Photo: Barrett-Jackson
Back in the first half of the 1980s, television sets across America were regularly tuned to CBS, because it is there where a show called the Dukes of Hazzard aired. It was the action-comedy tale of two Georgian (American Georgia) cousins, on probation for running moonshine, as they try to overcome the challenges laid before them by their law enforcement foes.
They do this mostly using an orange 1969 Dodge Charger nicknamed General Lee and flaunting all sorts of assortment that are borderline controversial in today’s world.
Although the viewers perceived the General as a single car, producers are said to have used no less than 325 such machines, as the vehicle appeared in all but one of the series’ 147 episodes, and not all had happy endings for the cars.
It’s not clear how many of the many cars used survive to this day. We know of one from the Dukes’ first season being in a museum in Illinois called Volo, and we also know of many replicas having been made for true fans of the show.
Russ Martin, a radio talk show host who knew fame in the Dallas, Texas region for more than three decades (he passed in 2021), was one of those fans. This 1969 Dodge Charger, sporting all the telltale signs of the TV show, was put together for him in 2007. And it’s now selling, with no reserve, during the Barrett-Jackson auction that’ll take place in the last decade of this month in Houston, Texas.
The car is described as a re-creation, and comes with the Confederate battle flag on the roof and the number 01 on its side, and all the other graphics people used to see on TV. The horn system that helped make the car famous is there too, and so is a push bar.
Under the hood, it hides a 360ci V8 crate engine that works with a 3-speed automatic transmission, but its power output is not disclosed.
As said, the car is selling with no reserve, and no mention is made as to how much it is expected to fetch.
Although the viewers perceived the General as a single car, producers are said to have used no less than 325 such machines, as the vehicle appeared in all but one of the series’ 147 episodes, and not all had happy endings for the cars.
It’s not clear how many of the many cars used survive to this day. We know of one from the Dukes’ first season being in a museum in Illinois called Volo, and we also know of many replicas having been made for true fans of the show.
Russ Martin, a radio talk show host who knew fame in the Dallas, Texas region for more than three decades (he passed in 2021), was one of those fans. This 1969 Dodge Charger, sporting all the telltale signs of the TV show, was put together for him in 2007. And it’s now selling, with no reserve, during the Barrett-Jackson auction that’ll take place in the last decade of this month in Houston, Texas.
The car is described as a re-creation, and comes with the Confederate battle flag on the roof and the number 01 on its side, and all the other graphics people used to see on TV. The horn system that helped make the car famous is there too, and so is a push bar.
Under the hood, it hides a 360ci V8 crate engine that works with a 3-speed automatic transmission, but its power output is not disclosed.
As said, the car is selling with no reserve, and no mention is made as to how much it is expected to fetch.
Google News