Smokey and the Bandit Day One — Getting There
Posted by David Kinney
Our breakdown was a textbook case of bad luck turned good. We assumed that we had a flat tire, and quickly turned into the gas station at an intersection perhaps 1000 yards from where we were driving. We got out of the car looking for a flat tire, but were surprised to find none. That’s when we discovered the drivers side rear wheel attached to the car by one lonely lug nut, the other four had gone missing. A fellow bandit runner, Robin Hood (his real name) pulled into the station and offered help.
Using his floor jack, we lifted the car and removed the wheel. Not only ere we missing 4 lug nuts, we were now missing three lug studs, the attachment points for the nuts. They had sheared off while driving.
Our bad luck turned good when the crew from Restore A Muscle Car, the event co-organizers, pulled into our gas station. Quickly assessing the situation, they removed the passenger side rear wheel and scavenged lug studs from the other side. They had brought a number of Trans Am spares, among their cache were lug nuts as well.
We were back on the road, missing just one lug on each rear wheel.