1967 Pontiac Firebird Project Car on 2040-cars

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Burt Reynolds' vehicles up for auction at Barrett-Jackson

Burt Reynolds' influence on car culture cannot be overstated. Be it "Smokey and the Bandit" or "Cannonball Run," his films inspired a generation of car enthusiasts. He died a few weeks back from cardiac arrest at age 82. This weekend, four vehicles from Reynolds' personal collection — three Pontiacs and a Chevy — will go up for auction at Barrett-Jackson in Las Vegas. It seems Reynolds had plans to sell the cars before he passed. He even filmed a short teaser for the auction and planned to attend the event himself. Three of the cars are Pontiac Trans Ams. Two are re-creations of the cars he drove in "Bandit" and the film "Hooper." Both are 1978 models. The third Trans Am is from 1984 and was used to promote Reynolds' USFL team, the Tampa Bay Bandits. The fourth vehicle is a 1978 Chevy R30 pickup truck. It's styled like the truck he drove in "Cannonball Run." None of the vehicles were actually used in the movies. But they were registered in his name, making them far more legitimate than some other movie-inspired clones. It's unclear how many Bandit Trans Ams Reynolds has owned over the years. Another car connected to him sold for $450,000 back in 2014. His death is sure to drive the price of these new cars even higher. Related Video: Image Credit: Barrett-Jackson Celebrities Chevrolet Pontiac Auctions Truck Coupe pontiac trans am burt reynolds

Sell Your Own: 2006 Pontiac GTO

This is part of an occasional look at cars for sale in Autoblog's classifieds. Want to sell your car? We make it easy and free. Quickly create listings with up to six photos and reach millions of buyers. Log in and create your free listings. In the early '60s, Baby Boomers born immediately after World War II were beginning to buy cars and enjoy their own distinctive music. This wasn't yet the drug culture; rather, it was the drag culture, more Jan and Dean "Dead Man's Curve" than Beatles "Lucy In The Sky." And a Baby Boomer's desired ride, more often than not, was Pontiac's GTO. Introduced as a manned-up option for Pontiac's compact Tempest, the early GTO was 389 cubic inches of romp and stomp. And with a marketing campaign that hit Middle America via what it watched and ate (TV ads and cereal-box promos were a big part of the GTO launch), there was no escaping it. Like most performance coupes and convertibles, 10 years later it was became an emasculated version of its once lusty self. And then it was gone. Its revival, championed by General Motors executive Bob Lutz, was not by any stretch the Second Coming. Starting in 2004, GM modified its Australian-built Holden Monaro to approximate the excitement of the original formula: a coupe body propelled by a big V8. But the Holden's sheetmetal was quietly styled, and even the 400 horsepower available by 2006 didn't electrify buyers. With hindsight, the resurrected GTO is enjoying more attention and, slowly but surely, increasing in value. This for-sale example shows well, enjoys low mileage, and is – naturally – priced well above what is perceived to be its market value. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Automakers tussle over owners of 'orphan' makes

When General Motors put down several of its brands in recent years, it also let loose thousands of brand-loyal customers who will eventually need another car.
R.L. Polk Associates estimates there are more than 18 million cars from 16 discontinued makes on the road today. Those "orphan owners" have sales-hungry competitors seeing dollar signs. GM is offering Saturn owners $1,000 cash toward a Chevy Cruze, Cadillac CTS or a GMC Acadia. Ford is giving its Mercury lease customers a chance to get out of their contracts with no early-termination penalty and offering to waive six remaining payments if they drive off in a Ford or Lincoln.
Edmunds.com research shows the efforts are paying off somewhat for GM, with 39 percent of Pontiac owners, 37 percent of Hummer owners and 31 percent of Saturn owners taking delivery of another GM-branded vehicle. But that leaves as much as 69 percent of owners going elsewhere. Ford, Honda and Toyota seem to be attracting many former GM owners.