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
Jerry Reed a back seat to his acting aspirations. In 1974, he co-starred with his close friend Burt Reynolds in the film "W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings". While he continued to record throughout the decade, his greatest visibility was as a motion picture star, almost always in tandem with headliner Reynolds; after 1976's "Gator", Reed appeared in 1978's "High-Ballin'" and 1979's "Hot Stuff". He also co-starred in all three of the "Smokey and the Bandit" films; the first, which premiered in 1977, landed Reed a No. 2 hit with the soundtrack's "East Bound and Down". In 1977, Reed joined entrepreneur Larry Schmittou