12 Celebrity Cars That Were Auctioned Off For A Ridiculous Amount

Few movies are as closely associated with a car as “Smokey and the Bandit.” It could be said that the 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am is as much a star of the movie as is Burt Reynolds playing The Bandit. Featuring an all-star cast of Burt Reynolds, Sally Fields, Jackie Gleason, and Jerry Reed, “Smokey and the Bandit” was among the top-grossing movies of the year — Star Wars was number one. Since then it has been a fan favorite worldwide. While Reynolds already had an established acting career, this is the film with which it is most closely associated, so it is fitting that he would own a slick, black Trans Am just like the one in the movie.

Bandit not only did well at the box office, but it also significantly boosted sales for Pontiac. After seeing the movie, car buyers all over the country wanted to see themselves in the iconic pony car, complete with the “Screaming Chicken” decal emblazoned across the hood. As a thank you to the star that drove the car to its status as the epitome of cool, GM gifted a car to Burt Reynolds after the film came out. It appears that Reynolds held on to this car through the resort of his life, which ended in 2018 from natural causes. The car later went up for auction, selling for about $500,000, according to Entertainment Weekly.