Someone Bought The Bandit's Old Pontiac Trans Am For An Absolute Steal

We get that not everyone here is into muscle cars. But some of them are too iconic to not at least appreciate a few. The General Lee Dodge Charger, for example. We wouldn't want to roll around with a giant Rebel flag on our roof, but we can recognize the role that car played in pop culture. With that in mind, we'd like to present a less politically-charged option: Burt Reynold's personal Pontiac Trans Am.

The Bandit's Trans Am has once again crossed the auction block, selling for way less than we thought it would. It sold for "only" $255,000. The last time this happened, the Black Bandit sold for a whopping $480K. That was back in 2014, and the car in question was used to promote the film. Still, you'd think this one would have sold for a lot more. There's even a photo of the car with its late owner included in the sale.

On top of that, Reynolds signed the car. Perhaps it's a sign of the times. How many people alive today were around in 1977 to actually watch Smokey and the Bandit? Regardless, this is still one of the baddest cars in existence. If you've seen the movie, you'll notice this isn't a perfect replica of the car. The one in the film notably had T-tops, something this coupe won't ever have without liberal use of a Sawzall. Additionally, the 'firechicken' on the hood isn't a screen-accurate match.

That doesn't mean it's any less cool, or any less a serious performance car. The car comes with a hilariously-sized 8.2-liter Butler Performance V8 mated to a 5-speed manual trans, which is, of course, topped by a Hurst shifter. Braking is far more modern than the bodywork would suggest and is handled by Wilwood calipers wrapped around drilled and slotted rotors.

What we don't know is how much power that huge V8 is turning out. Butler's site doesn't list power figures either. We'll just have to assume it's fast enough that you might actually need the CB radio mounted inside the car to turn yourself over to local police. Speaking of inside, that Hurst shifter also features a line-lock function for perfect burnouts every time. Seats are trimmed in black and gold and feature a Bandit logo embossed on the headrests.

But the real crowning jewel is Reynold's signature on the glovebox. Presumably, Reynolds signed it between buying the car in 2016 and his death in 2018. Either way, this is probably one of the coolest tribute cars out there.