Star 1978 Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am – What will happen after 26 years of oblivion?

Several cars have reached stardom or celebrity status after being featured in a movie or on TV. An orange 1969 Dodge Charger named “General Lee” was the celebrity car of the TV series The Dukes of Hazzard. A late 1970s Pontiac Firebird Trans Am was the star of the American road action comedy film Smokey and the Bandit.

Finding classic cars like or similar to the abovementioned drives might be tricky—some might be replicas. But this 1978 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am isn’t—it’s an all-original trying to find a new lease on life after being left untouched and non-operational since 26 years ago.

The Pontiac Firebird was brought to life in 1967, with the second generation arriving in 1970. Lasting until 1981, the second-gen Firebird was offered in four models—base, Esprit, Formula and Trans-Am. It was the Trans-Am that eventually became the drive of choice by Bo “the Bandit” Darville (played by Burt Reynolds) in Smokey and the Bandit.

The Firebird Trans Am in the movie was actually derived from the second-generation model. The film actually used 1976 models with 1977 front ends (from two round headlights to four rectangular headlights), 1977-style decals and a hood scoop with “6.6 litre” graphics.

There were only subtle changes for the 1978 Firebird Trans Am model, including the switch from a honeycomb to a crosshatch pattern grille. Since the changes were subtle, the 1978 models had profound appearance similarities with the 1977 iteration. This one on sale on Craiglist is a 1978 Firebird Trans Am that could surely pass as the “the Bandit” drive if for the lack of the gold decals and graphics.