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 Bites the Dust of which they already had the footage. It was more bricklaying than writing." Smokey Bites the Dust Smokey Bites the Dust is a 1981 car chase film from New World Pictures directed by Charles B. Griffith. Despite the title, the film is not connected to the "Smokey and the Bandit" series. The stock plot deals with Roscoe Wilton (Jimmy McNichol), a teenage joyriding car thief, evading Cyco (psycho) County Sheriff Turner (Walter Barnes) and his unintelligent deputies. Turner becomes even more obsessed with catching Roscoe when he kidnaps his overly-sheltered daughter Peggy Sue (Janet Julian) just as she is about