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''The General Lee'' is the car driven by the Duke cousins Bo and Luke in the television series '' The Dukes Of Hazzard ''. It is known for the chases and stunts, especially high jumps, in almost every episode. The car's name is a reference to the Confederate General Robert E. Lee . DESCRIPTION "The General" is an orange 1969 Dodge Charger with a Rebel Flag painted on the roof, and the words "GENERAL LEE" over each door. Each door also has a large "01" in black. The upper left corner of the "1" in the "01" differs on occasion, causing Continuity Error s. When the car's horn is pressed, it plays the first 12 notes from the ''de facto'' Confederate States anthem " Dixie " (See Media section below for sample). Though ''The General Lee'' is often used as a daily driver by Bo and Luke, the implied primary purpose of the car is dirt-track racing. The car has often been chased by the Hazzard police, being Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane , Deputy Enos Strate , and Deputy Cletus Hogg . Most of the time, the car outran the police or the Dukes figured a way not to get a ticket after they were stopped by the cops. Its windows are left open because the doors are welded shut—explained on the show as a common trait of race cars, especially those used in NASCAR racing events. This leads to various entry techniques, depending on the age and flexibility of the subject. Uncle Jesse is often picked up by Bo and Luke and lifted in, feet first. When in a hurry, others enter head first. Luke sometimes jumps onto the roof from the driver's side and enters the passenger window from above, or "knee-slides" across the hood to get to the passenger side. Occasionally, as a slip-up, the wired-up doors are actually opened to let Uncle Jesse in. HISTORY According to Ben Jones ("Cooter" in the show), as well as builders involved with the show, 309 ''General Lee''s were used to film the series. Approximately twenty-three still exist in various states of repair. Among survivors is the very first General Lee known as Lee1. This car is seen in the debut episode and is the car seen jumping at the end of the opening credits of every episode with John Schneider and Tom Wopat. On average, more than one ''General Lee'' was used up per show. When filming a jump, anywhere from 500 to 1,000 pounds of lead or concrete Ballast was placed in the trunk to prevent the car from nosing over. Stunt drivers report enjoying the flights but hating the landings. Despite the ballast, the landing attitude of the car was somewhat unpredictable, resulting in moderate to extremely violent forces, depending on how it landed. All cars used in large jumps were immediately retired because of frame damage. From 1979 to 1985, Chargers of 1968 and 1969 vintage were sourced and converted to ''General Lee'' specifications. Despite popular belief, all builders involved over the years, as well as the VIN list supplied to Wayne Wooten of all Chargers used on the show, no 1970 models were ever used. The cars required the front entire front clip transplant from a 1968-69 car, which was the parts damaged worst in the jumps. Obtaining cars was not an issue until later years. By that time the car was the star of the show and Warner Brothers moved building of the cars in-house to keep the cars consistent in appearance. This is when side marker and rear backup lights are seen which were deleted on 1969 models as well as 1968 (seen from the start of the show). DIFFERING ERAS OF ''THE GENERAL LEE'' The three eras of TV show ''General Lee''s are: 1. The Georgia era Georgia episode cars consisted of 7 Dodge Chargers. Lees 1, 2, and 3 were built in California and shipped to Georgia. The first Lee was the template. It was originally a 1969 Charger 383, AC equipped, gold Charger with tan interior, 3 speaker dash, and chrome rocker trim. Lee2 was the true stunt car with a full real stuntcage. Lee3 was the closeup car. This car is the one seen in early promos with the doors open and no numbers on the doors. This car was a real R/T 440 car with AC. This car had real tan interior and a removable roll bar that allowed installation of a camera for in-car shots. Lee4 was the first 1968 Charger converted to look like a 1969. The taillight panel and front seats were taken from the wreckage of Lee1 (after the famous jump over Rosco at the end of the opening credits). The paint on these cars was 1975 Corvette Flame red. Interiors not originally tan were sprayed with SEM brand "Saddle tan" vinyl dye. All Georgia cars had a set of crossed flags below the rear window on the filler panel. One Confederate flag, one finish checkered flag. The rims were American Racing vectors throughout the show. 2. The Valuzet era Andre and Renaud Valuzet built ''General Lee''s for Warner Brothers from the start of the 2nd season into the 4th season. Viewers can also see two Georgia cars used often up into the early second season. Lee3 and a specially caged car never appearing (but built) in Georgia were used heavily in early California episodes. The Valuzets were very inconsistent in how they built cars, so this is when the most variations are found. Color tends to be 1975 Corvette Flame Red, just like Georgia cars, but there does appear to be some variance here: Interiors were rather consistently dyed a brown color and sometimes SEM Saddle Tan. It has been said the Valuzet's charged Warner Brother $250 a week per car for rental and a lump sum of $2000-3000 upon destruction of the vehicles. This included police cars as well. Warner Bothers mechanics had to maintain the cars at company expense.
3. The Warner Brothers era By 1983, Warner Brothers had assumed total control of building ''General Lee''s for two reasons: The Valuzets were caught selling back wrecked cars that had been somewhat fixed-up and tagged with forged VIN s; and The ''General Lee'' was now the highlight of the series. Warner Brothers was receiving an enormous amount of fan mail that Nit-pick ed the inconsistencies of the cars. Because the ''General Lee'' was now so famous, WB had their staff mechanics build the cars to a strict appearance, even on the underside. All graphics had to meet specifications, all side markers and undercarriage chrome was to be removed, and all roll bars and push bars had to match. However, some changes were made before the specifications were laid-out: the pushbar became wider, the interior became a light beige color, and the roll bars were covered in a black foam padding. During this period, the only true way for fans to distinguish the 1968 conversions from the 1969 originals is by the shape of the dashpad. As the WB era rolled on, finding the cars became an issue: Piper Cub s were hired to search out 1968 and 1969 Chargers amongst the populace; the jumped cars were now no longer scrapped after one jump if deemed salvageable, and were patched up and used until they could no longer function; and, as part of a last resort, miniature models were also brought in toward the end of the series, replacing most of the big stunts, thereby saving more cars. Taking full control also saved some money as now WB had the ability to buy cars, recondition them, and use them without paying daily rental fees. Considering that there were often a dozen General Lee's on the premises, this was far more economical than renting. ENGINES Engines in ''General Lee''s were all sorts: 318, 383, and 440 were all used. The special purpose built "Ski Car" (the car that drives on the two-side wheels) had a 318, as it was lighter weight. Most of the workhorse stunt cars had 383's. The stunt drivers tended to prefer 440's for jumps, which were often saved for the higher and longer jumps (440 engines were often transplanted into other cars for this purpose, too). And, though sound effects lead many people to believe otherwise, only a very small handful of Chargers on the show were actually manual transmission cars. EXHAUST SYSTEMS Exhaust systems were basic: some had glasspacks, but most had standard exhausts with the pipe cut just before the rear end. The sounds that can be heard in most of the California-era Lees is a glasspack/cherry bomb sound, but the sounds were dubbed in after the scene was filmed. ''"GENERAL"'' TRIVIA AND OTHER REFERENCES
MEDIA Dixie Horn ) REFERENCES
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