Truck & Driver UK – August 2019

SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT

Truck & Driver Summer 2019^33

The Kenworth has an 18-speed Roadranger gearbox

Bandit and the Snowman

To most people, the stars of Smokey are probably Burt

Reynolds and the black Trans Am. For those with diesel in

their veins, it’s Jerry Reed (who plays Cledus Snow, aka the

Snowman) and the Kenworth W900A that steal the show. So

what do we know about the Snowman (right)? We know Cledus

Snow is married and has at least six children. He’s a hard-

working man who is catching up on some well-earned rest

when the Bandit arrives at his house – his wife, Wynette, does

not want him disturbed. She senses trouble immediately and

remarks that the Bandit “got Cledus in jail once”. The Bandit

and the Snowman are clearly old friends with a long history,

and have been in some daring scrapes together. “Cledus, I

know in the past I may have done you wrong,” says the Bandit.

A new rig

It’s likely that the pair have either been in the trucking

business together or at least worked very closely in the past.

They’re known to have run trucks double-manned, making

some famous runs together. Wouldn’t a prequel have been

great? “We ain’t gonna be riding in the truck together this

time,” says Snowman, who takes the absolute minimum of

convincing that bootlegging is a great idea.

As they talk about making the run for $80,000, the Bandit

says they are going to use the money to buy a new rig. The

Kenworth W900A owned by the Bandit is only three years old

so it’s unlikely that this truck would get replaced.

We don’t know what truck it is that Cledus drives; all we

know is that he has to “go over to Conyers, and pick up a

load of manure”, which is hardly glamorous work. It may be

the case that he doesn’t own his own truck at this point and

is driving for a company. Winning the bet and the 80 grand

would perceivably see the Bandit and Snowman join forces once

more, with the Kenworth and new truck bought with the proceeds

of the bet – that’s our theory, anyway.

The real hero

There was plenty of scope for a strong sequel but, while Smokey II

isn’t a bad film, it never comes close to recreating the magic of the

original. The third film, in which Reynolds has only a cameo, was a

mess. It was originally shot with Jackie Gleason playing the role

of both Sheriff Justice and the Bandit. Test audiences had no idea

what was going on, so Jerry Reed was called in to shoot a load of

scenes as “the Bandit”. Maybe the film would have fared better if it

was a Snowman spin-off from the start.

In many ways, the Snowman is the real hero of Smokey and the

Bandit. He’s the one taking the biggest risk, driving the truck. He

stands up for his dog Fred when confronted by the biker gang.

He saves the day, smashing through the roadblock at the end of

the film. A dedicated husband, hard-working father, animal lover

and talented truck driver. Snowman, we salute you!