More General Lee nonsense

[Spike]

Was at the Detroit Autorama Saturday and they had a GL in the car coral that was supposed to be an actual Warner Brothers episode car. Car was rough and had a price of 79,000 on it- What a joke.
Anyway there was a younger kid probably in his twenties telling me about the Chargers in the Dukes series.
He proceeds with it's his favorite car, yada, yada ,yada. Then he breaks into the facts.
Tell me- do you know how many Chargers they wrecked in that show. I replied "no not really" His answer 250,000. Yes that's right, he told me they wrecked 250,000 Chargers. Then he goes on how Chrysler was building new Chargers just for the Dukes show. At this point I had heard enough facts and walked away.......far, far, away. 

[1974dodgecharger]

you gotta let him shine sometime right...those youg guys know it all.

[skip68]

250,000?   What a joke!   Everybody knows they only wrecked 122,000 cars....   

[RECHRGD]

At a show acouple of years ago some young guy was going on and on about the doh and how lucky I was to have one of the Chargers that "survived".  Forget that mines a '68.  I was told that when the show aired, the sales of new Chargers skyrocketed.  He seemed dazed and confused when I informed him that when the silly show aired the Charger was already an old car....

[bull]

Sounds like the numbers were really inflated at that Detroit Autorama. Did all the women there think this was three inches?

[XS29L9Bxxxxxx]

you gotta let him shine sometime right...those youg guys know it all.

                

[XS29L9Bxxxxxx]

250,000?   What a joke!   Everybody knows they only wrecked 122,000 cars....   

I thought it was about 230ish?

[MoparManJim]

250,000?   What a joke!   Everybody knows they only wrecked 122,000 cars....   

I thought it was about 230ish?

300 69 Chargers

[kikgas01]

THIS THREAD IS WORTHLESS WITHOUT PICS!

[Ghoste]

Do you know if the one at Autorama was in fact an actual WB car?

[XS29L9Bxxxxxx]

THIS THREAD IS WORTHLESS WITHOUT PICS!

[RIDGERACER383]

I thought I heard somewhere that WB cars VIN numbers were changed to start with WB I'll look it up and see if I can find it.

[Tilar]

250,000?   What a joke!   Everybody knows they only wrecked 122,000 cars....   

I thought it was about 230ish?

300 69 Chargers

I've read anywhere from 256 to 300 to 321 including 68's and 69's. Depends on the site you happen to be on at the time.

[XS29L9Bxxxxxx]

I thought I heard somewhere that WB cars VIN numbers were changed to start with WB I'll look it up and see if I can find it.

Never heard that before... 

[Ghoste]

I call bs on that, how would they change and the vin and why would they care.  Did they have their own number that combined a "WB" with the factory vin that they stamped somewhere for some form of inventory purpose, I'll buy that.

[nvrbdn]

yea, i was in branson where a museum had a dukes car that they were proud of. it had that nice big 70 front bumper on it. settin right between the back to the future car and the 3rd rock from the sun car. oh well

[kikgas01]

I thought I heard somewhere that WB cars VIN numbers were changed to start with WB I'll look it up and see if I can find it.

TOTALLY incorrect.
XS29L9Bxxxxxx

[69charger2002]

there were exactly 250,001 chargers destroyed on the show. everyone knows that.. stupid young kids.. 250,000.. sheesh...     

[skip68]

There were more Hemi chargers built than Duke's chargers destroyed.   

[GL#10]

Hey

That would have Been Marks Movie General Lee  #21  doubt it was Mark telling you 250000  .

K.c

[Mikesmoparperformance]

250.0000   For the 05 movie someone on the internet sad: That Dodge made 25 69 chargers for the movie Agian not true offcourse this guy has heard that and tells this to other people

[UH60L]

Back when I was a young e-4 in the military and they sent me to PLDC, the first thing we did in class was an experiment where the instrutor whispered something to one student and then had him pass it on the the next all the way aroudn the room.  By the time it made it to the last student, the details had changed slightly.

I would hazzard a guess...that the 250,000 probably started out as 250 and via story-telling ended up 250,000.  Heck it was probably a million by the end of the day!   

Some of my coworkers used to look at my charger and then "think out loud" how horrible it was that so many were ruinned by the DOH.  (because they know I liked the show...)

I finally just typed up a sheet with the production numbers of '68 and '69 charers and some math explainign how many and what percentage were truly destroyed by DOH (0.16 percent of all '68 and '69 chargers (using 301 destroyed)) versus how many were probably crushed in the 1980s and that finally put an end to it. 

It's amazing how many people will take something as fact without ever checking and then go spreading it around.  I guess that's the essence of rumors, though.   

[cavemanno1]

Here is one for you from the UK!
I think they ask a bit too much for that car!55k pound sterling is roughly $70-80k,see the General Lee paintjob worth $40k,according to these people!
Nice car but $70-80k for that is way too much IMO!!!


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1969-Dodge-Charger-440-rt-se-auto-General-Lee-/300670723976?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item46015f2788

[Mikesmoparperformance]

Back when I was a young e-4 in the military and they sent me to PLDC, the first thing we did in class was an experiment where the instrutor whispered something to one student and then had him pass it on the the next all the way aroudn the room.  By the time it made it to the last student, the details had changed slightly.

I would hazzard a guess...that the 250,000 probably started out as 250 and via story-telling ended up 250,000.  Heck it was probably a million by the end of the day!  

Some of my coworkers used to look at my charger and then "think out loud" how horrible it was that so many were ruinned by the DOH.  (because they know I liked the show...)

I finally just typed up a sheet with the production numbers of '68 and '69 charers and some math explainign how many and what percentage were truly destroyed by DOH (0.16 percent of all '68 and '69 chargers (using 301 destroyed)) versus how many were probably crushed in the 1980s and that finally put an end to it.  

It's amazing how many people will take something as fact without ever checking and then go spreading it around.  I guess that's the essence of rumors, though.  

Well spoken you're right!

[Magnumcharger]

I would HAZZARD a guess that there are a lot more Chargers being ruined by being turned into General Lees RIGHT NOW then were ever ruined in the production of the show and the movie combined.

[Ghoste]

Oh snap.

[Fitz73Chrgr]

I would HAZZARD a guess that there are a lot more Chargers being ruined by being turned into General Lees RIGHT NOW then were ever ruined in the production of the show and the movie combined.

Come on, bud!  It's just a paint job!

[jb666]

I would HAZZARD a guess that there are a lot more Chargers being ruined by being turned into General Lees RIGHT NOW then were ever ruined in the production of the show and the movie combined.

[nvrbdn]

yea, its amazing. every time they spray orange paint orange paint on a charger it starts to get the metal all tensed up.and when the flag and numbers are unveiled, oh my gosh. ive seen these cars actually crumble up and start rusting right there in the paint booth. bam, the car is ruined.  

[MoparManJim]

Nea, you all have it all wrong! They didn't crash 250, 250,000 OR 250,001 cars! They crash 1 Million 

[Magnumcharger]

I would HAZZARD a guess that there are a lot more Chargers being ruined by being turned into General Lees RIGHT NOW then were ever ruined in the production of the show and the movie combined.

Name calling. Just what I'd expect.

[MoparManJim]

I would HAZZARD a guess that there are a lot more Chargers being ruined by being turned into General Lees RIGHT NOW then were ever ruined in the production of the show and the movie combined.

Come on, bud!  It's just a paint job!

That is 100% correct, so there for he just slam all charger owners   

Because under that orange paint job, is infact a charger. So if painting a charger a certain color ruin's it, THEN we all better watch out what colors we paint our chargers for now on AS we just might ruin our chargers if we painted them certain colors that we didn't know would ruin our most beloved chargers. 

[tan top]

getting a bit  side tracked now ,
but i once read somewhere , years ago ,  at WB  where they  had the generals in the workshop  , couple of  them were dumped in the river , behind the shop , have searched the gl sites looking for this info quite recently , seeing if i did indeed read it correctaly or even dreampt it up & confused it with something else  

[71gtx]

   

[skip68]

The story is some of the GENERAL LEE's that were jumped into the ponds were never pulled out.  

[MoparManJim]

getting a bit  side tracked now ,
but i once read somewhere , years ago ,  at WB  where they  had the generals in the workshop  , couple of  them were dumped in the river , behind the shop , have searched the gl sites looking for this info quite recently , seeing if i did indeed read it correctaly or even dreampt it up & comfused it with something else 

Not far off, but it is a fact that some General Lee's where in fact barried..

[JaxRhapsody]

I would HAZZARD a guess that there are a lot more Chargers being ruined by being turned into General Lees RIGHT NOW then were ever ruined in the production of the show and the movie combined.

Come on, bud!  It's just a paint job!

O
That is 100% correct, so there for he just slam all charger owners   

Because under that orange paint job, is infact a charger. So if painting a charger a certain color ruin's it, THEN we all better watch out what colors we paint our chargers for now on AS we just might ruin our chargers if we painted them certain colors that we didn't know would ruin our most beloved chargers. 

If you paint them GL orange or generic action movie black, they melt and implode.

[tan top]

The story is some of the GENERAL LEE's that were jumped into the ponds were never pulled out.  

getting a bit  side tracked now ,
but i once read somewhere , years ago ,  at WB  where they  had the generals in the workshop  , couple of  them were dumped in the river , behind the shop , have searched the gl sites looking for this info quite recently , seeing if i did indeed read it correctaly or even dreampt it up & comfused it with something else 

Not far off, but it is a fact that some General Lee's where in fact barried..

oh right , thanks for the replies & info !! guys appreciated   

[Mikesmoparperformance]

The story is some of the GENERAL LEE's that were jumped into the ponds were never pulled out.  

Awesome let's look for them They put one out in the 05 movie

[Cooter]

I would HAZZARD a guess that there are a lot more Chargers being ruined by being turned into General Lees RIGHT NOW then were ever ruined in the production of the show and the movie combined.

Wow, hate much do 'ya? Paintin' an aweful wide stripe with that brush there skippy..Especially on this site.

[MoparManJim]

I would HAZZARD a guess that there are a lot more Chargers being ruined by being turned into General Lees RIGHT NOW then were ever ruined in the production of the show and the movie combined.

Come on, bud!  It's just a paint job!

O
That is 100% correct, so there for he just slam all charger owners   

Because under that orange paint job, is infact a charger. So if painting a charger a certain color ruin's it, THEN we all better watch out what colors we paint our chargers for now on AS we just might ruin our chargers if we painted them certain colors that we didn't know would ruin our most beloved chargers. 

If you paint them GL orange or generic action movie black, they melt and implode.

Just for your info, the original orange for the General Lee was Hemi orange WHICH is a mopar color. 

[Darkman]

The story is some of the GENERAL LEE's that were jumped into the ponds were never pulled out.  

Wouldn't that be an awesome discovery!

To all the General Lee haters, there will always be clones out there, whether you like it or not. DEAL WITH IT

[Ghoste]

I think its less about an actual hate for the car than endlessly being told we HAVE to like it or that we should "deal with it". (me anyway)

[Mike DC]

I can imagine that gets annoying.  

But keep in mind it's basically a defense against unsolicited attacks.  Along with the praise, GL owners get hit with a set of overt negative feedback that few other projects get.  

A lot of haters also assume you somehow just found a Charger in 1979 condition, for a 1979 price, and now you're going to drive it to an early death like it's 1979.  They don't show you the kind of basic respect that most other restorers get.

[Ghoste]

Fair enough. (and 35k is probably light in many cases)

[Mike DC]

(Sorry, I must have been shortening my last post while you were responding to it   )

[Back N Black]

Here is a cool vid to watch in the meantime. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tOORni_6Uo&feature=endscreen&NR=1

[wingcar]

I traded my freshly restored '66 Charger (my first car) in on a '69 440 RT/SE Charger that was loaded with every option except sunroof and luggage rack.  It had been repainted orange by George Barris back in '74/'75 time period....long before the Duke boys.   The '69 had a tan interior and was originally either T5 Copper Metallic or T7 Dark Bronze Metallic before being painted orange in lacquer paint...shades of General Lee!   Barris had used lacquer paint which created problems when my dad repainted the car with regular paint in its original color several years after I gave the car to my parents, as the paint started to part as if Moses had run his hands over the hood.    I had a 1970 triple black, 440 Challenger RT/SE by that time.   Both cars are but a piece of my past history however, I still have the Barris Kustom City emblems off the '69.  Just hope my old '69 wasn't one of the "Million" '69's that gave up their lives for the TV show as I lived in Southern California at the time......who knows maybe my old Charger was the original inspiration for the Dukes Charger being orange!   (Maybe not, but it sounds good!)

[nvrbdn]

hey, its your story. you end it however you want. i will from this point on give the dukes orange paint credit to your ex car. and also your dad gets credit for the first crackle paint job by accident.

[wingcar]

hey, its your story. you end it however you want. i will from this point on give the dukes orange paint credit to your ex car. and also your dad gets credit for the first crackle paint job by accident.

Thank you! 
I think........? 
Wait a minute...Does this also mean I also take the credit for "ruining" all those Chargers that were painted in orange from that date forward??                      

[Ghoste]

No more so than George Barris.

[nvrbdn]

with the credit from the lovers, you also get................................................you can fill in the rest

[pentastar426]

When I was hauling my F8 ' 70 R/T home from the farm I found it on, I had to wait for a ferry to take me back home to Vancouver Island. As the car sat there on a trailer in the line-up, quite a few kids walked by it and said " hey it's the General Lee". Like it or not, and no matter what colour, 2nd gen chargers are recognized as the cars from the D.O.H. While I personally would not mount a push bar, turbine wheels and dixie striping on my Charger even if it was Hemi orange, I support the right of any Charger owner to do that if they choose. Think back to the era when the show was made. To find an unmodified muscle car of any brand was rare. If they had used a bone stock Charger, the show would have not been as cool, as the car was as much the star as the actors were.

[TheGhost]

I wonder how many chargers were saved from being green by being turned into general lees...

[nvrbdn]

thats funny and as far as the cars of the day when DOH was popular, id say more like 90% of the muscle cars were altered in some way. everyone wanted aftermarket stuff, hood pins, glass packs, 8 tracks. you name it, it was getting swapped onto these cars. the road wheels were gettin tossed for cragars or some other brand of wheel. wooden steering wheels, or chain steering wheels were installed. etc...........................................

[pentastar426]

I wonder how many chargers were saved from being green by being turned into general lees...

O.K. now we are going to have to " Duke" it out!

My Mom had a stove the same colour as my car when I was a kid in the ' 70's. By keeping the car it's factory colour, I am paying tribute to her.

[WB General Lee]

A friend gave me a heads up on this thread so I figured I would make a comment. Spike not sure what you may own or how many real General Lees you have seen in person  but I have seen plenty. This car is a magazine car in Amos Auto Enthusiast and carries a WB title when have you seen that-never. No idea who told you how many they made etc etc but it sure wasn't me. I own two originals and three more movie cars along with several muscle cars so I happen to know my stuff. All weekend I heard that crap so I was never by the car to busy with the young models I came with:)

PS. They don't build concourse cars to wreck on screen

[Indygenerallee]

Oh well let the haters hate, I am building a General Lee and it's a car I have wanted since I was a child, Opinions are like assholes everyone has one and they all stink!

[WB General Lee]

You can check out the car that Spike says is a joke for yourself on e-bay item # 190647057046

[UH60L]

I would HAZZARD a guess that there are a lot more Chargers being ruined by being turned into General Lees RIGHT NOW then were ever ruined in the production of the show and the movie combined.

Doo dee doo dee doo...Oh shiny thing.......dang, troll got me to bite......

My personal opinion, if the car is a bonafide original numbers matching etc etc etc AND in really good condition, then yeah, making it into anything else could be truly considered "ruinning" it.

But if it's a mutt car that hasn't been original since Ronald Reagon was a candidate, and or in really horrible physical shape, and it's gets "restored" / "resot-modded" into a general lee (or anythign else) then I wouldn't call it "ruinned", I'd call it saved.  Atthat point ay future owner can whatever they want with it, at least it's driveable.

That said, tv show and horrible 2005 attempt at a movie combined was what, no more than 350 cars?  I think they get that many or more clone generals at Dukes Fest each year. 

Title holder gets the option, regardless of what anyone on the internet or down the street thinks.

If I had my druthers, every honda/nissan/hyundai car with an obvious bolted on wing and coffee can exhaust (and nothing else done to it) would get repo'd and crushed in front of the owner due to sheer stupidity.  I see those cars and just want to yell "hey, get the card out fo your spokes, your not going any faster!".   

[nvrbdn]

i know this is getting off track a bit, but i go to these car shows early on a saturday or sunday morning and see more and more of these rice burners and fixed up fast and furious cars with wild paint and wierd humming exhaust. they pour in in groups. take up whole rows. and they get out and bring out all the cleaners and polishers. they go over every inch of those cars and make them gleam. they are different than me and they are the same as me. just in a different time. i dont spend alot of time checking out their cars. i admire a few of the paint jobs and massive sterio units. but i admire them for keeping a hobby alive and taking the time to get out of bed and celebrate something i enjoy.ok back to the GENERAL.

[Kern Dog]

Absolutely! Car guys are a widely varied breed. I would never build a Lowrider Impala, but I can appreciate the skill and craftsmanship that goes into those wild paint jobs. I also have zero interest in building or driving a fart piped wimport car, but if somebody else likes it, what right do I have to stop them from pursuing their interests?

[Spike]

Good luck, like they say there is an ass for every seat and I"ll leave it at that.
If your thing is Genny lees, so be it. Enjoy it.
I could care less about tv show cars in magazines or who signed them.
My post was about a kid telling me some crazy Duke facts he believed to be true.
I did not say your car was a joke, I said the asking price was!

[Darkman]

Absolutely! Car guys are a widely varied breed. I would never build a Lowrider Impala, but I can appreciate the skill and craftsmanship that goes into those wild paint jobs. I also have zero interest in building or driving a fart piped wimport car, but if somebody else likes it, what right do I have to stop them from pursuing their interests?

There will always be the classic/muscle car group versus the ricers. Appreciate them for what they do and the effort and craftsmanship that goes into them!

Spike, it is amazing how much people believe from "what they heard" without any research. He probably wasn't interested in following up on it and just took their word. It does rub people up the wrong way when wrong facts are argued intensley. I know I hate it, but I try to be diplomatic about it and expalin it to them nicely that they have been misinformed

[WB General Lee]

You did say the car was rough and the car was priced high. Do you watch Barret Jackson? A General Lee sold for 450,000 a few years back. Recently  one sold for 110,000. That's alot more than any 1970 Charger RT. I park my Challenger TA next to the General Lee and would be lucky to have someone look at it. Just because you are not into it doesn't speak for everyone. Before you start cutting cars down lets see what you have. I will put my collection against yours anytime.

[Darkman]

 

I can see a  coming on

[WB General Lee]

No fight here. Haven't been on here in a while but when I heard this I had to comment. Good people here but there are a few so called know it alls. At least 25 Mopars later I am not an expert but close:)

[bill440rt]

Barrett Jackson??
Now THERE'S an accurate format to go by! 

Not making a dig there of any kind, but I watch BJ for entertainment purposes ONLY. No way is it an accurate measurement of fair market value.
The $450K GL was completely hyped up by an actor, and Lee1 was undersold (I thought) due to a resto with a huge black cloud surrounding it.

Last I checked, you don't need a collection of 25+ cars to be an "expert". Just look at Galen. 







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[freddyd02]

Guys guys! Lets just all agree its a absolutely beautiful car no matter what it looks like.. 

I wonder if Mustang guys have the same arguments about 68 fastbacks being made into "Eleanors"??

[Ghoste]

Actually I have a few Mustang buddies and they do have have arguments about Eleanors. 

[bill440rt]

Guys guys! Lets just all agree its a absolutely beautiful car no matter what it looks like.. 

I wonder if Mustang guys have the same arguments about 68 fastbacks being made into "Eleanors"??

I've said it in previous posts, I like 'em ALL!!