General Lee#1 . . . back from the dead!

[Charger_Croatia]

I'm, as most here, 50:50 about restoration but I must say that I agree with Troy.
Someone told me once that every machine (cars included) have it's soul. Thinking this way helped me to say that I'm glad to see that car lives again. Great job!

[JimShine]

Here are some posted on another site by Jeffery. I personally took no pictures at the event. I was busy talking to people and such. And to be honest, I needed a break from the car.

[Charger_Fan]

I'm guessing it was a gold car originally before WB got ahold of it?

[JimShine]

Yeah. WB didn't paint under the trunk lid or the engine bay of that car (the original trunk lid still exists with the original orange and gold paint). They built a seperate closeup car that had those areas painted and was nicely detailed versus the two full cage cars. We painted the whole car back to its stock color then painted it orange just like they did back then.

[JMF]

Jim, what was saved of the car and what was replaced? And where did you begin : )

[gnrl01]

How fun was it getting all that concrete out of the trunk??

[JimShine]

I can't get into much detail right now as there is a restoration DVD being made and several magazines are going to be covering the whole deal. A big outlet has also asked to cover this and make some sort of video. So, for the time being the detailed stuff will be released by the media. When the dust settles, I will be here if anyone wants to chit chat about it. As I make my rounds, I will share pics with everyone here.

What I can tell you is all that was really Lee1 in the 71 car state was the unibody, glass, rollbar, dash, and drivetrain. The unibody was ofcourse extensively restored, but all items patched or replaced were very common in the Charger restoration world. The other items have been preserved as well. The main drivetrain piece replaced was the rear end housing as it was bent. The pumpkin is the original.

[Nacho-RT74]

The 500 is an SE with A/C too!   

that was what I was to post before read your past... SIMPLY GREAT!!!

About GL#1
I'll completely agree about restore job. Is better to see a car like that on streets or shows than on a junk... what would you do with that wrecked car ? treat it like a trailer queen exposing on shows ? will you leave on the forrest ?

However beside the resto job, of course I will expose it with LOT OF HISTORY AND DOCUMENTED RESTO JOB, every detail etc...

I LIKE THEY DID WHAT THEY DID...

[Orange_Crush]

And...somehow...I continue being completely unimpressed. 

[hemi68charger]

 
There's some rumors that a backup "Bullitt" Charger got out unscathed, but I don't think there's ever any confirmation of anything.  It's another one of those tall tales in the hobby where the concrete information always seems to be just one more person away.

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The LEE#1 value is hard to peg.  Until recently there were so many fake GLs being bought & sold as "real ones"  . . . it really monkeyed with the percieved value of having a real one.  And LEE#1's restoration raises serous questions about whether it's really the same car or just a VIN & some occasional sheetmetal. 

Either way, I don't think there's gonna be any jumping in LEE#1's future.  That kinda deal is typically something that Ben Jones pays the stunt guys to do with bondo buggies at a "Dukesfest" event.  But LEE#1 is privately owned by someone who cared about it and paid to have it saved.  Different situation entirely.

 

I talked to a guy from Legendary Auto Interiors who says he knows about the back-up Bullit Charger.. Supposedly is was, if I remember right, a black car, with a white vinyl top, red interior and red bubble-bee stripe !!!!

[RD]

i saw that car at carlisle in 2002 in its beat up condition.

-----------------------------------------------------   <---- MIKE D style

you should have painted the car 1/2 General Lee and 1/2 the blue 71 Richard Petty racecar right down the middle

that would have been cool!  (I joke, I know)

[THE CHARGER PUNK]

the back up bullitt charger was a triple black 383 4-spd car that Jerry Junemans owns, go meet him and get a PIC

[Neal_J]

The tan under the hood looks gay to me.

My two cents....

Neal

[JimShine]

We didn't build the car to be better than it was in 1978, but as close as possible to how it was in 1978. That meant crooked numbers, gold paint in the trunk and engine bay, worn looking grille, etc.

[Khyron]

it must have been Bronze day that day.  (or Brown for Charger_Fan and all you other poo poo's  )

Oh sorry, I'm making a mental note to use "bronze" more in my vocabulary.

i'm not

[6pkrunner]

We didn't build the car to be better than it was in 1978, but as close as possible to how it was in 1978. That meant crooked numbers, gold paint in the trunk and engine bay, worn looking grille, etc.

And IMHO that is exactly correct. When one removes all the errors and mistakes from an original - then it no longer is the item that is supposedly restored. A lot of the restored Mopars out there are vastly better than when they left the factory. Sure mirror like paint is nice and perfectly aligned panels are neat, but these cars didn't leave the dealer's lot in that good of shape. I was around then and any car that perfectly assembled would have stuck out like a sore thumb on the lots.

But I digress. To paint her gold and then overcoat in orange and the slightly skewed numbers is the best tip of a hat to a restoration as how it was when built.
But did you paint it gold, age it, reapply all the scatches as picked up over the years and then spray it orange? Just Kidding! You guys did a great job. I think only Alan's "Barrelcuda" would be the only other vehicle to come close to the level of "bring it back from the dead"

[TylerCharger69]

Okay....owning a GL replica,  here's my opinion.   I think that Travis Bell made the right decision in restoring this car just the way it was.  It is the very first General Lee ever.   I believe that if someone has the funds to restore something like this,  go for it.  It's part of T.V. history, not to mention Mopar history  and to restore that car as well and accurately  as they did,  well   you really can't say anything bad about that.   The car in the 2001 depiction......well....honestly.....no one would ever lok at that car twice...."scrap it"  would be the decision of most.  I'm happy that this car was resurrected,  and was saved from certain death.   When I bought my Charger,  it sat in the Arizona desert for 24 +  years  in the same spot.   The old man I bought it from told me he used to drink a lot  and he was forced to park the car  because he lost his license due to multiple DUI charges......The car looked like he drank a lot too.   It still had the black and yellow California plates on it donning a sticker which said 1973.   Small rodents had made their homes in the engine, Tranny, and interior of the car. The car was dead.   It was half buried in the sand, and I had to dig it out.   All I could see from the road was the front grille,  which in not so many words, called out to me.  (I only paid $500.00 for the entire car).   The previous owner died a few years later,  and the city came in, took over his property,  and destroyed all of the other cars that were junked.  (One of them was a 440 Super Bee).   I got there just in time.   I feel I've done my duty in rescuing one of these fine Mopars from certain death  and I take my hat off to any one else who does the same.  LEE1  was in far worse condition than mine was,  and I imagine it was no easy process in bringing him back to life.    Thank you Travis Bell and crew for saving a piece of history as far as television, Mopar....and American Muscle history are concerned.   You did the right thing!!   I imagine that car is worth a gonad or two now that it lives!!!   Should probably be in the Smithsonian....next to Archie Bunkers chair.......lol        Thanks  Travis Bell.....Ace Tyler                         By the way...I'd like to see a pic of the "LEE1"  label by the VIN number!!!

[JimShine]

Here is a great one we took while the glass was out.

One item we actutually replicated, but lost in the end was the actual patina of the paint. We had a great full example of the paint on this car and had the guys buff it just enough to match the patina of the stock part, but in transit a shelf fell off a wall in the enclosed trailer hauling this and damaged the whole passenger side. We had 24 hours in a different state to find a shop and repair it before the event. The spot repairs had to be buffed in and smoothed things out more than we would have liked. But the repiar was invisible, the event went off great, so it was worth the sacrifice. I think the paint will dull a little too as it cures.


6packrunner, you raised a point that reminds me of my something. My grandfather owned a Chrysler dealership in Connecticut. I remember before he died we went to a car show and he told me "The cars never looked like this. Maybe in the catalogs, but not the ones that came in on the trucks."

[JMF]

At least there's another Charger on the road