"Real" GL for sale

[Dreamcar]

I love hearing about GL history. Thanks guys!

[MaximRecoil]

It wasn't a Warner Brothers product. WB simply owned the car.

What had happened is Don was given money to buy Chargers from WB for building into GL's and as parts cars.

That makes it a Warner Bros. product. I guess you're making the distinction between this car being intended as a parts car rather than a General Lee? I'm guessing that Warner Bros. left that decision up to Don, and he eventually decided it should be a General Lee.

Either way, the word "replica" gives the wrong impression about this car; it actually has Warner Bros. / GL builders history, unlike a garden variety General Lee replica that you can see at most any car show; probably dozens of which are owned by members of this very site.

It was a vinyl top car originally. Jon Schisler didn't like the trim, so they welded the holes up.

In that picture I posted above where it is beside LEE1 still in stock form, I don't see a vinyl top or vinyl top molding on it. The roof appears to be painted the same color as the rest of the body.

[Brock Lee]

Look at the other pictures taken from other angles. It is a tan vinyl top car. I also have video of Jon explaining to me how he didn't like the trim and went out of his way to get rid of it on his personal car.

WB just owned the car for a period of time. Yes, the same builders completed it after WB owned the car. It is still very special in my eyes. That is what the true Georgia built cars looked like. A little nicer than the pilot cars built in California, but still crude in a picture car sort of way.

[mopar0166]

Auto trader car was posted to classic auto trader for 55k

[Dreamcar]

To me, if the Volo car was never readied for filming, and given its "uniform" only after filming ended and after the other cars left for California, then it's more of a replica, albeit a significant one that's worth more than most if not all other replicas...but it's just not worth $150K +, no way.

I think the Autotrader SGL3 is worth what they are asking (but I still can't afford it  )

If money was no object and I was searching for a GL, this would be my order of importance:

1 - Any TV series GL
2 - The reunion GLs
3 - The Autotrader GLs (that are also not from the series)
4 - The Schisler GL or any other replica with that level of connection to the show (like Bo's GL)
5 - The movie cars (that are not also from the series)
6 - Any other replica with no actual connection to the Dukes

[MaximRecoil]

Look at the other pictures taken from other angles. It is a tan vinyl top car. I also have video of Jon explaining to me how he didn't like the trim and went out of his way to get rid of it on his personal car.

Interesting. They should have done that to all of them. The GL doesn't have a vinyl top, so why leave the vinyl top trim on there? It looks half-assed. Of course, on fan-built replicas I can see leaving the trim on there, because most (but not all) of the screen-used GLs had it.

WB just owned the car for a period of time. Yes, the same builders completed it after WB owned the car. It is still very special in my eyes. That is what the true Georgia built cars looked like. A little nicer than the pilot cars built in California, but still crude in a picture car sort of way.

If I won the Powerball or whatever, I'd own that car. There's no nicer example of a GL with Warner Bros. history in my opinion, very early Warner Bros. history (Georgia) no less.

So, do you know the story behind the 360 engine in it? And do you know the story behind the push bumper? It is the early narrow style, but it is different than any screen-used narrow GL push bumper I've ever seen. Instead of the side plates just having "hook" shapes on the bottom that aren't attached to anything like the screen-used ones did ...



... the side plates on the bottom go straight under the car (and presumably attached to something under there) similar to how the later wide push bumpers did:



I wonder if this is something Don did to improve the mounting strength due to it being his personal car. The mounting method of the screen used narrow ones (attached only to the bumper) was flimsy as hell; the slightest hit would slam it back into the center piece of the grille.

[GL#10]

To me, if the Volo car was never readied for filming, and given its "uniform" only after filming ended and after the other cars left for California, then it's more of a replica, albeit a significant one that's worth more than most if not all other replicas...but it's just not worth $150K +, no way.

Just a replica , worth what volo paid for it , which at the time when it was on ebay $40k

[Dreamcar]

I wonder why WB allowed Don to buy it in the first place...if this car was part of the lot of parts, why not ship it to Cali with the other cars?

[1965gp]

So this is a difficult question- how much is a nice GL replica worth? I am in the process of building one and hear ranges from 15k to 60k. I'm talking about a car with no connection to the show.

Maybe it's just me or my area (tx) but it seems to me for any less than 10k you pretty much get a car needing full restoration.

My car is a 69, 383 4 barrel auto. No rust (couple of small spots replaced with new metal). Base clear flame red, better decals (crazy cutter), smith bros small push bar, legendary full interior kit. All new trim/bumpers. Let's say the rest of the car is restored to mid-low #2 / very nice driver quality.

Sorry to hijack but really didn't think this was enough for its own thread.

[ACUDANUT]

I did not see a price. 

[1965gp]

Just curious to a ballpark value of a nice driver GL. I should have 25-27 in mine when I am done.

[Brock Lee]

I wonder why WB allowed Don to buy it in the first place...if this car was part of the lot of parts, why not ship it to Cali with the other cars?

WB left all of the wrecks and parts cars behind. The two leftover Chargers were basically given to him in trade for the GL he built with the 340 to go back to California. This particular car also had a title problem. Don had to get a replacement title for it.

Look at the other pictures taken from other angles. It is a tan vinyl top car. I also have video of Jon explaining to me how he didn't like the trim and went out of his way to get rid of it on his personal car.

Interesting. They should have done that to all of them. The GL doesn't have a vinyl top, so why leave the vinyl top trim on there? It looks half-assed. Of course, on fan-built replicas I can see leaving the trim on there, because most (but not all) of the screen-used GLs had it.

The first 3 cars were not built in Georgia, but in California. Lee1 had a hacked in drivers side rear quarter before it was a GL. A previous owner hacked the quarter under that trim so he didn't have to screw with the vinyl top. It was an absolute mess under there and these guys put zero care into building the pilot cars. They didn't even take them apart. It was easier to snap the trim back on over the hacked seam. If you look close at the shot of it pulling into the Boars Nest parking lot, you can see the metal under that trim is wavy.

In building the 3 pilot cars they did their best to make them match. Lee1 was missing the gas cap trim ring and wheel well trim due to the budget repair work. They mimicked this look on the next 2 cars.

In Georgia they made changes right away, but were subtle about it. Leaving things like gas cap trim on. But they did keep that top trim for the sake of consistency.

[MaximRecoil]

In Georgia they made changes right away, but were subtle about it. Leaving things like gas cap trim on. But they did keep that top trim for the sake of consistency.

But they weren't consistent. LEE1 had that "chrome" rocker panel molding, which stuck out like a junebug in a bucket of buttermilk, much more obvious than vinyl top trim or lack thereof. And then of course they deleted the Dutchman panel crossed flags graphics once they got to California. And whenever they started with a non-vinyl top car, they left it that way, i.e., they didn't add the trim to it:



That's just one of many onscreen appearances of a non-vinyl top GL. And there were even a few where they painted the vinyl top trim orange along with the rest of the car.

If they wanted to standardize on something for the sake of consistency, it should have been no vinyl top trim, regardless of what they did with the first 3 GLs. But of course, that would have meant more work.

[Mike DC]

  
I actually think the vinyl top trim looks good.


Many people have noted that whether you like vinyl tops or not, the 2nd-gen Charger does wear a vinyl top better than most muscle cars do.  It divides the top & bottom, emphasizing that "cab on top of a machined block of steel" look that had been described at the design stage.  The vinyl top trim also has that visual effect.  

[MaximRecoil]

I much prefer the smooth, uninterrupted flow between the rear quarter panel and the C-pillar. There is still delineation of sorts there, due to the relatively small-radius curve that forms the transition between the rear quarter panel and the C-pillar, and the drastically different angle of the top "shelf" of the rear quarter panel vs. the angle of the C-pillar, but it is far more subtle than a physical barrier in the form of vinyl top trim.

Richard Sias didn't want a vinyl top option either, but since it was such a big fad at the time, the bean counters made him tack one on. I read that a couple of years ago in an interview with him, but for the life of me I can't find the interview now (if anyone knows where it is I'd like a link).

[myk]

I much prefer the smooth, uninterrupted flow between the rear quarter panel and the C-pillar. There is still delineation of sorts there, due to the relatively small-radius curve that forms the transition between the rear quarter panel and the C-pillar, and the drastically different angle of the top "shelf" of the rear quarter panel vs. the angle of the C-pillar, but it is far more subtle than a physical barrier in the form of vinyl top trim.

Richard Sias didn't want a vinyl top option either, but since it was such a big fad at the time, the bean counters made him tack one on. I read that a couple of years ago in an interview with him, but for the life of me I can't find the interview now (if anyone knows where it is I'd like a link).

Can't agree with you more.  Vinyl tops DO look better on Chargers than most other cars, as well as tail stripes, but because the Charger has one of the most distinctive body styles ever conceived I think it's almost a waste to interrupt that perfectly machined block of steel with tops and stripes.  I've been debating a tail stripe for years-I may never decide...

[70 sublime]

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,111314.0.html

almost real ??

[Brock Lee]

In Georgia they made changes right away, but were subtle about it. Leaving things like gas cap trim on. But they did keep that top trim for the sake of consistency.

But they weren't consistent. LEE1 had that "chrome" rocker panel molding, which stuck out like a junebug in a bucket of buttermilk, much more obvious than vinyl top trim or lack thereof. And then of course they deleted the Dutchman panel crossed flags graphics once they got to California. And whenever they started with a non-vinyl top car, they left it that way, i.e., they didn't add the trim to it:

First of all, Lee1 was built first, they didn't realize the rocker trim was going to an issue. Had it been built second or third, they would have removed it. Removing it after they built it into a General Lee was more work than they wanted to do. The car was so rough, they likely planned on killing it first anyway. Of the 3 cars pilot cars built, it was the only car completed in California as a fully caged stunt car. The Elm Street car arrived mostly done, but the cage, interior dye/paint and other odds and ends were wrapped up after arrival in Georgia.

Second, the appearance of the cars plays by the rules of the people that built them with some basic outline set by WB. The pilot cars were built by one group, Don's guys built a couple in Georgia, then season 2 when orange painted vinyl top trim and rocker trim appear it is Veluzat built cars. Each set of builders did their own thing and as the show progressed, consistency decayed a bit before WB became very specific in their demands in how the car should appear.

They never believed the show would last that long and they tried hard to maintain cars in that first season. There were episodes made later that killed as many Chargers in one episode as died in that entire first season.

[Dreamcar]

In the Georgia era, there's LEE 1, 2, 3, and the GL built by Mr. Schisler that went to California. That's four "real" GLs.

There's also the two other Schisler cars (including the Volo car) that didn't go back to Cali. That makes 6 in total.

How many more Georgia cars are there (surviving or not)?

[MaximRecoil]

First of all, Lee1 was built first, they didn't realize the rocker trim was going to an issue. Had it been built second or third, they would have removed it. Removing it after they built it into a General Lee was more work than they wanted to do. The car was so rough, they likely planned on killing it first anyway. Of the 3 cars pilot cars built, it was the only car completed in California as a fully caged stunt car. The Elm Street car arrived mostly done, but the cage, interior dye/paint and other odds and ends were wrapped up after arrival in Georgia.

By all accounts I've heard/read, LEE3 was built first; it is the one that they used for the promotional photos taken in Griffith Park, California, before they even decided to put "01" on the doors:



And it was probably the nicest Warner Bros. General Lee ever from what I've heard/read: R/T SE (440 engine) with power windows and factory saddle tan interior.

[Dreamcar]

In real life, she's near twice my age...but in that picture...DAMN!!!!

[tan top]

interesting , stuff about the different GL , thanks for sharing  



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[tan top]

posted in wrong bit   , please delete   & two posts below   

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