For the General Lee Fans and others, this is 1 of the 17

[7chargers]

Hey "Mike DC"  thanks alot for the great info I find it facinating what that show did with all those cars they used.

[8WHEELER]

Wheels:
Those are all 14x7" rims.  That was the common setup for screen-used GLs, although 15x7s and 15x8.5s showed up on the rear end sometimes.  It was kinda rare to see anything other than 14x7s on the front wheels, though.

1968s:
Probably at least 40% of all the TV-series GLs were converted 1968s.  Espeically during the later years of the show they used as many '68s as they did '69s. 
The mechanics always swapped in the '69 grilles & taillights as soon as they got the car, and then the film crew would use both years interchangeably.  A converted '68 is really just as "TV-accurate" as a '69.  One of the 2 primary designated closeup cars was even a converted '68.


The wide-pushbar cars were built by WB mechanics, and they sometimes kept individual cars for several seasons.  That one looks like a 2nd-unit car that might date back to season#4, although it probably showed up in episodes all the way through season#7.  Look at the front bumper - you can see marks on the chrome from where a narrow-style pushbar had been welded on at an earlier time.   

 

Yep, Mike is the guy with the knowledge, that is why I did not say to many particular facts because
the owner of the car actually knows less about some of the details of the show than MikeD, but Jim
knows more than you can imagine about the show and the car, and they both know a heck of a lot
more than I will ever know.

Jim has told me over the years what episode's the car was in, but that has been over many years,
and I just don't remember anymore, it must be very interesting to watch an episode of the
show and say ''there is my car'' not sure how he figured it out for sure, with so many shows,
but like MikeD said, there are differences over the years in the cars as well, and he has talked
to many many people involved with the show over the years to help him figure that out.

Dan

[8WHEELER]

Thanks Dan.

I have 5 or 6 pictures of that car I took a few weeks ago at the Woodburn event. I'll post them later tonight.

I love the sticker he has in the back window, "The Hearbeat Stops Here!"

By the way, I heard that one of the two remaining WB original TV GLs (that was not changed or restored since the show) is going to be sold at auction pretty soon. I assume Jim has one of these two so who owns the other one?

Trust me Bull, Jim's car is not going to go up for sale untill he is 6ft under    but I had not heard that 

Dan

[8WHEELER]

The wide-pushbar cars were built by WB mechanics, and they sometimes kept individual cars for several seasons.  That one looks like a 2nd-unit car that might date back to season#4, although it probably showed up in episodes all the way through season#7.  Look at the front bumper - you can see marks on the chrome from where a narrow-style pushbar had been welded on at an earlier time.   

 

Dan, this is the reason that I was wondering about the car's number. Not to say that it is or is not real, just to kinda sorta think about where it MIGHT have been

No problem, I did not take it the wrong way, just have never been able to see up there anyway   

Dan

[70charger_boy]

John Schneider has an original from the show and is selling it at the upcoming Barrett-Jackson auction

[Mike DC]

 
Thanks for the compliments, guys.      Over the years I've just become a total fan-boy nerd about the General Lee.

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As for the GL in this thread and where it appears in the show -- 

The primary maintinence mechanic on the set every day of DOH was a guy named Tom Sarmento.  He ended up keeping detailed log books later in the series (partly done to satisfy WB that their car-money wasn't being wasted).  Those records still exist, and they can often peg various GLs down to specific episodes.

 

[GeneralLeeTESH]

 
"General Lee Jim" lives North of Seattle. He has owned the GL car for the last 25 years. He lets lots of little kids (incl. mine) sit in it at shows and the XXX Drive-Inn and take pictures ! He has an AWESOME "Moonshine jug", Amer-Flag old style Ball helmet, ALL the DOH paraphenalia/toys/lunch pails, PICS, etc. He carries a proud collection of WB documents on the car and an ORIGINAL WB contract with him to "never show/display the car for profit". Awesome guy, awesome car..
-TESH

[JimShine]

John Schneider has an original from the show and is selling it at the upcoming Barrett-Jackson auction

His was only used in the last reunion. He bought the car in the late 90's.

The bumper is cool as it has what looks like the weld lines from an earlier car. However, it could have been swapped on the show. That was the case on the ski car that survived. It wasn't as old as once thought. It just had some older parts attached to it. That happened when they had all those parts laying around for so many years.

[bull]

Hey GL experts, check this out: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Dodge-Charger-Car-Parts-General-Lee-Roof-1969-1968_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ6199QQihZ019QQitemZ290144082067QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

[Mike DC]

 
That car is #36.  That would put it early in the WB era even without the bumper being original to it.

GL#32 was among the first batch of WB cars, so I could see #36 being very early too.

 

[70charger_boy]

Hey GL experts, check this out: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Dodge-Charger-Car-Parts-General-Lee-Roof-1969-1968_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ6199QQihZ019QQitemZ290144082067QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

uh, bull, I already posted that link

[warriorbass05]

 
That car is #36.  That would put it early in the WB era even without the bumper being original to it.

GL#32 was among the first batch of WB cars, so I could see #36 being very early too.

 

Mike, when you say first batch, are we talking season 1 or post Veluzat cars?

[Mike DC]

Post Valuzet.  When they went from the Valuzets to Ken Fritz/WB, they started over on the numbering system.

 

[warriorbass05]

Post Valuzet.  When they went from the Valuzets to Ken Fritz/WB, they started over on the numbering system.

 

Gotcha...How hard is it to get info on the Valuzet cars? I am making mine to look like one of those?

[bull]

Hey GL experts, check this out: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Dodge-Charger-Car-Parts-General-Lee-Roof-1969-1968_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ6199QQihZ019QQitemZ290144082067QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

uh, bull, I already posted that link

Shame, shame, everybody knows my name.

[CornDogsCharger]

I'm not trying to start a bunch of crap about this car, but I have heard from a VERY reliable source that this car has had more then just a little bit of work here and there done to it.  The source has told me that the original tv used interior was removed and is no longer in the car.  One of the fenders had more damage to it than what is seen today.  On the positive side...this car was used in the episode "Danger on the Hazzard Express".... where the General Lee is driven by remote control.  This particular car is noticed by it's unusual painted flat sheetmetal door panel.  Like I said, I'm not trying to start anything... just stating what I have heard from my source.  I still think the car is absolutely awesome and I just love to see pictures of original GL's

Justin
"CornDog"

[70charger_boy]

 

[bull]

Here's some pics I took of the car a few weeks ago...

[bull]

Few more...

[8WHEELER]

I'm not trying to start a bunch of crap about this car, but I have heard from a VERY reliable source that this car has had more then just a little bit of work here and there done to it.  The source has told me that the original tv used interior was removed and is no longer in the car.  One of the fenders had more damage to it than what is seen today.  On the positive side...this car was used in the episode "Danger on the Hazzard Express".... where the General Lee is driven by remote control.  This particular car is noticed by it's unusual painted flat sheetmetal door panel.  Like I said, I'm not trying to start anything... just stating what I have heard from my source.  I still think the car is absolutely awesome and I just love to see pictures of original GL's

Justin
"CornDog"

You need a better source! Have you talked to Jim? I think he would know better than anybody about his own car.
And trust me, he has paper work, and pictures to back up everything. He puts the photo album on the front
of his car at shows, documenting the way it was when they picked it up in the desert, and from then on.

He did add several parts to the interior to complete things that were missing or in worse condition.
But most of the parts in the car today, was there when he got it, and it is still not in very nice shape
as you can tell buy the pictures...............the interior is in rough shape, but so is the rest of the car!!

Dan

[bull]

The rest of us should be so lucky as Jim; he doesn't have to worry about his car being pristine. And if he needs an interior part he can buy one cheaper because it has to be worn out to match.

[68charger383]

John Schneider has an original from the show and is selling it at the upcoming Barrett-Jackson auction

Hopefully it won't have the same result as his E-Bay auction last month.

"I know a lot of you followed the General Lee Ebay auction that went on a number of weeks back. Unfortunately, a few folks thought it would be funny to see how far up the bids could go, and managed to ruin the auction for everyone else. So for those of you that were wondering, yes, the General is still happy in my garage." 

[Mike DC]

As for the Washington car, the interior has been altered more than some of the survivors. 
Do I think that ruins the car?  Hell, no.  The car is awesome.

Would I have kinda preferred to see it unchanged?  Yeah. 
But I'm not the owner of the car, either.  I'm not the one putting up with the problems these cars had when WB sent them out. 


I'm just really pleased whenever the WB paint/bodywork isn't changed.  I think that's the make-it-or-break-it issue when it comes to surviving GLs.  Interior changes (and even a lot of mechanical changes) don't break the sense of awe surrounding these cars when the original WB body paint is still there.  That orange exterior is what you really saw on TV every week.

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And I'm not criticizing because I totally understand, but people don't build GL replicas the way they really were.

Those cars were very rough, but it was in certain specific ways that you don't see on a normal unrestored raggedy musclecar.  They had bondo by the ton, but not RUST.  They had wavy panels by the ton, but it never passed a certain threshold to be visible from a distance.  The panels were thrown onto the cars with no concern for how they lined up, but there were never HUGE gaps visible.  Paint was just shiny enough to pass for normal, but still not really very shiny. Some of the seatcovers were repaired with plain flat vinyl on top without any year-specific stitching patterns. The list goes on.

The surviving cars really have a "workhorse" vibe to them, sorta like what you'd get if a taxi company was running a fleet of GLs.

 

[70charger_boy]

and let's remember that on the show bo and luke were always working on the motor to make it drive better.  Well, it was cooter working on the motor, but you get the point

[dkn1997]

John Schneider has an original from the show and is selling it at the upcoming Barrett-Jackson auction

His was only used in the last reunion. He bought the car in the late 90's.

The bumper is cool as it has what looks like the weld lines from an earlier car. However, it could have been swapped on the show. That was the case on the ski car that survived. It wasn't as old as once thought. It just had some older parts attached to it. That happened when they had all those parts laying around for so many years.

I am not really that into the GL's, although the show is what motivated me into chargers, but I gotta say that this car in this thread is very cool.  What makes it cool is that it's pretty much unaltered and that it was produced when people had no clue how much money or buzz they would recreate years later.  it was a "lets throw some orange paint on these shitbags, wreck 'em, and throw them in the dumpster"
That's what makes them so cool now. nobody wanted them .  like superbirds, daytonas and most other gas guzzling bick block cars from the 60's/70's.  nobody wanted them at some point.  That's what makes this car and pretty much all muscle cars cool.

any GL that was created any time after the last tv episode aired to me is just another charger with orange paint. No pedigree compared to the original TV series cars and it's laughable that someone would pay big money for one of those when you know by the 90's someone was thinking of cashing in while they ran that last coat of orange over the trunk.    It's like trying to sell a mickey mantle autogaphed ball from 1978.  He was out of baseball over 10 years then.  show one from 1958 and to me, it's go a lot more sentimentality.

those later reuinion never captured the hokey charm of the original series for me, same goes for the cars made for them.  unless they were used in both the original series and the tv movies, that woudl be very cool.