restoring original cars from the dukes of hazzard

[itchyballs]

hey. i see the new owner of the first general lee has its restoration under way. what a shame. completley erasing the history of the car and what original could possibly be saved? if you have ever seen the car then you know there won't be hardly anything salvageable!! i just hope the owners of police#1 and #2 don't do the same. especially since thay are the only know georgia cars that were the first five episodes. anybody heard on where tay are at and what the owners are doing with them?

[JimShine]

There is a division here. Yeah, the car was rough, but the rot was progressing. They are indeed restoring the car, not rebodying it. It has been a tough challenge, but it will last longer now that the rot is being eliminated. I was on the side to keep it unmolested, but with the work people are able to pull of these days (at big expense), I see nothing wrong with making it a road worthy car again. If it were mine and I had the resources, I would do the same thing. Keep in mind, when most people have seen it in its as found state, few cared about the history of the car as it no longer looked like a Lee. Most saw it as a junkyard find that happened to have a cool history. Now it will have new life breathed into it.

[itchyballs]

i can see your point too jimshine. i guess unless it was put in a dry climate controlled environment it would keep on rusting. but it is a shame when you can't look at it anymore and see the damage and then see it on an episode. any news on police #1 and #2 being restored? i guess this is really getting interesting to me...

[bull]

Some would say the General Lee treatment erases the original history of the car rather than a stock restoration erasing the DOH history.

[JimShine]

The GL treatment here is not your average scenario. We are looking at the FIRST General lee ever built.

[viper r/t]

 

[Charger_Fan]

We're talking about the car that ended up repainted a dark color & was crashed a lot, right? The one that Bo & Luke were trying to buy for the engine from the used car guy?

[itchyballs]

i would really think that lee#1 and police #1 should be in a museum or something. since they are the first  two cars from the series when it started in georgia.. hope who ever ownes police #1 doesn't decide to do the same thing and erase DUKES history. (just my opinion)..

[70charginglizard]

i would really think that lee#1 and police #1 should be in a museum or something. since they are the first  two cars from the series when it started in georgia.. hope who ever ownes police #1 doesn't decide to do the same thing and erase DUKES history. (just my opinion)..

Sounds kinda like to me that you might be talking about the same people who have the mentality opinion that restorizing a 37 year old "claimed as unrestorable CHARGER" in the name of dukes fest for destructions is acceptable.

[greenpigs]

i can see your point too jimshine. i guess unless it was put in a dry climate controlled environment it would keep on rusting. but it is a shame when you can't look at it anymore and see the damage and then see it on an episode. any news on police #1 and #2 being restored? i guess this is really getting interesting to me...

Police cars being restored? I think you can sleep at night as I doubt that is going to happen.

[73dodge]

Saved in a Museum, saved for posterity? Come on it's a 37 year old hunk of metal from a TV show produced in fantasy land......   It's been beat up and crashed and it's a rotting hulk I say put new metal on it paint it and drive it and show it for what it is, a cool car that some one saved. Document the history and enjoy the ride............

[BrianShaughnessy]

Is there a link or story to the resto of Lee1 somewhere?


I give the guy credit for undertaking that project.     That thing was mostly a hunk of scrap.    For whatever reason that the previous owners just left it as a piece of crap and charged shows to come exhibit it,  well - I'd much rather have seen the a restored car than pay to see that POS on a trailer the way I did.

OK to be fair,  Travis and crew found the car - they did a good job tracking it down and such and got it out of a boneyard but after that they just more or less profited from it...  I guess it's their right to but don't mean I have to agree with it.     Later they sold it for $20K+ so it was all about the benjamins it seems.


I commend the new owner. 

[resq302]

If I remember correctly, there was an article in either Mopar Muscle or Mopar Collectors Guide.  I think it said that the original number 1 Lee was repainted and was reused again in a later episode where Bo and Luke either needed an engine or wanted to buy a car from a used car lot in Hazzard that as the story goes, was an old Richard Petty Nascar race car.  The magazine article showed that they poured concrete into the trunk after they jacked the car up in the center so the car would be level and not do a nose dive for the jump scene.

[BrianShaughnessy]

If I remember correctly, there was an article in either Mopar Muscle or Mopar Collectors Guide.  I think it said that the original number 1 Lee was repainted and was reused again in a later episode where Bo and Luke either needed an engine or wanted to buy a car from a used car lot in Hazzard that as the story goes, was an old Richard Petty Nascar race car.  The magazine article showed that they poured concrete into the trunk after they jacked the car up in the center so the car would be level and not do a nose dive for the jump scene.

Yes... LEE1 was a faded blue/green color with a 71 on the side with concrete in the trunk when I saw it. 

I'm more interested in any new articles on restoring it rather than pics of the heap it was.   

[JimShine]

There are no pictures or sites about this on the web. Corndog and I posted a response about it on the CFGLFC board. My guess is the car will be kept secret and it will be made a big deal after its completed.

Travis and Gary sold the car because they went seperate ways and it was owned 50/50. They took the money, split it down the middle, Travis got the website, Gary went his own way. There is much "he said she said" in the middle, but that is the cut and dry version.

Here is a link of pics of the history of the car. Up to a couple of years ago.


http://209.43.123.28/71/71.html

[genlee1970]

hey. i see the new owner of the first general lee has its restoration under way. what a shame. completley erasing the history of the car and what original could possibly be saved? if you have ever seen the car then you know there won't be hardly anything salvageable!! i just hope the owners of police#1 and #2 don't do the same. especially since thay are the only know georgia cars that were the first five episodes. anybody heard on where tay are at and what the owners are doing with them?

OK....so, are they restoring it back to stock or back to a General Lee? It's seems to me restoring it back to a General would be the best thing and likely more profitable, if that's an issue. It wasn't an R/T right? It was, however, Lee 1, so  restoring it to General Lee specs, complete with rocker moldings etc., would seem like the way to go, rather than let it rot as a blue green prop that only avid fans would recognize. Think about it, the first General, jumped, repainted blue green, beaten with concrete blocks and left for dead, rides again!!! Cool.    Al

[genlee1970]

i would really think that lee#1 and police #1 should be in a museum or something. since they are the first  two cars from the series when it started in georgia.. hope who ever ownes police #1 doesn't decide to do the same thing and erase DUKES history. (just my opinion)..

Sounds kinda like to me that you might be talking about the same people who have the mentality opinion that restorizing a 37 year old "claimed as unrestorable CHARGER" in the name of dukes fest for destructions is acceptable.

I couldn't agre with you more. I had a blast at Dukes Fest and I am going this year again, but I cringe when I think of them wrecking another Charger,as well as the thought of them making another movie. I got to see the last Dukes Fest General, it was pretty rough but certainly not the worse thing anyones ever restored. Actually looked way better than some of those HLPAG POS'S. 

[Ghoste]

I had posted a story by one of the two on here in a different thread.  I think it was Travis' version of how they obtained the car.  I saved it from wherever I got it so I could post it again but I'm not sure it's really relevant to the thread.
I would also rather see the car restored than to rot further.  I have no desire to dig up Elvis and look at the bones and rotted flesh.

[Mike DC]

I couldn't agre with you more. I had a blast at Dukes Fest and I am going this year again, but I cringe when I think of them wrecking another Charger,as well as the thought of them making another movie.

A lot of us DOH fans agree with you.  But we're not running the show.  (It's actually a corporate-run thing for pofit now by the CMT network).  

You could say "Fine, then boycott the show!"  But realistically, would YOU sit out the stunt show just on principle if YOU were the huge Dukes fans that we are?   Probably not either.

Dukesfest is where we see our distant friends every year.  It's a great time in a lot of other ways.  

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I got to see the last Dukes Fest General, it was pretty rough but certainly not the worse thing anyones ever restored. Actually looked way better than some of those HLPAG POS'S.  

I agree, but this year's car was an anomaly.  It was Ben Jones's car they used at the last minute.  Usually Tom Sarmento & his crew have been supplying the car themselves.  They'll basically take any bare Charger unibody shell with enough frame left to hold up its own weight.

It wasn't a NICE car (the weights broke right through the trunkfloor when the car hit the ramp) and they had already swapped out a bunch of nicer parts (like the grille), but I agree it shouldn't have been wrecked.

.

[genlee1970]

I couldn't agre with you more. I had a blast at Dukes Fest and I am going this year again, but I cringe when I think of them wrecking another Charger,as well as the thought of them making another movie.

A lot of us DOH fans agree with you.  But we're not running the show.  (It's actually a corporate-run thing for pofit now by the CMT network).  

You could say "Fine, then boycott the show!"  But realistically, would YOU sit out the stunt show just on principle if YOU were the huge Dukes fans that we are?   Probably not either.

Dukesfest is where we see our distant friends every year.  It's a great time in a lot of other ways.

   

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I got to see the last Dukes Fest General, it was pretty rough but certainly not the worse thing anyones ever restored. Actually looked way better than some of those HLPAG POS'S.  

I agree, but this year's car was an anomaly.  It was Ben Jones's car they used at the last minute.  Usually Tom Sarmento & his crew have been supplying the car themselves.  They'll basically take any bare Charger unibody shell with enough frame left to hold up its own weight.

It wasn't a NICE car (the weights broke right through the trunkfloor when the car hit the ramp) and they had already swapped out a bunch of nicer parts (like the grille), but I agree it shouldn't have been wrecked.

.

I agree, the show is alot of fun for many other reasons. I think they'd still draw the same size crowd without the stunt show. I'm sure the common (non Charger enthusiasts) Dukes fans would understand the need to preserve Chargers and would settle for say, an exhibition of stunt driving with a General and Hazzard squad car set up for an auto cross type "hot pursuit" show, with 180 bootlegger turns, burn outs and so forth. They could even have them driving through break away prop "obsticles".They'd have cars that they could use every year and save money that way. I don't know, just seems a shame. As for boycotting, we'd have to boycott the whole event; by the time the stunt show rolls around, they've already got your money. Besides with the numbers they pull in, we, as Charger enthusiasts, would hardly make a dent. I think I'll be polishing the bumper on my General when they do the stunt show this year....

[Aussiemadonmopars]

There is a used car dealer here in Perth Australia that is selling a possible General Lee R/T car restored to original factory spec. 

http://allamerican.carpoint.ninemsn.com.au/DesktopDefault.aspx?UsedCarID=1590108&TabID=86326&Alias=allamericanau

[hemihead]

They should restore them all back to orignal Mopar as Chrysler and God intended. 

[Mike DC]

Opinion noted, Hemihead. 



I disagree though.  LEE 1 wasn't exactly a rare car in the first place (383 auto from Cali), but it sure had an interesting life during late 1978. 

It's a cultural icon.  The last Dukes convention drew 40,000 people, which is as much as any of the big Star Trek/Wars & comic book franchises can do.   

[itchyballs]

personally i think the cars should somehow be preserved with the rot and damage. if you restore them they aren't worth*(^(*^....

[RT DAVE]

I think they should recycle it.