The Bandit Run The Bandit Run The Bandit Run is a reenactment of the journey portrayed in the 1977 film, "Smokey and the Bandit". The reenactment first took place on May 15, 2007 and has become an annual event. The reenactment was the brainchild of David Hershey and Dave Hall who wanted to commemorate the 30-year anniversary of the classic film. Hall, of the website, "Restore a Muscle Car" and Hershey came up with the idea shortly after Hershey purchased his restored 1977 Pontiac Trans Am from him in 2006. Following the same route that the characters Bo "Bandit" Darville (Burt Reynolds) and
Smokey and the Bandit jump was equipped with a booster rocket, the same type that was used by Evel Knievel during his failed Snake River Canyon jump. Needham served as the driver for the stunt (standing in for Reynolds) while Lada St. Edmund was in the same car (standing in for Sally Field during the jump). By the movie's ending, the final surviving Trans Am and LeMans were both barely running and the other cars had become parts donors to keep them running. The Burdettes' car is a 1974 Cadillac Eldorado convertible painted in a "Candy Red" color scheme, and is seen briefly at