Eastbound and Down: Bandit Run kicks off

Enthusiasts gather from across the nation to participate

By: Anthony Davis - Texarkana Gazette -

Published: 05/16/2007

Staff photo by Evan Lewis A camel-colored Stetson cowboy hat like the one Burt Renolds wore in the 1977 film Smokey and the Bandit sits on top of one of the Trans AMs. More than 100 muscle cars pulled out of Texarkana Tuesday morning on their way to Atlanta, Ga., kicking off the Bandit Run. The rally is a three-day drive, starting in Texarkana, that follows the route the movie took.

When David Hershey left the movie theater after seeing ‘Smokey and the Bandit in 1977, he was an excited, impressionable 8-year-old with a newly acquired love for the low-riding, barely legal Trans AM automobiles. Tuesday morning Hershey led a contingent of more than 100 similarly obsessed classic Trans AM and ‘muscle car owners from around the nation out of the downtown Tex-Ark Antique Auto Museum to U.S. Highway 82 for the 30th Anniversary Bandit Run from Texarkana to Atlanta, Ga. ‘Its been a long time coming. I never could afford one of the cars until I was 36’ Hersh...

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May, 2007