by Jeff Glucker (RSS feed) on Mar 3rd 2011 at 6:41PM

SPEED is looking to revamp its program lineup as it enters its 15th year on the air. One of the programs that's set to hit televisions is called American Truckers. Hosted by Rob Mariani, the series looks at iconic rigs, amazing routes and the people who make up the industry. To kick off the series, the crew of American Truckers has decided to get down to business and re-create a route with which most of your are familiar: the epic 1,800-mile beer run from Smokey and the Bandit.

The first and most important part of the journey (besides the beer, of course) is making sure they have the right vehicles. Bud Brutsman, producer of American Truckers, Rides, Overhaulin' (the list goes on...), and his crew acquired a 1974 Kenworth W900 Snowman tribute truck. Year One stepped up to the plate and handed over the keys to a resto-mod 1978 Pontiac Trans-Am. The Bandit car is packing a 605-horsepower LS7 engine with a five-speed transmission, Baer six-piston calipers on 14-inch front and rear rotors and a roll-cage with a five-point racing harness.

The American Truckers crew stayed as true to the story as possible, in fact they stayed more true to the trip than the actual movie. You see, the film never strayed far from Atlanta during the shoot. Not that you would expect the film crew to make the actual trip.

The truck had no heat and we can only guess how often the Pontiac needed to stop for fuel, but the crew pulled it off. They did 1,800 miles in 26 hours. It's a hell of a journey, especially since the beer in question is Coors, but a road-trip doesn't always have to make sense.

If you want to watch the trip unfold in full, tune in to SPEED tonight at 10 PM EST or 7PM PST.