A Black and Gold color scheme makes many car enthusiasts think of either a John Player Special Liveried Formula One race car, or the Pontiac Trans Am driven by one Burt Reynolds in the Movie Smokey and the Bandit.  The car you see here is clearly an iteration of the latter. A car used to evade Sheriff Buford T. Justice, rather than a field of Formula One cars. 

Our client bought this Trans Am with a vision of bringing it back to being a very clean car and a shining example of a “Bandit” Trans Am, complete with a hat very similar to the one worn in the movie by Bandit. The car did leave the factory a Black Firebird Trans Am, unlike many Firebirds that were later painted black to look like the “Bandit” car. In addition to the good looks, this car has a number of tasteful upgrades that make it even more fun to drive: Original engine bored .30 over, cam, roller rockers, Detroit Speed suspension, posi-traction, Pypes exhaust, Ram Air Manifolds, and quick ratio steering to name a few of the upgrades.

This car has been very well kept since the restoration was complete, but the paint hadn’t really been cleaned up, polished, and given a new coat of wax in a number of years. We started with a thorough interior detail, including cleaning the engine-turned dashboard trim, a good cleaning of the seats and door cards, and cleaning up the steering wheel and shift knob for a like-new look and feel. 

Next on the list was a careful two bucket hand wash, then paint inspection and decontamination. We worked our way around the car as we performed a multi-stage paint correction, which really brought back richness in the color of the paint and got rid of a number of scratches. With the car’s paint looking drastically different, we added a coat of graphene infused wax to provide a protective layer. 

Bandit may have had a “complete lack of respect for the law” according to Sheriff Buford T. Justice, but his car looked so good on screen as he was breaking the law and taunting the Sheriff. We met our goal of making sure the Trans Am our client brought to us would turn heads with its good looks. Whether Eastbound and Down, or headed to cars and coffee, this Bandit Trans Am always turns heads.