The Bandit – Smoking Hot!

1977 Pontiac Trans Am

ENGINE SPECS for the “Screaming Chicken” Car:

6.6 Liter, V8 water-cooled, cast-iron block and heads, 5 main bearings Displacement: 400 cubic-inches Horsepower (SAE net): 200 hp @ 3,600 rpm Torque (SAE net): 325 lb-ft @ 2,400 rpm Compression ratio: 8.0:1 Carburetion: 1×4-barrel Rochester Quadrajet Oil capacity: 6 quarts

Why is this car special?

The co-star of the famous movie “Smokey and The Bandit”, one of the highest-grossing films of the ’70s trailing only “Star Wars – A New Hope”. The movie practically saved the Pontiac TransAm line as there were initially plans to stop production because of low sales. Sales rose exponentially after the release of the movie, in May of 1977. According to some sources, Burt Reynolds made an agreement with a senior executive at Pontiac that if the movie became a hit (which it did), Pontiac would gift him a free Trans Am. The T-Top Trans Am became one of the best-selling cars of the year, but Reynolds never got his car. Sometime later, Burt called Pontiac and found out the executive that made the promise had retired, and the new exec refused to honor that agreement. Burt did eventually get one, however. In 1979 sales of the Trans Am “Bandit” were over 117,000 units and it received its own special edition nameplate and featured the souped-up V8 engine and grille upgrade, popular at the time.