The General Lee

[1badbee]

Ok everyone,
I was NOT critisizing ANYONE for their cars, or what they do with them..
I think some of you mis-understood what I am saying here..
I LOVE the fact that people are doing this to their cars for the following of a show that was devoted to the Dodge Charger..
My friend has the General Lee that was owned by one of the second Generation Duke Boys, (Coy Duke), it is signed by all the cast members of that time under the trunk lid..
She still holds the origional re-paint(from the studio), the origional color was the puke cream color the push bar,dixie horn,rebel flag,the 01 on the door, and the wording "General Lee" is all intact
I think it is an AWSOME car

I was just getting to the piont that in the pilot there was a scene when "THEM DUKE BOYS"
Jumped in the General Lee and started the car, and it showed a shot of the tach reving to the RPMs, the next shot was of BO shifting the auto shifter on the floor with a counsole, and then they showed the car taking off and it showed the R/T in the center,and as she took off she clearly had the round 68 tail lights..
I know Lee #1 was a 69, but in the pilot when you first see the car she was a 68..
And I was woundering why no one had done a 68 innto the General Lee..
Thats it, NO pissing match with anyone, just a simple question..

[mikepmcs]

I don't think anyone has been offended here 1bad.  You can say your peace, no sweat.
I just think some facts that you have stated above will be getting challenged.  I'm going to go watch the pilot if I can find it just to see if i can see the scene you are talking about. 

It's all good brother.   


v/r
Mike

[Arthu®]

I was just getting to the piont that in the pilot there was a scene when "THEM DUKE BOYS"
Jumped in the General Lee and started the car, and it showed a shot of the tach reving to the RPMs, the next shot was of BO shifting the auto shifter on the floor with a counsole, and then they showed the car taking off and it showed the R/T in the center,and as she took off she clearly had the round 68 tail lights..
I know Lee #1 was a 69, but in the pilot when you first see the car she was a 68..
And I was woundering why no one had done a 68 innto the General Lee..
Thats it, NO pissing match with anyone, just a simple question..

There are some 68 General Lee's out there, even with the the 68 taillights and grille... I know it's worthless without pics, but I am sure someone else here has seen it as well and does have pics of it.

Arthur

[mikepmcs]

Yup Jud Hudson even has a 3rd Generation GL, that is very nice I will add.
Sorry, I thought the original question was about the GL being a 1968 or 69.

Now that being said.  I just watched the first episode "One Armed Bandits"  and nowhere in there is the scene you spoke of above with the tach revving and Bo shifting so it wasn't in that episode.  Now in episode 4 "Repo Man"  the exact scene you spoke of is in there at about the 1:50 mark of the start of the show and that car is clearly a 1969 when it turns the corner and screams out of view.

So anyways, at no time in the Pilot or first episode is their a charger shown that has 68 gear that i could see.

If you watch the 7th Season(1984) episode #131 titled  "Happy Birthday, General Lee"

this will show you how they came to get the car as it was in a junkyard and they needed a race car.  I don't have season 7 so I can't go into much detail but it's on CMT every now and again.

v/r
Mike

[chargerboy69]

Here is a sweet 68 General Lee.

[Chargen69]

Ok everyone,
I was NOT critisizing ANYONE for their cars, or what they do with them..
I think some of you mis-understood what I am saying here..
I LOVE the fact that people are doing this to their cars for the following of a show that was devoted to the Dodge Charger..
My friend has the General Lee that was owned by one of the second Generation Duke Boys, (Coy Duke), it is signed by all the cast members of that time under the trunk lid..
She still holds the origional re-paint(from the studio), the origional color was the puke cream color the push bar,dixie horn,rebel flag,the 01 on the door, and the wording "General Lee" is all intact
I think it is an AWSOME car

I was just getting to the piont that in the pilot there was a scene when "THEM DUKE BOYS"
Jumped in the General Lee and started the car, and it showed a shot of the tach reving to the RPMs, the next shot was of BO shifting the auto shifter on the floor with a counsole, and then they showed the car taking off and it showed the R/T in the center,and as she took off she clearly had the round 68 tail lights..
I know Lee #1 was a 69, but in the pilot when you first see the car she was a 68..
And I was woundering why no one had done a 68 innto the General Lee..
Thats it, NO pissing match with anyone, just a simple question..

I think the response here has been pretty mild.  Go post this over at http://www.cglfc.com/wforum/viewforum.php?f=1&sid=3d02fdb074220712f00399fb54b9fdad  and see what happens, those guys can tell you how many chips in the paint the orginal Lee's had on them.

[mauibarber]

Check ebay. you will see 68 general lee's there all the time.  70s too. 

[skip68]

I'm making mine a General Lee. It's a 68.  I'll enjoy it for a few years and then paint it a deep blue I think. 

[towman]

ok here is the fact's 68-69 first one was lee1a 69/383  marvin martin owens lee1 he is a super nice guy  he lives in florida travis and jim have it they live in indy they now have on a two year tour travs jim and alot of people put there hart and soul into restoring it some people hate them for doing it and some love it . here is a cool link check it out!!!www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Features/articleId=119349#1

[Mike DC]

     
People build GLs because people love the car and the show.  That's all.

It's really not a copycat/trendy thing either. 
Many of the kids hooked the hardest into the show were gradeschoolers at the time.  Do math, and you realise that they're just now getting enough disposable income to afford the Charger project they've been talking about doing all along.

[mikepmcs]

Yup, very well said, cause that definitely describes me.

v/r
Mike

[Charger-Bodie]

when you say pilot episode are you talking about the 2 hr special that was on a sunday night before the series actually started , kinda like an intro to the show?

[1badbee]

when you say pilot episode are you talking about the 2 hr special that was on a sunday night before the series actually started , kinda like an intro to the show?

Yes I am talking about that..The show that aired BEFORE any other show, to see if the "ratings" would hold enough to make a series out of it..The pilot
Like a pilot car, the very first one ever made before the production runs..

[Charger-Bodie]

when you say pilot episode are you talking about the 2 hr special that was on a sunday night before the series actually started , kinda like an intro to the show?

Yes I am talking about that..The show that aired BEFORE any other show, to see if the "ratings" would hold enough to make a series out of it..The pilot
Like a pilot car, the very first one ever made before the production runs..

thats what i thought you ment do you happen to have copy of that because as far as i know its never been available to purchace and i would love to see it again as i havent seen it since i was in second grade many years ago if you know where i can get i copy i would be very geatful ......i still remember that monday morning at school it was all any of us boys in the class talked obout it was very cool

[mikepmcs]

Yeah, me too. 
I searched ebay and amazon looking for the "pilot" episode but all I ever come up with is "one armed bandits" and they are calling that one the pilot.


v/r
Mike

[genlee1970]

I've never heard of the pilot episode either, but I'd sure be interested in seeing it.

I've also heard a lot of funny things people say when talking to me about my GL. One of the funniest and honestly most annoying is this one old guy at a local cruise night. Every time he sees my car he asks "Hey,  you know who has one of the origional General Lee's, don't ya?" No, I always reply. His response "Kenny  Wayne Sheppard! I saw it on TV!!" It boggles the mind how he could have watched that show and drawn that conclusion since they made a point to explain repeatedly how Extreme Lee was different and taking the GL theme to a new level. Anyway, that's my story.

Btw, nice to see a GL post that hasn't turned into a pissing match about wecking cars or bad acting. The horses can rest in peace today.

[Blakcharger440]

I think the 68 General below is the best looking one I have seen ever. Now all that needs changing is to take the 01 off the doors and remove the flag off of the roof and it would be tons better 

We all have our opinions on the GL and all of them have some sort of merit. I think that the decals take away from the smooth flow and cool lines of the Charger and that the clunky front guard obscures the classic grille of the car......but if some people are saving and restoring Chargers because they want to make GL's out of them then more power to them if that it what they like...I like it because another Charger is being saved in the process.......hopefully to be re-restored down the road giving it back its classy looks. 

Here is a sweet 68 General Lee.

[JimShine]

I was just getting to the piont that in the pilot there was a scene when "THEM DUKE BOYS"
Jumped in the General Lee and started the car, and it showed a shot of the tach reving to the RPMs, the next shot was of BO shifting the auto shifter on the floor with a counsole, and then they showed the car taking off and it showed the R/T in the center,and as she took off she clearly had the round 68 tail lights..
I know Lee #1 was a 69, but in the pilot when you first see the car she was a 68..
And I was woundering why no one had done a 68 innto the General Lee..
Thats it, NO pissing match with anyone, just a simple question..

I am going to use thjis part to clear stuff up.

That was not the pilot. That was the 4th episode "Repo Men". The tach equipped car was the 1969 R/T SE closeup car. The shifter shot is of a 1968 Charger. That Shifter shot was of Lee5 and was an insert shot done either late in Georgia, or upon arrival in California. You came upon a classic dilemma with Dukes and General Lees. The cars often change with each cut in the scene. You can see two or more General Lees used to create one shot.

The round taillights, not sure about that one. Post a location of that pic as I always hear stories of round taillights, but yet to have seen proof they exist in an episode.

The first Lee (which I do not own) is the 1969 Troy described. Lees 2 and 3 were also real 1969 Chargers. Though 1968's were used as well, keep in mind they were modified to appear like 1969 cars. It is easier to build a Lee from a 1969 than to source a decent steel tailpanel to convert a 1968.

Here is a recent Edmunds.com video made about the first GL

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Features/articleId=119349

[MoparManJim]

when you say pilot episode are you talking about the 2 hr special that was on a sunday night before the series actually started , kinda like an intro to the show?

I don't know who you are talkingt to but the pilot episode was "One Arm Bandits" an was less then an hour long, I have no idea what 2 hour special you are talking about? was it one of the reunion movies? but the very first episode which was the pilot episode was like I said "One Arm Bandits" which took place in 1978 and aired Jan 25 (I think) or might have been 28 (was in that week line) 1979, after that the next episode was Mary's Kay Baby,the next was Daisy's Song, then Repomen (the episode your talking about above), then the last GA episode was High Octane, after that episode it was CA episodes. 

Pilot Episode: One Arm Bandits

Yes I am talking about that..The show that aired BEFORE any other show, to see if the "ratings" would hold enough to make a series out of it..The pilot
Like a pilot car, the very first one ever made before the production runs..

that would have been One Arm Bandits, bud.

[Ghoste]

Hey Jim, what about 1970 models? 

[6670charger]

It seems pretty well documented that the GL was a 69 Charger, and according to the makers of the show, was intended to be that way.  It's also well documented that during the course of shooting the show, a number of 68 and 70 cars were used with the front and rear facias modified to 69 parts.   I'm sure there were a few stunt sequences where an un-modified car was used because they didn't have the parts, and figured that nobody would notice (most people don't have a clue when it comes to that anyway). 

How many times have you seen in a TV show or movie where someone was driving a car in one sequence, and then in the next sequence........THE WHOLE CAR CHANGED!  That was very common on the Dukes of Hazzard TV show.  Can't begin to count how many times Roscoe's squad car changed year and/or model...........during the same car chase!!!

[skip68]

   I've seen several scenes that the car had the 68 side marker lights and only one quick shot of those 4 round tail lights of a 68.    

[tan top]

we all know LEE 1 is the first      i remember in one of the early  episodes i am pretty  sure a GL was used  with black 68 seats & interior in it.. even for close up work  
     
   some thing  else i have always wondered .. the last  17 WB generals  that were sold off  91 i think    there was a list of the vin#'s
  was there any record of vin# 's on the 300 plus that were destroyed  ,

[Arthu®]

Can't begin to count how many times Roscoe's squad car changed year and/or model...........during the same car chase!!!

Even Make It could go from an AMC to a Dodge to a Plymouth just in one chase and even changing models.... I always saw that as one of the biggest flaws, the GL's were most of the time pretty much the same. But changing a make/model through a chase just catches the eye too much.

Arthur

[JimShine]

There was ONE car that shows the round side markers. It shows up in a couple episodes. I will believe the round rear lights when I see it.Post the location and I will look at it. If its there, I will cheerfully decline and post a vid cap.

There were no 1970 cars used on the show, but they did use them on the movie. In the early days the cars were easy to find in 1968 and 1969 model years. When the car became the star of the show, WB ordered the cars to adhere to a strict appearance. This is why when you see later cars with the beige interior and wide push bars, you see ALL side markers and backup lights deleted. Earlier they only shaved 1968 cars. The entire front clip required transplant to make a 1970 fit the appearance, and naturally that was the part of the car always wasted in the jumps. So they put in extra effort to source out 1968 and 1969 cars only.