Florida and the Bandit: Burt Reynolds legacy lives on at car restoration shop

At 9 years old, Gene Kennedy went with his father to catch the new 1977 hit film Star Wars at the Century Mall Theater in St. Petersburg, but the line was too long, and they saw Smokey and the Bandit instead.

His life would forever change when he first laid eyes on the famed black and gold Pontiac Trans Am and the man who would eventually become a dear friend, actor Burt Reynolds.

Kennedy and Reynolds met nearly 35 years later, and their friendship led to Bandit Movie Cars in Palmetto. Kennedy buys and restores Hollywood movie cars that have been on screen, or recreates them from like models, often for auction or independent clients.

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It's also the place where Kennedy keeps the last car Reynolds ever owned, an autographed 1977 Pontiac Trans Am identical to the one he drove in Smokey and the Bandit. Complete with a 6.6-liter engine, Hurst T-tops, black leather horse collar seats, and the iconic phoenix that decorates the hood, it is in showroom condition.

There is no evidence the car appeared in the film, a fire at Universal Pictures destroyed many of the records, but it was purchased in Georgia just a few miles from where the movie was filmed, and Kennedy said Reynolds liked to believe it was.

In 2014, Kennedy and the Bandit did track down the car that was used by Universal Pictures to promote the film, and in January 2016, they auctioned it off for a record-breaking $550,000 at the Barrett Jackson Scottsdale Auction.

“It looked like Woodstock,” Kennedy said. “He absolutely got an injection of energy, I had never seen him quite like that after that moment. That really started quite a few more things for us. I'm proud that we got to do that.”

That was the sale that sparked Bandit Movie Cars.

Kennedy now has at least a dozen cars under his care that have been on-screen, owned by famous personalities, or are somewhere in the process of recreation. He has sold or auctioned many more.

Just beside the Trans Am in the car workshop filled with parts and tools sits one of the iconic General Lee cars from Dukes of Hazard, an orange 1969 Dodge Charger.

To the left, the last car Elvis Presley ever purchased, a white 1977 Lincoln Continental. Kennedy also has the Blues Brothers 1974 Dodge Monaco, and recently finished a rebuild of Cousin Eddie's RV from Christmas Vacation. 

“These movie cars get lost in history,” Kennedy said. “When Hollywood generally gets done with a movie, they will dispose of the cars for liability reasons ... so more often than not, Hollywood would destroy the car. It's unfortunate because some of those would be really iconic to be in a museum. Some of these cars have a lot of value.”

Meeting Burt Reynolds

Westerns once dominated the box office with tough-guy heroes and horseback action, but the rise of car films in the 1970s brought moviegoers new heroes to idolize.

Bo “Bandit” Darville, played by Reynolds at the height of his career, drove his way into the hearts of audiences behind the wheel of the black and gold Trans Am.

He and Cledus “Snowman” Snow, played by Jerry Reed, portrayed two bootleggers who illegally transport 400 cases of Coors beer from Texarkana to Atlanta in 28 hours while evading pesky Sheriff Buford T. Justice, played by Jackie Gleason.

Many fans bought cars just like the ones their box office heroes drove on screen. Kennedy's dad, Arthur, owned the 1977 model, a red one. It was the first car Kennedy ever drove. The first car he ever owned was a beat-up 1978 Trans Am, and repairing it helped him find love for car-building.

In a December 1993 interview on the Des O'Connor Tonight talk show, Reynolds said Trans Am sales went up by 600% after the movie.

A car buff himself, Kennedy – who owns the Kennedy Construction Group in Palmetto – met Reynolds in 2013 at a car show in Jupiter, where he learned that even the Bandit, who was then in his mid-70s, needed a helping hand at his home. He was there for an autograph, but instead, he made a friend.

“He had roofing issues, air conditioning issues, several things at his house in Jupiter,” Kennedy said. “I took like a 30-man team, and we did a one-day home makeover. We got it all done in one day. He could not believe somebody would take that time to help him. I think that's what sparked that friendship.”

Florida and the Bandit 

Reynolds had a lifelong connection to Florida and visited the Sarasota and Manatee region many times in his later years through his connection to Kennedy. In 2016, Reynolds spend several weeks filming the movie Apple of My Eye at Southeast Guide Dogs in Palmetto.

“He's always been a Florida boy,” Kennedy said. “They were from Michigan, him and his family, but his dad moved to Riviera Beach, Florida back in the 50s. His family still lives there.”

He said Reynolds also had a St. Petersburg condo in the 1970s and was part owner of the Tampa Bay Bandits football team in the 80s.

“He had been here over the years, even before me,” Kennedy said. “He loved this area.”

Jupiter resident Richard Sites published a tribute to Reynolds on his YouTube channel two days after the actor died in September 2018 of a heart attack. 

“He was called Jupiter's Favorite Son,” Sites said in the video. “His dad was actually the Sheriff of Riviera Beach.”

Reynolds graduated from Palm Beach High School and attended Florida State University on a football scholarship, but learned to act after he injured his knee during his sophomore season. He then lost his spleen and injured his other knee in a car accident.

In the 1970s, he had the Burt Reynolds Ranch, which was a tourist attraction until it was eventually sold. Reynolds then purchased his home in Jupiter, the one Kennedy helped repair, the one where he lived at the time of his death.

Next year marks the 45th anniversary of the movie's release, and in celebration, Kennedy and hundreds of Trans Am enthusiasts are planning a three-day excursion from Texarcana to Atlanta.

Kennedy said he plans to continue to take the famed Trans Am from his Palmetto warehouse to car shows around the country to educate the next generation of motorheads about Reynolds, and the lasting impact the Bandit had on his generation.

“People want to have that moment where they see something of his,” Kennedy said. “It's not just a Trans Am. Burt said he was happy to be in the movie, but the star was the car. That car had a personality of its own.”