1969 Charger "The General Lee"

[okc63avanti]

The 69 Charger has always been one of my favorite non-Studebaker cars and I would love to have one. I remember watching the Dukes of Hazard TV show during its 7 year run from 1979 to 1985. I remember watching the jumps scenes and cringing when the front wheels would hit because if you paid attention you could see the shock wave wrinkling frame and front fenders.

Well today I saw an article that justified my fears. During the 7 years this show was filmed approximately 256 Chargers were used, almost one per episode. Only 17 General Lee cars are known to remain is some various state of repair. Only one 440 R/T General Lee remains and is occasionally used for burnouts but Thank goodness has been retired from jumping creeks and gulches.

[lark55]

There is a guy I see occasionally around town that drives a Charger that is painted to look like the General Lee. His car is a little rough but I agree with you John, it is one of my favorite cars of the 60's.

[BobPalma]

John: I saw one of the approximately 256 production cars at the MoPar Nationals here in Indianapolis maybe 10 years ago. It had considerable documentation to indicate it was one of the cars that had been painted up as a General Lee and used in the show.

As you'd expect, most were likely acquired as pretty ordinary used cars. The hood was open on this one and you could see that it had been a plain old 318 car in green before it was painted as a General Lee; there was no attempt to paint anything orange except the immediate exterior of the car. And it was still a 318. But there were subtle clues about that it had been used in filming, and it was interesting to see.

Now, about Daisy Duke....

[Bob Andrews]

That show was a guilty pleasure of mine and a couple buddies back in the day. We always loved the car stunts, but cringed every time they jumped or otherwise hammered a Charger, one of the most beautiful cars ever built by anbody! Still, we practiced the "hood slide", and there were tacky comments made about interest in the door sill where Daisy climbed in and out <G>. I still do a rather good Roscoe P. Coltrane imitation, and a decent Boss Hogg.

These days I endeavor to keep from looking like the Boss

[DieselJim]

Stars and their cars, display at the Studebaker National Museum has a General Lee. Jim

[okc63avanti]

Another article I read said they used 500 to 1000 lbs of ballast in the trunk, usually sand or concrete bags to help keep the nose up for landings. The stunt drivers said they loved the ride during the jumps but hated the landings. Almost always each charger was imeadiately retired after making a jump due to structural damage. I'm sure that during the filming of this show most of the chargers on the used carlots where disappearing, it is a shame that a TV show destroyed so many cars of what would be considered today to be one of the most desireable classic muscle cars and properly restored will fetch high $$$ at an auction.

I guess we should all be glad Bo and Luke weren't fond of Studebakers ....

[FlatheadGeo]

Personally, I watched the show for Daisy Duke!!!

[paintim613]

Since there is a replica here in little ol' Yuma (owned by one of my former students), I am guessing there must be possibly thousands out there.

[BobPalma]

The Standard Catalog of American Cars 1946-1975, Third Edition indicates 89,200 1969 Dodge Chargers were made, all varieties combined.

Since they could even use a base, slant-six powered Charger for most of the scenes, there are quite a few of them to go around even after you've backed out 300 of them for use in the show.

As phoney as was so much of the show (and I enjoyed it, too), I'm sure that with today's trick graphics advancements, they could "jump" cars right and left without actually having them "land" and sustain damage.

It's always fun to watch the show and look for the two subtle differences you see from time to time:

1. Some of the General Lees have a molding remaining at the base of the "C" pillar, the division where a vinyl roof used to be.

2. A few still have rocker panel moldings. BP

[8E45E]

The Standard Catalog of American Cars 1946-1975, Third Edition indicates89,2001969 Dodge Chargers were made, all varieties combined.

Since they could even use a base, slant-six powered Charger for most of the scenes, there are quite a few of them to go around even after you've backed out 300 of them for use in the show.

It would be safe to guess at least the same amount or more of "borderline condition" '69 Chargers ended up getting saved as opposed to being parted out due to its newfound interest. The same has also been said of the amount of '58 Plymouths that got destroyed in the filming of Christine, were less than rusty ones that ended up getting restored also credited to its sudden awarness in them.

Craig

[JBOYLE]

For what its worth, I've read that they also used 68s and 70s in the series for the jumps.
And towards the end of the show, they were putting a "do you want to sell" fliers under windshield wipers in mall parking lots when they came across a potential car....(probably nice enough to drive, but not too nice).
After all, they were on a budget...

I too have read that the show probably saved more cars than it wrecked. I'd imagine more than a few were saved by becoming General Lee clones in the 80s (when it seemed every town had one or two around) only to be restored to stock (or cloned to higher value variants) during the muscle car "boom".

Also, don't believe everything you read about Hollywood film cars, I've even seen a bit of silly stuff about my car that I know is wrong.
And with the Dukes TV movie and later feature film, there were even more cars wrecked. And there are a lot of cars out there that their owners say are TV cars that probably aren't....like Starsky & Hutch Torinos.

[BobPalma]

It would be safe to guess at least the same amount or more of "borderline condition" '69 Chargers ended up getting saved as opposed to being parted out due to its newfound interest. The same has also been said of the amount of '58 Plymouths that got destroyed in the filming of Christine, were less than rusty ones that ended up getting restored also credited to its sudden awarness in them.

Craig

Excellent point, Craig. I agree entirely. If the Dukes of Hazzard production componay destroyed, say, 230 1969 Chargers and twice that many were resurrected and "restored" or otherwise not scrapped as a result, the net effect is positive. Good point.

Now, if we can just get a 1958 Commander or President hardtop in a production....other than the Wendy's Hamburgers' one-time "Where's the Beef" advertisement. BP

[studegary]

I ordered a new 1966 Charger and also purchased a used 1969 Charger. I liked the 1966 a lot more than the 1969. I kept the 1966 for more than nine years and put 150K miles on it. I kept the 1969 for a few months and then sold it to a neighbor. He let his girlfriend use it for what I believe were drug runs to NYC. She wrecked the Charger coming home one night.

The pictured car does not appear to be a real General Lee. Where are the side marker reflectors? I don't remember those wheels on them.

[JBOYLE]

I don't remember those wheels on them.

I'm not a big DoH fan, and I can't discuss the side markers...but those wheels are correct.

But the car is missing its grille guard.

[Mr. Bill]

While I am not a big fan of this show, I will admit that my father and I rarely missed it on Friday nights. I understand during the last season, miniatures were used in place of real models or either stock footage was used from previous seasons. I believe the producers did this to lower the budget and because people were wanting more and more money for their Dodge Chargers, which probably were becoming harder to find as well. In repeats of final season episodes I have seen in the past few years, it is evident that models were used for jumps instead of actual cars.

Best regards

Bill Sapp
Hamlet, NC