See below on the “News” page for the latest project updates, and make sure to register at www.SmythCarShow.com for the upcoming 1st annual Smyth Automotive Car Show on Saturday, October 20th at Jack Casino Cincinnati!
Norwood Legends Comes to the 1st Annual Smyth Automotive Car Show!
Join us with your Norwood-built classic car at the 1st Annual Smyth Automotive Car Show Saturday October 20th, 2018 at Jack Casino in downtown Cincinnati! We'll have our very own Norwood Legends section, so you can come and park next to your Norwood friends. Come down even if you don't have a Norwood-built car. The show is open to all makes and models!
We’re partnering with Smyth Automotive for this new car show to continue the celebration of Cincinnati’s automotive heritage. We threw our own celebration and car show last year in the heart of Norwood overlooking the original GM Norwood plant grounds.
Video Recap of the 2017 Norwood Legends Celebration and Car Show
Register at www.SmythCarShow.com or at the door on Saturday, October 20th at Jack Casino and help us celebrate Cincinnati’s automotive heritage and the unique history we have in the former GM Norwood Assembly Plant.
Register at www.SmythCarShow.com
Documentary Pre-Release Preview Disc is Shipping!
If you invested in our feature documentary project, “Norwood, Where Legends Were Born” in 2017 during our fundraising phase, you’ve got something special coming in the mail!
Due to some slow-downs beyond our control, like Cincinnati’s Historical Society Library being closed for renovations, we aren’t quite finished with the full documentary yet as we had hoped. The library will be opening back up this winter, after which we should be able to gather the newspaper clippings and news station footage we need to finish our project.
In the meantime while we finish the full film, we’re sending out a preview disc with over 2 hours of bonus content to hold early investors over while we finish the film.
Thank you for the support and patience as we work to finish this truly amazing story about one of the world’s most dynamic and exciting automotive plants, GM’s Norwood Assembly.
Remembering a True Legend: Burt Reynolds (1936-2018)
Burt Reynolds as Bo “Bandit” Darville in a Smokey and the Bandit II promotional photo.
We had the privilege of meeting and interviewing Mr. Burt Reynolds on the 2017 Bandit Run, which also happened to coincide with the 40th anniversary of Smokey and the Bandit. Thanks to the efforts of Gene Kennedy from the Burt Reynolds Institute and Dave Hall from Restore a Muscle Car, we were able to schedule 10-15 minutes for the interview, which turned into 30 plus minutes that Mr. Reynolds sat with us and shared memories and insights from his Smokey and the Bandit days for our documentary. One comment I can remember in particular in talking with Mr. Reynolds about his driving scenes in the movie; he said he feels like American muscle cars are the best sports cars on the road, and that the Trans Am is about the best there ever was. From a biased f-body fan, I couldn't agree more. :)
Burt Reynolds, to me as a kid, was the definition of cool. Even though Smokey and the Bandit was made a few years before I was born, its long-lasting cultural impact continued to influence me throughout the 80s, 90s, and well into the 2000s. Boogie Nights continues to be another of my all time favorite movies, and Mr. Reynolds' Academy Award nominated performance is one of the reasons why.
From Lewis Medlock to Gator McKlusky, Sonny Hooper, Jack Horner, and of course the Bandit and many many more, the characters that Mr. Reynolds played will endure, along wth the memory of the great and gracious man that played them. We will miss you, Burt.
Drew Money - Director of "Norwood, Where Legends Were Born"
July 2018 Norwood Documentary Update
PROJECT UPDATES BELOW!!
Happy 4th of July! Find out what's happening on the upcoming Feature length documentary, "Norwood, Where Legends Were Born!"
Check out the video above to find out what's going on with our feature documentary, "Norwood, Where Legends Were Born."
We're not quite finished with the full blown documentary yet, but we're making great progress thanks to all who supported and invested in this project early. Unfortunately, we didn't quite raise the full amount of our fundraising goal last year that would have enabled us to finish the film by this summer, but the edit is really coming along well, and with the interviews and material we have been able to gather thanks to your support, we're building a deeper richer story, and we do expect the film to be finished soon.
This summer, we'll be rewarding early investors who signed up for the pre-sale last year with a special bonus disc of content with over two hours of unique Norwood-focused content. Once the film is completely finished, we'll of course ship it straight to your door, but this is a "Thank You" for believing in us and an ask for just a little more patience while we finish this amazing story. It will be worth the wait...we promise!
We hope to see you at the Trans Am Nations, the Norwood Legends booth at the Smyth Automotive Car Show this fall, or around the classic-car world as we work toward completion on this project.
In the meantime, check out the images below to see the feature article in the June edition of Smoke Signals Magazine, the official publication of the Pontiac-Oakland Club International. A special thanks to POCI for featuring us and allowing us to share this article with all of you. It highlights the work we've been up to throughout the winter as we interviewed some living legends like Jay Leno, Bill Porter and John Schniella to name a few.
As always, please feel free to reach out via the Contact Page with any questions on our progress, and MANY MANY thanks to those that have dontaed and are helping make this special story a reality.
We wish you a very happy and safe 4th of July!!
The Norwood 30th Anniversary Commemorative Poster is Going to Print!
Over 100 signatures from the former Norwood Assembly workforce adorn this limited edition print, made specially for the Norwood Legends Celebration and Car Show which was held on August 26th, 2017 - 30 years to the day since the closure of the Norwood plant in 1987.
We've been working hard since the Norwood Legends Celebration and Car Show to get the 30th anniversary commemorative poster ready for printing. The outreach we experienced from retirees thanking us for what we put together was wonderful! We also had several former Norwood workers contact us that couldn't make the show asking us if we could add their signatures.
Since the event we've met with more of the Norwood workforce, digitized signatures from everyone we've interviewed for the film, and even pulled signatures from a film frame from our documentary for inclusion on the poster. In all, we've collected over 100 signatures and assembled them on this limited edition poster print!
Once we get the posters back from the print shop, Gary Ragle, the poster's designer, of Ragle Design will sign and number the limited edition prints. We'll then roll and tube them and get them on their way to those that ordered these special one of a kind Norwood commemorative posters. We should have them mailed by Thanksgiving, scheduled to arrive by the end of November just in time for the holiday season!
Special thanks to Gary Ragle (left) of Ragle Design for this amazing poster design! Documentary director Drew Money (right) talks with Gary on Camera about the special poster design.
Be sure to check NorwoodLegends.com often to find out when you will be able to order additional copies of the Norwood commemorative poster as well as advanced pre-sale special edition copies of the film due out mid-year 2018!
Calling All Cars! Smyth Automotive, A Norwood Legends Supporter and Sponsor, Wants to Include Your Car in Their 2018 Automotive Calendar!
Smyth Automotive, an awesome Norwood Legends sponsor, is accepting images for consideration in their 2018 automotive calendar. If you have some high-resolution print-ready beauty shots of your special ride, send them to drew@779video.com by Friday, November 10th and your car might just make the cut!
Email your best high-resolution print-ready beauty shot of your special ride to drew@779video.com by Friday, November 10th and enter for a chance to win a spot in the 2018 Smyth Automotive Calendar!
30th Anniversary of Norwood's Closure.
A Time to Reminisce and Celebrate a Community's Resilience.
Thanks to all who came out on August 26th, 2017 as we gathered in Norwood to celebrated the legacy of one of the most historic automotive plants to ever exist, General Motors' Norwood Assembly Plant in Norwood, OH on the 30th anniversary of its closure.
We gained many new friends and are excited to share our progress as we finish the documentary over the course of the next year!
Stay tuned for more updates!
A very special thank you to our featured car owners:
Corey and Logan Lawson's #1 Pilot Camaro, Brent Miller's #31 Pilot Camaro, JC Barnette's #2 Pilot 2nd Gen Camaro, and James Buie's '79 Corporate Owned Trans Am.
Get a sneak peak at our commemorative Norwood poster design in-the-making.
Check out our commemorative poster design in-the-making with Gary Ragle, owner and designer at Ragle Design. Ragle Design focuses on high-end custom and hot rod design for customers all over the world.
We're taking our Norwood Legend on the Road with the Bandit Run!
FEATURED: Day 5 Highlight - An Interview with Mr. Burt Reynolds
Check out some comments from our special friend that we made on the Bandit Run, Mr. Burt Reynolds!
Scroll down below to see our daily video blog!
Bandit Run 2017 - Celebrating Norwood Muscle and the legacy of the Bandit!
2017 not only marks the 30th anniversary of the Norwood GM plant closure, but it also marks the 40th anniversary of Smokey and the Bandit! To celebrate, we decided to take "Loretta", my Norwood-built 1979 Trans Am, down to the southeast to do what they say couldn't be done! We're going to drive the route from Smokey and the Bandit along with a group of fun loving Trans Am and Smokey and the Bandit fans. The Bandit Run is a reenactment of the journey portrayed in the 1977 Universal Film, Smokey and the Bandit. All Trans Ams used in the filming of Smokey and the Bandit were built at Norwood. The "Bandit Run" reenactment first took place in 2007 and has become an annual event.
Restore a Muscle Car, a Nebraska based muscle car restoration shop hosts the event and works closely with the Burt Reynolds Institute to celebrate these special cars and raise money for worthwhile charities. Many of the Trans Ams on the Run are Norwood builds, so that's exciting for us!
Loretta was in rough shape having come off of a 2.5 year sabbatical resting in my garage on a flat tire and an aging tank of gas. We put some elbow grease into her and got her moving again. Our only hope is that she will run reliably enough for us to make the 1000 mile plus trip through the southeast to Atlanta! Thank goodness we don't have to block for Snowman and a truck full of beer! Low and slow is our motto, but with loads of excitement. We're in good company with Norwood fans from across the country!
Watch below as my Dad, Alex (one of the Producers of "Norwood, Where Legends Were Born"), and I take our unproven car on a ridiculously long ride for a ridiculously awesome festival - the Smokey and the Bandit 40th Anniversary Festival in Jonesboro, GA. Will we make it? Who knows. One thing I know for sure - we'll have fun along the way!
Day 1 - Starting the Bandit Run!
Day 1 - Road Testing Loretta on a TN Highway.
Day 2 - Tullahoma to Tupelo!
Day 2, Part 2 - Winding down the day in Tupelo.
Day 3 - Tupelo to Leeds. On the Road again!
Day 3, Part 2 - Give me a Diablo Sandwich and a Dr. Pepper!
Day 4 - On Our Way to Atlanta!
Day 4, Part 2
Day 5 - Hard Work Pays Off!
Day 6 - The Smokey and the Bandit Festival!
Day 6 - The Bandit Jump!
Day 7 - Did We Make It Home?
THANKS SO MUCH FOR CHECKING OUT OUR 2017 BANDIT RUN JOURNEY. GO BANDIT!