RIP Burt Reynolds
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Ble_PE
I need a beer.
IIRC. It was a licensing thing where Coors didn't want to truck product east of the Mississippi River. so any sales of there product were not authorized and therefore it was illegal to sell it there. I was in high school at that time and it was big news when/if you got some coors beer. Little did we realize it was just a typical light beer and nothing super special.
I don't think I'd credit SATB with the CB boom but it certainly helped. It was a trucker means of communication at the time and a bunch of people would set up a radio at home and converse over the air (like ham radio operators) that's why they expanded the original 23 channels to 40. I had friends that all installed CBs in their cars to contact each other without relying on the family home phone line. The same way kids today use cell phones to talk to their friends without their parents/family hanging around.
If you've never seen it, check the movie Convoy. It'l get your CB juices flowing. "I said Big Ben this here's the Rubber Duck and I'm about to out the hammer down" LOL
I don't think I'd credit SATB with the CB boom but it certainly helped. It was a trucker means of communication at the time and a bunch of people would set up a radio at home and converse over the air (like ham radio operators) that's why they expanded the original 23 channels to 40. I had friends that all installed CBs in their cars to contact each other without relying on the family home phone line. The same way kids today use cell phones to talk to their friends without their parents/family hanging around.
If you've never seen it, check the movie Convoy. It'l get your CB juices flowing. "I said Big Ben this here's the Rubber Duck and I'm about to out the hammer down" LOL
knight1fox3
Jedi MASTER & Friend of Capt. Solo
Road Guy
Well-known member
Most all of my high school friends (late 80's) we all had CB's in our vehicles- it was pretty cool to be able to talk to your buds pre cell phone days..
I remember we all drove multiple cars down to Spring Break (Panama City) one year and the CB's made it a lot shorter drive
I remember we all drove multiple cars down to Spring Break (Panama City) one year and the CB's made it a lot shorter drive
We were exiled to the DC area during the Smokey and the Bandit days (74 through 77) and I very clearly remember my Dad going to great lengths to get Coors when it would become available in certain liquor stores.
For all you millennial types wondering why the fuss over an "average" beer, umm, remember that there was no such thing as microbreweries at that time. ALL beer was basically the same, mass produced stuff that we all tend to dismiss these days. It was a very regional kind of thing, too. I personally have no idea what the mystique with Coors was all about, though, other than it was from "out west" and maybe a little John Denver Rocky Mountain High type thingy...
For all you millennial types wondering why the fuss over an "average" beer, umm, remember that there was no such thing as microbreweries at that time. ALL beer was basically the same, mass produced stuff that we all tend to dismiss these days. It was a very regional kind of thing, too. I personally have no idea what the mystique with Coors was all about, though, other than it was from "out west" and maybe a little John Denver Rocky Mountain High type thingy...
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Road Guy
Well-known member
some interesting things in here : https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076729/trivia?ref_=tt_trv_trv
Thought some of you Trans Am fans would enjoy some of these trivia facts above
Highlights:
Burt was promised a free trans am if the movie did good and Pontiac failed to deliver
They used an actual trans am for the "jump"
Pontiac wasn't as helpful to give the movie trans am for 1st movie but no issues for 2nd movie
Thought some of you Trans Am fans would enjoy some of these trivia facts above
Highlights:
Burt was promised a free trans am if the movie did good and Pontiac failed to deliver
They used an actual trans am for the "jump"
Pontiac wasn't as helpful to give the movie trans am for 1st movie but no issues for 2nd movie
From the link. "Three Trans-Am cars were used in this movie. Director Hal Needham claims in the DVD documentary that they could barely run towards the end of the film's production. "
From years of being on an active Trans am site and listening to fanatics about the subject of what happened to the cars used in the movie, it's widely held among the Trans Am community that the actual number of cars used and their disposition after the movie has been lost to time. Hal Needham contradicted himself in interviews over the years about the number of vehicles, etc. and stories of what happened to them during the filming. Nothing sinister just likely because memories get cloudy with time and a good story is a good story and the facts are just trivia. These compilations should often be taken with a grain of salt.
Road Guy
Well-known member
I agree that 3 seems low, but it was 1977 and that kind of footage may have not been that difficult to do quickly - but if the 3 include the one that supposedly made the jump?
But I think it makes for good stories - ,maybe no one really knows.. I wonder what one would be worth today?
But I think it makes for good stories - ,maybe no one really knows.. I wonder what one would be worth today?
Flyer_PE
Jr. PE / Sr. Company Pilot
The TA in 1976/77 had a sticker price of less than $5k. I gotta believe they were able to spend more than 20k for cars. I remember reading once that the magic number was 28 cars that were trashed in the production of the movie. Like MA said, sometimes the good story outweighs the facts.
Dexman PE PMP
Internationally PMP'n his PE-ness
I remember reading that they used over 80 different cars for the Dukes of Hazzard. Several were stunt-specific versions that were little more than reinforced rolling bodies for things like jumps. The baseline car was a '69 Charger, but they modified 68-70 versions as needed (only slight changes to the front and rear lights). Not bad considering they ran for 7 seasons (140+ episodes).
A car was located that had been titles to the movie studio and was used as a promotional prop for SATB. It sold for $550k at Barrett-Jackson in 2016. An actual documented movie car might go for more money but I don’t think it’s possible to identify one. They just did not keep track of them.
https://www.barrett-jackson.com/Events/Event/Details/1977-PONTIAC-FIREBIRD-TRANS-AM-SMOKEY-AND-THE-BANDIT-PROMO-CAR-190067
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