DEL.ICIO.USLove of Trans Ams and movie fuels obsession of Newnan man, who will help re-create spirit of Burt Reynolds film this week.
For the Journal-Constitution
Published on: 05/12/08
A year ago, Tyler Hambrick of Newnan got to rev up his "Smokey and the Bandit" fantasy.
Shrouded in a Stetson cowboy hat, his fingers grabbing the wheel of his pristinely restored black 1977 Pontiac Trans Am Special Edition, Hambrick, 52, "put the pedal to the metal" around Road Atlanta's race track.
 JOHNNY CRAWFORD/AJC | ||
| At his home, the Newnan resident and 'Smokey and the Bandit' fan builds a model of a truck that was in the movie. Hambrick will be embarking Tuesday on Bandit Run 2008. | ||
|
No bumbling sheriff was in hot pursuit. Instead, this joy ride was the finale of the inaugural Bandit Run, a communal road trip of Trans Ams and other '70s vintage cars honoring the 30th anniversary of the 1977 car-chase flick starring Burt Reynolds as the Bandit. The convoy went from Texarkana, Texas, to Atlanta, re-creating the route depicted in "Smokey."
And the sequel starts Tuesday.
Hambrick and some 60 carloads of seriously committed "Smokey" and Trans Am enthusiasts from around the country will embark on the Bandit Run 2008, a three-day excursion from Columbus, Ohio, to Atlanta (the route was changed for a little variety). About half of the cars are '70s Trans Ams, of which at least a dozen are black.
When not tearing down American highways, Hambrick's Trans Am, just like the one Reynolds drove in the film, idles in his garage. The jet black paint job nearly sparkles; the phoenix-like decals look as bold as ever; an eight-track of the "Smokey and the Bandit" soundtrack sits in the vintage player.
This is the fourth Trans Am of its kind Hambrick has owned. In 2001, he purchased it on eBay from a 65-year-old woman from Arizona, the car's original owner. It had only 109,000 miles, and he's added only 11,000 since.
Since watching "Smokey and the Bandit" for the first time in 1977 in a small Statesboro movie theater, Hambrick has had an unwavering enthusiasm for black Trans Ams in particular and the film in general.
"The movie feels so spontaneous and wide open," he explains earnestly. "It has the perfect mix of action, comedy and cars. It has a good ol' Southern theme. You're outrunning the cops, trying to get through with some bootleg beer."
In the movie, the Bandit, riding in that black Trans Am, and the truck-driving Snowman (Jerry Reed) attempt to win a bet by driving from Atlanta to Texarkana to pick up 400 cases of Coors beer and bring them back in less than 28 hours. (In the late '70s, it was illegal to bring Coors into Georgia.) Things get complicated when the Bandit picks up a hitchhiker (Sally Field), who just left a sheriff's son at the altar. The sheriff (Jackie Gleason) and Junior (Mike Henry) go on a high-speed quest to catch the Bandit.
Hambrick's obsession goes beyond the ride in his garage. An office cubby tucked between his kitchen and living room serves as a model shop. It's decorated in framed "Smokey" movie posters from different countries, some in different languages. Newspaper and magazine articles featuring him in last year's Bandit Run capture the glory.
It's here where he hand-builds model die-cast cars and trucks from the film. The limited amount of "Smokey"-related model kits on the market doesn't deter him. He cannibalizes different existing die-cast vehicles and models for parts and gets some specific parts custom-made in Idaho.
Hambrick's attention to detail is spot on, from the Wild West mural on the side of the 18-wheeler to the smashed car door protruding from the back seat of pursuing Sheriff Buford T. Justice's squad car. He sells the sets for $175 to $400, depending on each vehicle's scale and the number of vehicles in each set. He packages some higher-end sets in custom-made wood and plexiglass display cases. The models take around 48 hours each to build, depending on size. Hambrick sells them to fellow Bandit Runners and to the general public on eBay. "Smokey" co-star Reed owns one set of the vehicles and figures. Another belongs to Reynolds, who displays it in his Burt Reynolds & Friends Museum in Jupiter, Fla.
The model-making provides a side income for Hambrick, who works as a production manager for a manufacturing firm.
Although a hot rod running contraband isn't exactly a New Testament parable, Hambrick is proud of the "Christian Bandit" moniker given to him by friends and members of his congregation at the Interdenominational Southcrest Church in Newnan.
His faith is evident all over his workshop. A sticker with the motto "Build For His Glory" is affixed to a desk lamp. A copy of the Bible sits on top of a stack of papers near a Trans Am poster.
His Trans Am often rolls up at charity events. And Hambrick donates 10 percent of the sale of each model to his church, his wife, Lisa, says.
"There's a finite group of people that actually show and share the passion for the movie and that actually do something with that passion," says Bandit Run organizer Dave Hall of Restore a Muscle Car, a Lincoln, Neb.-based classic car restoration firm.
There's no stopping the dedication of his good buddy Hambrick, who'll be leading Bandit Run participants on a "Smokey" location tour once they get to Georgia.
Hambrick's tours started coming together in 2001, when he contacted the Georgia Archives in Morrow and asked if they had a file on the made-in-Georgia film.
They did. An archivist wearing white gloves brought out the file for Hambrick to peruse. "He said I was the only person since 1976 who had requested to look at the file," Hambrick recalls.
The file included area location maps and address lists put together by Universal Studios and used during the production.
With additional research and word of mouth, Hambrick has amassed a list of 26 "Smokey" locations, including the former bar where Snowman (Jerry Reed) gets into a brawl and the country bridge Bandit jumps in his Trans Am.
Although the Bandit never gets caught in "Smokey," Hambrick won't be so lucky. When Bandit Run hits Jonesboro on Friday, the Jonesboro police, in an all-in-good-fun photo op, plan on handcuffing him and locking him in a jail cell."We may lay a little rubber on Georgia asphalt," Hambrick says with a chuckle, "but we're trying to obey all laws."
While the Christian Bandit blazes his trail, wife Lisa will be holding down the fort at home in Newnan.
"Some days, it's like, come on Tyler, can we talk about something other than 'Smokey and the Bandit?' " says Lisa, a U.S. Postal carrier, with a laugh. "But it makes me feel good he gets to do these things, because I know how happy it makes him."
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON BANDIT RUN
Go to www.the banditrun.com
Vote for this story!
Services »
