Have you ever seen a General Lee?

[Roth Potter]

Hello people,

I was wondering if you ever saw a General Lee in person?

I define a General Lee as being a 1969 Dodge Charger with paint job.

Me, myself and I have never seen a drivable 1969 Dodge Charger. Let alone a General Lee. :cry:

Though I was lucky enough to see a 1969 Dodge Charger in Haynes International Motor Museum during my vacation to the UK 3 years ago.

When I saw the charger there I felt like the luckiest man alive.

[HossC]

They're not so easy to see in Europe are they?

I've been lucky enough to see three.

The first I saw on a freeway in Richmond, VA. back in 1983, but I didn't get a good look.

Then, a few years ago I went to The Cars of the Stars museum in the north of England. It's closed now and I think the collection went to Florida, but one of their exhibits claimed to be a genuine screen-used General Lee. They had several Bond cars and Batmobiles etc. as well, but they only allowed you to take photographs if you spent a certain amount in their gift shop. It was a quite a small place and the no photo policy really sucked, but it's a shame the cars have gone so far away.

About two or three years ago I went to an American car show here in Ireland and finally got to sit in a General - you should've seen the smile on my face .

BTW, Roth, what's the Haynes Museum like? I planned to go a few years back, but never made it.

[Roth Potter]

They're not so easy to see in Europe are they?

They aint luckly there is some sort of Euro Dukesfest at Circuit Park Zandvoort here in the Netherlands but I believe the last meeting was 2 years ago.

Then, a few years ago I went to The Cars of the Stars museum in the north of England. It's closed now and I think the collection went to Florida, but one of their exhibits claimed to be a genuine screen-used General Lee. They had several Bond cars and Batmobiles etc. as well, but they only allowed you to take photographs if you spent a certain amount in their gift shop. It was a quite a small place and the no photo policy really sucked, but it's a shame the cars have gone so far away.

Too bad I was in south England when I was on vacation over in the UK. It's a shame the museum is gone, I guess there would have been more visitor's if it was in London.

About two or three years ago I went to an American car show here in Ireland and finally got to sit in a General - you should've seen the smile on my face .

I bet that you must have felt like a child in a candy store. By the way, did you enter it via the window or did the doors open?

It looks like the pushbar goes into the hole under the bumper, this was in the series only for jump cars.

Also, aint the colour a bit too bright?

Anyway, If your a Dukes fans its amazing to see one.

BTW, Roth, what's the Haynes Museum like? I planned to go a few years back, but never made it.

That museum is great, not so much American muscle cars but the collection is great.

They have a red room, it is filled with about 30 red cars varying from The Lamborghini Countach to a Triumph Spitfire and BMWs.

They have two very rare cars which were from the 20s, unfortunately there was no information included unlike all the other cars but they looked to be a Duesenberg and a Bugatti but i'm not sure.

There were a lot of Ferrari's, some Corvettes, Two beetles, Lotus cars, Fords, Mr Bean's Mini, a BMW 3 wheeler, 3 Tanks, Volkswagen's, 50s Cadillac De Ville and an American Ambulance like the one use in 'Deputy Dukes' but in red.

Overall I spend many hours in there as there was just a lot to see, From American to European cars and even some Russian ones.

If your into racing you should also pay a visit to Beaulieu, their collection is also very good for racing cars.

[HossC]

I bet that you must have felt like a child in a candy store. By the way, did you enter it via the window or did the doors open?

It looks like the pushbar goes into the hole under the bumper, this was in the series only for jump cars.

Also, aint the colour a bit too bright?

Anyway, If your a Dukes fans its amazing to see one.

The owner wouldn't let me go through the window. Probably just as well seeing as the door locks were still sticking up.

It wasn't an exact replica because it had a black interior, but is was the way the owner wanted it, and I was grateful for the chance to sit inside.

That museum is great, not so much American muscle cars but the collection is great.

They have a red room, it is filled with about 30 red cars varying from The Lamborghini Countach to a Triumph Spitfire and BMWs.

They have two very rare cars which were from the 20s, unfortunately there was no information included unlike all the other cars but they looked to be a Duesenberg and a Bugatti but i'm not sure.

There were a lot of Ferrari's, some Corvettes, Two beetles, Lotus cars, Fords, Mr Bean's Mini, a BMW 3 wheeler, 3 Tanks, Volkswagen's, 50s Cadillac De Ville and an American Ambulance like the one use in 'Deputy Dukes' but in red.

Overall I spend many hours in there as there was just a lot to see, From American to European cars and even some Russian ones.

If your into racing you should also pay a visit to Beaulieu, their collection is also very good for racing cars.

I've seen pictures of the red room - it's quite impressive.

I have been to Beaulieu, but it was about the time Dukes started ie. over 30 years ago - you can imagine how cool a monorail was to a small child in the late '70s . My brother went a few years ago, so it's probably time for me to go again.

The show I really want to get to is the Goodwood Festival of Speed (again in the south of England). They have road and racing cars of all ages and from all over the world, along with top racing drivers, and some of the old cars go racing!

[Andrew D Charger Chaser]

I've seen two here in Tucson, Arizona. One was a '68 and was okay, but there was a '69 around for a while that was absolutely fantastic!! Better than a lot of the ones I've seen online.

 

TRUE STORY: First time I saw the '69 I just mentioned, I drove into the Target parking lot and parked right next to it. I stepped out and was so amazed that I locked myself out of the car with the keys in the ignition, engine running!!! I had to walk about 2 miles home in the Arizona summer heat (about 105F probably) to get the spare key.

[Spike]

I seen one at a car show a couple years ago. Looked great 20 feet away but up close you'd notice that it needed a new paint job bad, paint was chipping, peeling and cracking. Interior needed some work too. Someone had a for sale sign in it for $25,000   . 

[Boss JD Hogg]

Over the years I've seen a few 'Orange Clunker Cars'.  They weren't all 1969's.  Back in the 1980's a guy in the neighborhood had a mint '68 R/T with a 440.  It was painted blue with the black inserts on the hood like the one in the original post above.  The hood was fiberglass and had a scoop on it.  He took me for a drive and the car rode like new. I was also in a '70 back then too.

 

Right now a few blocks from where I live, there's a Light Gold '68 Charger that's parked on the street.  It has a white interior and an R/T emblem but I checked the VIN number and it's not an R/T.  The car is in bad shape and rusted and could use a restoration.

Edited August 9, 2015 by Boss JD Hogg

[Mark B / Scooter Davenport]

I've seen the GL at Cooter's Place in Gatlinburg and the one in Nashville.  Both are not in perfect shape, but really they are what I'd expect the 'real General Lee' to look like within the storyline.  Although the boys took good care of him, I never thought the GL was a pristine flawless car the way they drove it!  I have yet to sit in one since they charge to get a picture inside the car, but I may remedy that next time I visit one of those locations.

 

M

[Roth Potter]

5 years later another vacation to the UK and another visit to Haynes.

 

As you can see the museum has had an update and the car is now somewhere else in the museum.

 

The lighting is nice for looking at the cars. But not for picture taking!

 

Quite obviously...

 

Trying to recreate the picture I took 5 years ago.

 

Don't mind the person looking at his favorite car please.

 

 

 

Right, so I visited the only Charger I ever saw again. Then on one evening in the Lodge I found on the internet that there was a motor museum in London which was on the route to the boat. I saw they had 3 Chargers!

 

A 1969 Charger in light brown which was on an exhibition, so no pictures of that.

 

A 1968 Charger with a carbon wrap over the chrome.

 

I didn't expect a carbon wrapped charger to look this good. Each an every part of the Chrome and front grille was wrapped.

 

And last but not least! For the first time ever I saw a Charger in General Lee livery!

 

Yup, Definitely a Lee!

Edited August 23, 2015 by Roth Potter

[Roth Potter]

The flag wasn't the best but at least it's still there!

 

although it was a 68. I wasn't bothered too much by it. Keeps me on my toes to see a 69 in General Lee colours. 

 

It had some sort of plaque from John Schneider. Nice!

 

 

Yup. Definitely a 68.

 

Exactly the wheels and Tyres I would place on mine.

 

I noticed this on the car. Never knew some Chargers had an extra Chrysler logo. Do you know where it is?

 

 

I'm so happy to have seen Chargers 2 and 3 in my life. Especially the General Lee!

Now I can finally say I have seen a General Lee. 

[Meadowmufn]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing those pics. I've been to three DukesFest, so needless to say, I've seen a lot of General Lees. Growing up, there was a guy that owned a General Lee not far from my best friend's house. Lucky guy.

[Joseph]

YES I HAVE SEEN THE GENERAL LEE HERE IN HOMER NEW YORK

[Hobie Hartkins]

I sat in Cooter's General at his place in Gatlinburg, Tn.

[RogerDuke]

I miss the 1980's when every decent sized  town had at least one person driving around in a General Lee. 

[Roth Potter]

I thought I'd update the thread with some Chargers I saw at an event recently. 

I don't know if it was an option back in the day or what, but this red Charger has a brighter red line on the side for some reason.

If you know your Mopars, you can see that this is a 1968 Charger. Strangely it has Vinyl roof moldings without the roof. Was going at full speed around the track.

This one was my favorite, it had a story attached to it as I was able to talk to the owner. Stories add to the car in my opinion, it has a certain charm.

Look who joined in on the fun!

[HossC]

26 minutes ago, Roth Potter said:

If you know your Mopars, you can see that this is a 1968 Charger. Strangely it has Vinyl roof moldings without the roof.

So it retained its roof moldings like General Lee?

26 minutes ago, Roth Potter said:

DThis one was my favorite, it had a story attached to it as I was able to talk to the owner. Stories add to the car in my opinion, it has a certain charm.

Didn't Charger 500s have flush rear windows? Maybe that's part of the story.

 

 

[Roth Potter]

12 hours ago, HossC said:

So it retained its roof moldings like General Lee?

Yes. I saw this car was for sale like a week before the event where it was said the car was restored. I guess its more of a restomod where they took the Vinyl roof of and did the same like with General Lees. Don't know if the car was sold before the event or if the original owner was driving it. Couldn't find the car afterward on the infield. This event was at Zandvoort. There were only American cars.

12 hours ago, HossC said:

Didn't Charger 500s have flush rear windows? Maybe that's part of the story.

Partly. Yes, the 500 had the flush rear and front, but this wasn't a 500 or trying to be. The engine was stroked, meaning it was now an 8+ liter engine, which is more then 500ci. Its so strange hearing engine's are so large in some american cars, here they usually are not bigger than 2,5 liters in personal cars. I believe he said it was a reference to that. I couldn't make out if he had it stroked or the previous owner though, he bought it with at least some of the stuff already on it.

Edited May 20, 2018 by Roth Potter

[RogerDuke]

I love looking under the hood of cars from that era. I know what 90% of those parts are and how they work and in most cases how to fix them. I am completely lost with these new cars.

[Roth Potter]

I've never learned to be a car mechanic or anything. But due to YouTube and tv shows I know about nearly every part of a V8 in English without knowing any of it in my own language...

[HossC]

16 minutes ago, Roth Potter said:

I've never learned to be a car mechanic or anything. But due to YouTube and tv shows I know about nearly every part of a V8 in English without knowing any of it in my own language...

I recently discovered that they've made two seasons of a French version of Wheeler Dealers with Gerry and Aurélien (instead of Mike and Edd/Ant). By the end I was starting to recognize more and more of the car parts in French, despite last studying the language over 30 years ago and forgetting most of the little I knew since then.