GM Ended Burt Reynolds' Annual Pontiac Trans Am Deal After 5 Free Cars

Q: Where are the five legendary free Trans Ams that Burt Reynolds received before his lifetime deal was canceled?

There is no public, well-documented record showing where all five of Burt Reynolds’ free Pontiac Trans Ams are today. What is known from Reynolds’ own account is that he received five cars under the GM arrangement, gave most of them to family members, and kept one for himself. That strongly suggests the cars were dispersed early rather than preserved together as a single collection. Beyond that, the trail is murky. Some Bandit-era Trans Ams linked to Reynolds have surfaced over the years at auctions, charity promotions, and in collector circles, including cars he autographed or cars marketed as connected to his legacy. But the available material does not establish that these are the exact five factory-gifted cars from GM, nor does it trace each vehicle’s ownership history. So the most accurate answer is that the five cars are largely unaccounted for in the public record. One may have remained with Reynolds for a time, while the others likely passed through relatives and later private owners, but their exact present-day locations have not been reliably documented.

Q: Which GM executive abruptly killed one of Hollywood's greatest handshake deals just because he disliked a movie?

The executive has not been definitively identified in the available reporting. Burt Reynolds said only that “Pontiac had a new president” and that the new boss told him the free-car arrangement had been made by the previous president, who liked Reynolds’ movies, while he did not. The news and supporting material repeat that account, but they do not name the executive. Because the deal appears to have ended roughly five years after *Smokey and the Bandit* in 1977, the change would likely have occurred in the early 1980s, and the person Reynolds was referring to was probably a new Pontiac or GM leader from that period. But based on the cited sources, attaching a specific name would go beyond the evidence. So the most accurate answer is that the executive remains unnamed in Reynolds’ public retelling of the story.

3 articles · Updated · Supercar Blondie · Aug 5

Five years into a lifetime arrangement, General Motors stopped giving Burt Reynolds a new Pontiac Trans Am each year, ending a perk tied to Smokey and the Bandit.
A new GM president killed the deal when Reynolds called about the missing sixth car, telling him the previous boss liked his movies but he did not.
The arrangement began after the 1977 film helped turn the Trans Am into an icon and reportedly boosted sales, prompting GM to offer Reynolds a new car for life.
Reynolds said he gave most of the five free cars to family members and kept one, underscoring how unusual the studio-era-style auto tie-in was.