The General Lee has to one of the most replicated TV show cars around. I have to admit that I’ve never seen more than a handful of minutes of The Dukes of Hazard TV show ever, so perhaps the car offers some fantastic and universal appeal. Although the TV show never generated a sequel, it’s starring car certainly has.
Growing up, I desperately wanted to watch the show, but my parents severely limited how much time we could spend in front of the TV. Even then, we were only allowed to watch shows you wouldn’t want to watch anyway. As an adult, I’ve never felt the need to seek out the show. I do, however, know the general premise of the show and somehow, perhaps though cultural osmosis, have come to know a few facts about it.
I do know they created a large number of the Dodge Charger General Lees for the show and most were destroyed in jumps or other stunts. I also know that the doors were welded shut, although I am a bit fuzzy on why that might be. Perhaps just to look good getting in.
There are, of course, a good number of a Dodge Charger based General Lee clones. To see one, you likely just have to check out your local show and shine. But of course ’70s Dodge Chargers aren’t as affordable as they once were, so people have had to branch out a bit. A few years back, I remember reading one of those British classics magazines, possibly Practical Classics. There was a story of a comparison test of a trio of General Lee tribute cars. Given its base in the UK, there were no Dodge Chargers. I remember distinctly the one they felt was the best was a Morris Marina, of all things. There was a British mid-size Ford which perhaps was an early 70s Zephyr and one other car, which I have (thankfully) forgotten.
But this General Lee tribute is worth remembering. Our builder has chosen to stick within the Dodge family, but branched out to a truck basis. I’m not an expert on Dodge trucks, but this one looks to be mid to late ’70s.
The orange paint with the requisite number on the door is there, but the owner has added some nice extra touches like orange paint on the differential cover, big smoke stack style exhaust and a Confederate flag decal on the rear window.
The interior is sadly lacking a CB radio but does feature velour style seats.
A little bit of theme mixing going on here with Power Wagon script.
I do remember seeing a Pontiac Acadian (Canada’s Chevette clone) decked out in General Lee garb, but wonder what vehicles our readers have seen done up similarly?
I have NOT yet seen the current Charger in General Lee trim, but I’m sure it’s been done at least once.
Was this spotted in Canada? And if so, is it a Canadian-registered vehicle or a tourist far from Dixie?
(Yee-haww!)
(Edit: Upon closer inspection, looks like a Canadian plate, but I can’t quite make it out.)
Looks like Alberta plates to me.
Yes Alberta
A flatmate many years ago had a full dress general Lee suit on a Mini CooperS Race car called Corporal Lee.
Is that a gun cradle in front of the center console?
+1
How did this get missed in the writeup? I’d call it a his-n-hers setup.
The sealed-beam reverse lights safely ensconsed inside the rear bumper are a nice touch as well (very useful when backing up out in the boondocks).
The manner that the rear suspension has been lifted makes me a little leary of taking this too far off road, or on the road for that matter. Didn’t people stop using 8 inch lifting blocks under the springs and over the axles decades ago?
Well, the truck is old enough that the suspension may have been jacked-up decades ago. 🙂
Absolutely, but I figure the owner would have had ample opportunity to rectify the issue by now. Like when the universal joints on the drive shaft failed, or to pass a vehicle inspection, or when the shocks wore out, or when the axle pulled out from under the truck.
3 Clicks to find the General Lee Chevette on Flickr
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/36/120702809_b5eb2f24ba.jpg
The Private Lee?
Ensign Lee. The “Red Shirt” always dies first…
Wow, the paint job on it looks kind of dodgy in the quality dept though.
Too bad it doesn’t have decent rims to go with the theme.
The truck looks to me to be beween 1974 and 76. Earlier or later models had different grilles. However, I think there may be a little mixing and matching being done here, as I think that the hood lettering and certainly the Ram are from later models.
I have always harbored a secret desire for one of these old Dodge pickups, although my favorite was always the original ’72-73 version. Unfortunately, these early ones were rusters in my area.
I think that hood ornament is off of an early 1950s Dodge Coronet or Royal.
I had a local towing service (General Towing, what else) pick up a car for me. The driver had an orange wrecker with an ’01’ painted on the door. Oh boy.
Ben Jones runs a DOH museum/bar/restaurant across the street from one of our offices. There are two vehicles out front, a Charger and a tow truck. I’ve *heard* the Charger was used in the show. One of these days I’m going to stop there to get pictures. One of these days….
I read somewhere they wrecked 400 of those old Chargers making the show, they must be gettin rare now so welded up doors or not they cant be strong enough to stand up to being jumped.
When I was a kid, watching the Dukes was a weekly ritual. The show outlasted Bo and Luke Duke. I think there was some kind of contract dispute, and the producers figured they could get any two guys to pilot the General Lee. It actually did spawn a sequel — an animated cartoon that was on Saturday mornings.
The General’s doors were supposedly welded shut because it makes the body stiffer (remember that these cars are unibody). It was also supposed to have a full rollcage, so there would have been a beam right across the door opening. That would have made opening the door to get in/out not much easier than climbing in through the window anyhow.
The General Lee is definitely one of the most famous cars in the world. I’ve seen pics of all kinds of cars painted like the GL: Lamborghinis, Chevettes, garden tractors, motorcycles, Citroens, Corvettes, a new Challenger, a Smart ForTwo…..
Coy and Vance… man, that was awful. It was either a contract dispute or Schneider/Wopat left to pursue their ‘singing’ careers. One succeeded, the other one married Cybill Shepherd.
When I was a kid, watching the Dukes was a weekly ritual.
Yes it was… CBS, right after the local news. Funny… most of those guys are still doing the local news today on the same channel. You can’t beat a steady paycheck.
I think they got the same group of Hannah-Barberra artists to do the DOH cartoon that did the Star Trek and A-Team ‘toons. Even as a ten year old kid, I could tell it was bad after the first episode. But it still had that car. I managed to catch the ‘reunion’ show on TNT last year. It was nearly as bad as the cartoon.
Would ya’ll be upset if I did the General Lee treatment to a mid 80s Diplomat?
No, but it would be more appropriate to turn it into the Hazzard County sheriff’s patrol car.
The thought occurred to me after I posted it. Although not “authentic” it would be in the spirit of say… a continuing saga of the Duke Boys.
If I was out hitchhiking and I saw this coming, I’d jump into the ditch and hide.
I hear banjos, if you know what I mean.
+1
You got a right purdy mouth, Roger628………..
“The Dukes of Hazard” TV show – the closest this country ever got to having flying cars!
My son loved this show when he was a toddler so much that we bought him one of those car dashboard toys, you know, with the steering wheel and all. It used batteries, and when that thing was turned on, it made the loudest, most obnoxious racket you could imagine, supposedly mimiking the General Lee’s engine noise going full-bore! The batteries disappeared after one week!
Occasionally on the show, you would see the body kink after landing on those jumps, but cut quickly to a close-up of the boys in a pristine Charger!
Personally, I hated the show, which to me just reinforced the Southern stereotype much like “Carter Country” did a couple of years earlier. But, like a good dad, I tolerated it, as it really wasn’t harmful that I could see.
EDIT: This truck in that get-up does nothing for me, but wave a “Li’l Red Express Truck” before my eyes, and I’ll follow you anywhere!
There was a car in “Dukes of Hazzard”?
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2036570112/ch0012545
OMG, loved this show as a kid, I was what, Jr High when it came out in 1979 and loved it.
My best friend and I would watch it and just laugh our asses off every time we saw it.
Loved the General Lee and I recall it mostly used 1969 or perhaps 1970 Chargers since they looked much the same and on occasion, you’d see the quad round taillight ’68 charger every now and then in the show. These cars DID have a roll cage and I’ve always suspected it was why the doors were welded shut, but for rigidity too I would also think as well.
I remember best Daisy Duke and her black and white ’71 Plymouth Belevedere and I recall it being destroyed by it going off a cliff, I think Bo and Luke had to for some reason and thus it was replaced by the Jeep CJ-7. I once had a crush on those Jeeps and wanted the CJ-7 over the bit shorter CJ-5 that I learned how to drive a manual in.
What I also recall were the various Plymouth/Dodge cars used for the Police vehicles, I recall earlier on the older Dodge Monoco but later they used the stacked headlight Plymouth and Dodges from the later 70’s and what I recall most was how those cars were destroyed, usually with various body parts come flying off or at times, the entire front end would come free when Rosco and/or Enus would crash their patrol cars while the General Lee drove off into the proverbial sunset.
While the show had its cheese factor, it was still very entertaining for pre teen adolescent boys to watch on a Friday night. 🙂