A CLASSIC car enthusiast organised a huge memorial parade of American cars and trucks in honour of the late Hollywood star Burt Reynolds.

Bradley Edwards and his girlfriend Lauren Seaman, both 21, arranged for the gigantic convoy of 500 vehicles to travel around the M25 in memory of the star, who sadly died on September 6, and fellow actor and musician Jerry Reed.

When the huge convoy was spotted at one of its stops at the Thurrock services, passers-by stated it was the largest convoy they had ever seen.

Mr Edwards has been specialising in classic car restoration and grew up an avid fan of the Smokey and the Bandit films of the 1970s and 80s, all three of which starred Reynolds and Reed.

The couple founded Bandit Run UK last year, to celebrate the legacy of the films.

They teamed up with Motor Show Events to organise the massive gathering, which saw the convoy stop at multiple service stations to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital.

The cars completed a circuit of the M25 last Sunday, and included dozens of trucks and trailers, American muscle cars and police vehicles.

Mr Edwards of Fullbridge, Maldon, said: “When the news came out about Burt’s death I had a discussion with George Mathews, who owns Mini Movie Trucks UK, about what we could do to pay tribute to Burt.

“Smokey and the Bandit is an iconic series that we as car fans have grown up with and love to pieces, so we knew it we wanted to go big and give the M25 something it had never seen before.

“We had our friends James and Karl from Motor Show Events who helped enormously with organising the largest coach spaces for us at each service station we visited.

“We stopped at the Thurrock services, and some people there said it was the largest gathering of trucks they had ever seen.”

The convoy also featured the iconic Snowman truck, with American western artwork on its trailer, which is the only Snowman truck in Europe, plus several Black Pontiac Trans Am cars, driven by Reynolds in the films.

Reynolds’ fame soared through the late 1970s and 1980s, during which time he spearheaded the “Smokey and the Bandit” and “Cannonball Run” movie franchises.

He also earned People’s Choice Awards in 1979, 1982 and 1983 as all-around male entertainer of the year.

The final amount of money raised for the hospital is still being counted.