The "General Lee"...
THE CAR
The General Lee was a 1969 Dodge Charger 440 with the 440-cubic-inch Magnum V8 engine
Over 300 Dodge Chargers were used on the show because once a car was jumped it was not used again The shock of the impact completely destroyed the structural integrity of the car.
At the end of filming of the TV show there were only 17 original General Lees remaining Warner Bros. authenticated all these, each car being given a Certificate of Authenticity of its participation in the TV Show.
The General Lee was painted bright orange and had a confederate flag on the roof and the number '01' on the door.
During the show's prime, the General Lee received over 30,000 pieces of fan mail monthly mainly asking for an autographed picture. The autographs being prints of the tire tread made by driving the car over the photograph.
Boxes of lead weights were stored in the trunk during jumps to balance the weight of the engine in the front thus preventing the car from turning end to end in the air. 500-600 lbs were used for short jumps and 1,000 lbs were used for the longer jumps.
At least 3 general Lee cars were used per episode
On all the General Lees used for the show, the locking mechanism was disconnected from the foot-operated parking brake for the "Bootleggers' Turn", the 180-degree turns the Dukes made in practically every show to lose sheriff Rosco, and/or deputies Enos and Cletus.
And now you know....
~~~GB~~~
