The Best Pontiacs in Film, Music and TV (with Video!)
GM may indeed be closing Pontiac, but the General's "excitement" division has had an undeniable effect on American pop culture. The first Pontiac came along in 1926, but the company cemented its reputation for power and performance in the 1960s and 70s, thanks to John DeLorean. So much so, it was difficult to escape mention of the legendary GTO or Trans Am—on the radio, in the movies or on TV well into the 1980s. Here's a sampling of the ways Pontiacs have moved us over the past 50 years.
We have to start the list with Smokey and the Bandit, which starred a 1977 Firebird Pontiac Trans Am (and Burt Reynolds). We urged Pontiac to bring back the Bandit a few years ago, and the film made it into our top ten car crashes in movie history.
Burt and Smokey director Hal Needham were at it again with more Trans Am awesomeness in 1978's Hooper—a tribute to Hollywood stuntmen:
What else could Needham and Reynolds have chosen as the cop car to catch a Lamborghini Countach in The Cannonball Run? Yes, a 1979 Trans Am:
But Burt and Hal were not the only moviemakers that were into Trans Ams. Here's one from the "other" Cannonball featuring a Pontiac Firebird Trans Am.
Yes, the Trans Am stole most of the automotive movie stardom in the 70s. But we can't forget about the GTO—or its memorable appearance in Two Lane Blacktop. She's a real road king all right:
The GTO has appeared in so many motive and TV shows, but the '67 in XXX was one of the most memorable. We visited the shop that built that custom car three years ago.
TV
Don't think it was only the second generation Trans Am that captivated audiences. Knight Rider's KITT (Knight Industries Two Thousand) was a third-generation 1982 Pontiac Trans Am with personality. Here are all the Knight Rider "turbo boost" sequences in one video—if you're not into speed metal, you may want to turn the sound down:
The Monkee Mobile was a heavily modified Pontiac GTO.
(Photograph by Eric Isaacs/Getty Images)
James Garner used a Pontiac Firebird in The Rockford Files—the only proper car in which to "pull a Rockford". Go to 19:30 for great Corvette vs Firebird chase or directly to 20:14 to see Rockford's signature move:
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