Remember the iconic muscle car driven by Burt Reynolds in the kitchy yet classic 1977 movie Smokey and the Bandit? Who wouldn't want to own a Trans-Am just like it? Bidders will get their chance Friday at an auction in Arizona, MSN Autos reports.
A listing for the Barrett-Jackson sale in Scottsdale shows a Pro-Touring Firebird owned by Reynolds and built by Restore a Muscle Car and Gene Kennedy. The car comes signed by Reynolds himself, but the listing makes no claim that it was actually used in -- or associated with -- the movie.
Reynolds, a resident of Tequesta, has owned the car only since last May. "It's likely just pandering to boost the value at auction," according to MSN Autos, but "It'll probably work."
In December 2014, Reynolds sold one of the movie's original promo cars for $450,000 as part of an auction of his personal memorabilia. Just months later, a "tribute car" briefly owned by Reynolds fetched $170,00, MSN Autos reports.
More controversial was the sale last year of a Pontiac promo car that was reportedly owned by Universal Studios but not used in the movie. Restored from a junk heap, it generated a $550,000 sale for Barrett-Jackson, according to MSN Autos and Time's The Drive.
So what will the latest restored Firebird with only tenuous links to the Smokey and the Bandit star go for? MSN Autos says it expects "mega bucks" due to the car's "serious resto-mod firepower."
Cox Media Group