Actors Burt Reynolds, Dennis Hopper and Mr. T are doing voice-overs that give motorists distinctive driving directions.

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The California company NavTones has contracted with the trio to record voices that can be loaded into navigation systems. More voices are on the way, the company says.

Another company, TomTom, offers John Cleese's voice along with several "fictional" characters that include a New York City cab driver and a Freudian psychoanalyst.

The voices will work on a variety of different navigation devices but, for the time being, they will have to be portable navigation devices that can be connected to a computer.

CNN reported that the NavTones trio and their snide asides were funny at first but tended to grow old quickly. Mr. T was forever threatening to jump out and beat up the driver and Hopper sounded "as if he had a bad hangover." Reynolds was reported the best navigator, with a smile in his voice.