Anybody still building General Lee's anymore? ???????

[UH60L]

I'm still working on mine, finally have some money and some time to put into it.  Just got most of the dash wired, and the tail lights wired, rear bumper loosely installed, front bumper support loosely installed.

Still haven't put the decals on, figured I should get it running first and have a pro install them...

Poor thing hasn't been driven since 2008.

As for "are they being built in general", pun intended, Smith brothers in Washington state still builds them.  I talked to them on the phone a few month ago about possibly finishing mine but they were extremely busy.  I don't know how many Generals they do these days, as they do other custom Charger builds too, not just General Lees...

[skip68]

I'm pretty sure jb400 was going to build a General Lee and a few others but it just seems slower.   

[JB400]

It's still a consideration.  I think if I could figure out a way to where I can actually enjoy the car for what it is, without getting harassed by cops, fans, rednecks, ect. too much, then I would slide the scale towards a more positive commitment on that decision.  I'm lucky though, because I have a lot of country roads to enjoy, most of which is paved.

[440]

it just seems slower.   

So what your saying is we need a few more General Lee arguments, like a couple years ago when half of the threads on the first page were all General Lee related ?

[skip68]

Nope.      

[Mike DC]

It's still a consideration. cheers  I think if I could figure out a way to where I can actually enjoy the car for what it is, without getting harassed by cops, fans, rednecks, ect. too much, then I would slide the scale towards a more positive commitment on that decision.  I'm lucky though, because I have a lot of country roads to enjoy, most of which is paved.

You could just paint it orange.  Same GL experience from inside the car.   Still a great looking car overall.  

An orange '69 would still get a ton of attention but perhaps not as much as a few years ago.  There are lots of new orange Challengers & Mustangs on the road these days.  

[JB400]

It's still a consideration. cheers  I think if I could figure out a way to where I can actually enjoy the car for what it is, without getting harassed by cops, fans, rednecks, ect. too much, then I would slide the scale towards a more positive commitment on that decision.  I'm lucky though, because I have a lot of country roads to enjoy, most of which is paved.

You could just paint it orange.  Same GL experience from inside the car.   Still a great looking car overall. 

An orange '69 would still get a ton of attention but perhaps not as much as a few years ago.  There are lots of new orange Challengers & Mustangs on the road these days. 

Wouldn't that be like owning a plain white 69 TA or a plain white 65 Mustang with the Shelby goodies bolted onto it, but without the stripes.  I could just paint it orange, but it makes it look like something's missing.

[General_01]

I don't think the interest is as high as 10 years ago. I think people still build them, but probably not churning them out like they were after the 2005 movie.

[GeneralLee440]

Im converting my 70 into a GL. I sold my 70 front clip to a member here who has a 69 shell and is going to build a 70! Kinda funny I told him if he had more of a car than he has now we wouldve traded. Im slowly acquiring the 69 parts as money becomes available. Its a very slow process, I just traded for a rotisserie last week. Just not enough money to buy the expensive parts I need. A General Lee has been a dream of mine since I was a kid just like most men my age. Im not gonna let time and the occassional lack of money kill my dream, I got the car that to me is half the battle and no amount of money in the world would buy this car....well that is unless I got enough money to buy one of the Original 17 GL's from the series

I dont care if everyone complains about me building a GL just like hundreds that are already running around....I dont have one and thats what I want. Even my wife wants another paint scheme. Its nothing rare so I dont feel bad....even if it was rare I would probably still build a GL

I look at this as an investment once I get done with it, its my kids inheritance once Im dead and gone. So technically to me its sort of like money in the bank for them

[440]

Mine was already a General Lee when I bought it so to all the complainers. It is an R/T but not numbers matching so it's no big loss.

[Mike DC]

            

Wouldn't that be like owning a plain white 69 TA or a plain white 65 Mustang with the Shelby goodies bolted onto it, but without the stripes.  I could just paint it orange, but it makes it look like something's missing.

I was picturing a factory Hemi Orange paintjob.  Perhaps an R/T clone with the black tail stripe.  

Use some kind of cool old-style wheel but not GL Vectors.  Maybe magnum 500s or Torq-Thrusts or slots.

That's decidedly not a GL but still a reddish-orange '69 Charger. 

[General_01]

           

Wouldn't that be like owning a plain white 69 TA or a plain white 65 Mustang with the Shelby goodies bolted onto it, but without the stripes.  I could just paint it orange, but it makes it look like something's missing.

I was picturing a factory Hemi Orange paintjob.  Perhaps an R/T clone with the black tail stripe.  

Use some kind of cool old-style wheel but not GL Vectors.  Maybe magnum 500s or Torq-Thrusts or slots.

That's decidedly not a GL but still a reddish-orange '69 Charger. 

....and then answer the question "When you going to make it a General Lee?" at every car show and cruise night you go to for the rest of your life. 

[Dino]

I'm not a GL fan despite watching the show as a kid, but I hardly see it as ruining a car.  It's just paint and decals, no biggie to change it to something else.  The only possible damage it may do is the push bar scratching the front bumper!  And it seems you don't even need a push bar for that.  When I removed the tall bumper guards on my bumper I found a nice dent and some scratches on the bumper.  There goes the plan of installing short guards.   

Well...maybe that light tan spraybombed throughout the interior is kinda ruining a Charger.   

[c00nhunterjoe]

Ive never been harassed by the cops. Lol,

[skip68]

Actually, cops loved the car. 

[440]

That's the same story I got from the previous owner. Cops liked to pull him over just to take pictures of the car, so they can show and tell their kids that they caught the General Lee.

General Lee's are quite rare here, there must be only a handful in the country.

[Brock Lee]

I had a bit of a scare thrown at me last year.

My main job is building and restoring guitars. I like to listen to the police scanner when I am working. Don't know why. I only listen to my county, which is active enough to make it interesting.

One evening I was listening and reports started coming in of "A General Lee Dodge Charger driving recklessly". Units were dispatched. Meanwhile more reports were coming..they drove a couple cars off the road, almost crashed at an intersection... Finally a unit got behind it..it had one of our Celebrity Machines CNH 320 plates on it (and at the time MY personal plate was Indiana CNH 320). They picked up speed, pulled some daring moves and got away. More units were dispatched to find this car. Miles from my home.

Now, I am crapping my pants as everybody around here knows I have a General Lee. It wont take much asking around to get pointed in my direction. My buddy that lives 7 miles away also has a GL..I called him, asked if his car was in the garage..it was. I called police dispatch just to get ahead of everything..I would invite an officer over to see my car is parked and ice cold..But luckily, they had just caught the guy.

It is scary to think that such an identifiable car is out there in such quantity, and you can't control everyone that has one. If they had not caught that guy, how long before they would be knocking on my door? A few hours tops. Then I would have to convince them the cars are not as rare as perceived? Even if they couldn't "get me" on anything, they would surely be watching me.

[skip68]

If they lost that guy I bet you'd had cops at your house within 15 minutes.  That's crazy close.  I'd been scared also.  Another reason for home surveillance cameras.  Makes a great alibi.   Smart on you calling in and wanting an officer to verify a cold engine.       
What's the odds someone with a General Lee (not stolen) would be stupid enough to cause attention with the law?     
You stand out like a sore thumb.   

[c00nhunterjoe]

Yeah, there is no such thing as covert or inconspicuous while driving a general lee. Mine is far from pretty, and still get swarmed at cruises, parking lots, and even on the road for pictures. That said, it does NOT deter me from "spirited" driving practices....

[70 sublime]

Yeah, there is no such thing as covert or inconspicuous while driving a general lee. Mine is far from pretty, and still get swarmed at cruises, parking lots, and even on the road for pictures. That said, it does NOT deter me from "spirited" driving practices....

Do you think you can be  covert or inconspicuous while driving any 68 69 70 Charger ?? 

[jaak]

Funny thing is, when I was building the Green R/T, I cannot count the number of times I heard "man, you need to paint that thing orange" or "If it was mine, I would build a General Lee", etc. I almost got to the point it pissed me off when someone would mention it. Now that I actually do have a GL project, when folks ask and I tell them.... I get probably 90% negative comments about it. I think people just want to disagree with you no matter what to try to get a reaction out of you.

Do you think you can be  covert or inconspicuous while driving any 68 69 70 Charger ?? 

True that. I don't care where I go, the Green 69 Draws attention no matter what.

[skip68]

There's no such thing as blending in with traffic in a General Lee.    
Even in a 68-70 charger you aren't going to blend in with traffic.  

[skip68]

  jaak, once your General Lee is done you'll have people saying "you should paint that thing green.   

[Mike DC]

 
There's no way to build any 2nd-gen Charger that won't draw GL comments and people telling you to do something different with it. 

Half the time they're just making conversation though. 

[Ghoste]

I'm happy to say that I just never get any of that anymore.  I used to all the time but the last "paint it orange" comment I got was with the 67 of all things and it was about 8 years ago.  Go figure.