Smokey and the Bandit episodes of the series. Needham saw an advertisement for the soon-to-be-released 1977 Pontiac Trans Am and knew right away that would be the Bandit's car, or, as Needham referred to it, a character in the movie. He contacted Pontiac and an agreement was made that four 1977 Trans Ams and two Pontiac LeMans 4-door sedans would be provided for the movie. The Trans Ams were actually 1976-model cars with 1977 front ends. (From 1970 to 1976, both the Firebird/Trans Am and Chevrolet Camaro had two round headlights, and in 1977, the Firebird/Trans Am was changed to four rectangular headlights, while
Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 an approval rating of 20% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes based on 5 reviews. Janet Maslin of "The New York Times" gave the film a negative review stating "The already skimpy running time of "Smokey and the Bandit, Part 3" is padded by an opening montage of earlier "Smokey" scenes, including shots of Burt Reynolds lounging in a zebra- print hammock. He is grinning, as well he might, because he has been able to sit out "Part 3" altogether. What has he missed? An interminable car chase punctuated by dumb stunts and even dumber dialogue, plus the well-worth-missing sight of