This Could Be The Most Bonkers Car Chase You've Never Seen Before

Let Burt Reynolds transport you through an apocalyptic town-scape in a Pontiac Trans-Am in one of the most fantastical car chases ever committed to film
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Burt Reynolds and the Pontiac Trans-Am: a quintessential American combination, like Batman and Robin, or chilidogs and type two diabetes. If you grew up in America in the 1980s, you grew up watching this cocksure, mustachioed chewing-gum aficionado evade armies of ham-fisted cops across a Kentucky-fried nation of perpetually collapsing bridges. (And if you were anything like me you nearly choked to death taking your BMX bike off a homemade ramp with a mouthful of Big League Chew.)

1977’s ‘Smokey and the Bandit” and 1980’s “Smokey and the Bandit II” are American petrolhead classics, but they don’t contain the dynamic duo’s craziest scene, arguably the most bonkers car chase of all time.

In 1978, Burt Reynolds and another ’78 Pontiac Trans Am - red this time - teamed up with “Bandit” director Hal Needham for “Hooper, The Greatest Stuntman Alive.” The film climaxes with a chase scene so absurd that Needham could’ve lifted it from the pages of Salvador Dali’s dream diary. It’s four minutes of pure chaos in which Reynolds and co-star Jan-Michael Vincent, who occupies the driver’s seat, powerslide their Trans-Am through an American town disintegrating beneath the weight of apparent apocalyptic mass hysteria.

This Could Be The Most Bonkers Car Chase You've Never Seen Before

Motorcycle riders ditch their bikes for no reason, a Mustang slides off the road into an open grave (or something), an ambulance hilariously be-bops a man in a wheelchair through the front of a hospital, everything explodes, including, of course, the only bridge out of town. Luckily this particular Trans-Am is equipped with the rare rocket booster dealer option allowing it (or rather a tube-framed car custom built for the jump) to clear the 456-foot gap with relative ease.

Hooper’s catalyst for all this chaos is the filming of an earthquake scene in Reynold’s character’s last movie as a stunt man. But the chase is much more fun devoid of context.

This may very well be the most insane car chase ever recorded. What do you think, CTzens? Got any wilder suggestions?

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Comments

Extreme Daniel

I love how that lamppost just radnomly exploded

12/18/2015 - 14:26 |
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TheNOISYCar

The transam reminds me of smokey and the bandit

12/18/2015 - 16:04 |
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Zam Roadblazer

You’d have to look really hard to find a car chase more insane than this. There’s probably one around, but for now, this really is the most insane car chase I’ve ever seen.

12/18/2015 - 16:25 |
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Anonymous

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Pure elegance … not fast … no fake explosions. Just a completely altered shopping mall.

12/18/2015 - 19:51 |
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J.P. Watts

Pressure to 1500 pounds.. does anyone have any idea what turbo/engine they are using because I want it.

12/18/2015 - 21:55 |
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aelfwyne

Slowest car chase I’ve ever seen. To be fair, that was as fast as a malaise era US car could go.

12/18/2015 - 23:31 |
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KiaGuy

This scene was awful. They barely even pulled a 180 in the car let alonany stunts. This actually kinda sucked

12/19/2015 - 05:56 |
0 | 0