FEATURE – 1969 Dodge Charger ‘General Lee’
SEVEN82MOTORS have scored a major coup for their August auction in the form of a 1969 Dodge Charger R/T that served as a promotional vehicle for the Dukes of Hazzard TV show in the 1980s. One of only five authorised by Warner Bros. (the show's producers), this car is sure to be the star of the next SEVEN82MOTORS auction that runs from 9 to 19 August.
While not one of the 300+ Chargers used during filming over the seven seasons of The Dukes of Hazzard (many of which were destroyed), this is as close to a screen-used General Lee as you’re likely to get. The car to be auctioned was one of a handful of vehicles officially licensed by Warner Bros., the TV show’s producers, for promotional duties.
To understand why Warner Bros. did this, you need to understand the success of The Dukes of Hazzard. When the show first aired in 1979, ratings were mediocre, but audiences soon warmed to the antics of Bo and Luke Duke, their seemingly indestructible 1969 Dodge Charger – the General Lee – and other characters in the cast. By its third season, Dukes of Hazzard was the second-highest rating show in America, spawning all manner of merchandising, from toys to t-shirts and even tricycles. And while ‘Dixie’ horns had existed before the show, they were made MUCH MORE popular by it!
The show’s popularity also spawned demand for the General Lee, meaning a car show or any other event where it appeared would be popular, benefitting the event organisers while also publicising The Dukes of Hazzard.
General Promotion
With the program’s production team chewing through cars at a high rate (leading many 1968 Chargers to be mocked-up as ’69 cars in later years), it wasn’t practical to send the screen cars away to events, even in the off-season, so Warners commissioned a company called General Lee Enterprises (GLE) to create a series of General Lee promotional vehicles, all based on ‘69 Chargers and presented to look like the screen cars. In addition to building the cars, GLE maintained them and toured them all over the USA - from major car shows to county fairs, cast appearance events, shopping malls and everything in between.
As these would be seen and photographed up close, GLE sought out good cars as the base for each unit, with paint, detailing and trim all completed to a high standard. In total, five promotional vehicles were built by GLE for Warner Bros. Four are known to still exist today and the car to be auctioned by SEVEN82MOTORS is one of them.
A Solid Base
As purchased by GLE, this Charger was a genuine 1969 R/T with a 440 V8, four-speed manual and Dana diff. Originally green, a point of difference on this matching-numbers car compared to the TV cars is its black vinyl interior – General Lees used for in-car shots had tan interiors which were easier to film as additional lighting wasn’t needed.
Nitpickers will notice things like side marker lights on this car that weren’t on the screen cars and other minor differences, but back in the early ‘80s, fans of the show would have neither noticed nor cared – they were just rapt to get their photo taken with the General Lee.
Exactly where this particular Charger toured following its transformation into a General Lee is unknown, but documentation available from SEVEN82MOTORS shows its previous ownership by GLE.
The Forgotten Five
By the time its seventh (and final) season aired in 1985, The Dukes of Hazzard had plummeted to 41st in the ratings, being superseded in popularity by shows like Knight Rider and The A Team, which featured equally memorable hero cars. Reduced viewing numbers meant reduced demand for the GLE promotional vehicles, too. So, in 1983, even before that final season, GLE sold some (or maybe all) of the cars. According to General Lee historian, Travis Bell, two went to an enthusiast in Kentucky, who stored them in a barn, a third went to the enormous Volo Car Museum in Illinois, while another landed in Ohio. It was Bell who discovered the pair in Kentucky and confirmed their GLE provenance when one was listed for sale in 2003.
Jumpin’ General
Still in the barn when found, but covered in dust and showing the signs of decades of neglect, the pair of Kentucky GLE cars were sold, with Bell documenting their removal. Of those two, the car shown here went to the owner of Hardcore Racing, a speed shop in Michigan, who had it mildly recommissioned with the goal of jumping it at a promotional event for the grand opening of his shop. Even though this wasn’t a screen-used General Lee, enthusiasts were unimpressed by the idea of damaging such an important car, but the six-car jump was done – on 29 April, 2006 - and broadcast on the Discovery Channel.
Listed for sale on eBay ahead of the stunt, with full disclosure that it was going to be jumped and would be offered in whatever condition it landed, the car successfully completed the jump, but suffered some damage. Regardless, the car was bought by a General Lee enthusiast from Illinois who had served as a vehicle provider for The Dukes of Hazzard feature film reboot from 2005.
Fresh Orange
Under that enthusiast’s ownership, the former GLE promotional car was repaired and fully restored. New guards were fitted, the front-end straightened and other damage repaired. Rust was cut out of the floorpans and rear quarters, too, showing the job wasn’t half done. Fresh orange paint, reapplication of the General Lee graphics, fitting the signature nudge bar and a set of correct wheels brought the car back to its C1980s glory.
The Charger’s original 440 Big Block survived the jump unscathed, but was fully rebuilt anyway. It now wears a modern Mopar air cleaner and valve covers, an upgraded radiator and some other new millennium additions. The factory four-speed manual was retained, too, along with the Dana rear-end. Suspension and brakes are believed to be refurbished/replaced stock spec.
Finally, the interior was fully retrimmed, retaining the factory black vinyl, along with the padded roll bar that can be seen on some of the screen cars and was added to the GLE promotional vehicles. Finishing touches included a CB radio, Moroso tachometer and functional Dixie horn.
Rare Survivor
Today, of the 309 (estimated) General Lees used on The Dukes of Hazzard, only 17 survive in various states of condition – a survival rate of 5.5 per cent. Naturally, these cars are highly sought after, but rarely come onto the open market.
While many General Lee replicas and look-alikes are in existence, the significance of the car to be auctioned by SEVEN82MOTORS is that it is one of the five promotional vehicles built in period and officially authorised by Warner Bros. It’s also one of the few non-screen cars – and allegedly the only authorised non-screen car - to be jumped.
A General Down Under
Imported into Australia in 2007 and residing mostly in Victoria since, this car will go to auction with SEVEN82MOTORS in running, fully drivable condition, backed by documentation of its GLE connection and photos from when it was toured at shows, extracted from the Kentucky barn in 2003 and jumped in 2006.
For more details on this car, along with other vehicles in SEVEN82MOTORS’ 9-19 August auction, go to: www.seven82motors.com.au
