The simple “good vs. evil” cowboy storyline of Pop Culture classic TV show, “The Dukes of Hazzard” is pretty straightforward. Southern cowboys, and Cousins, Bo Duke (John Schneider) and Luke Duke (Tom Wopat) fight an ongoing battle with the authorities of Hazzard County (Boss Hogg and Sheriff Roscoe Coltrane), assisted only by their car General Lee (a souped-up 1969 Dodge Charger), Cousin Daisy Duke and Uncle Jesse. Bo and Luke are good guys at heart but have trouble behaving themselves while on indefinite probation, complicating but not halting their efforts. “The law” dream up ways of eliminating the Dukes, even their wise old Uncle Jesse (Denver Pyle), but their schemes always backfire. Dukes soaked up seven seasons of material from the timeless tale of a Deep South family of ex-moonshine-makers and their endless feud with a greedy impresario and his goofy, sidekick sheriff.
The Dukes of Hazzard was part of America’s 70s redneck fascination, also evident in the period’s music, movies, and TV shows highlighting fast cars, truckers, CB radio (citizen’s band), moonshine, hillbilly hicks, and clueless lawmen. The TV series was created by writer-producer Gy Waldron, inspired by his 1975 feature film comedy, “Moonrunners.” The stock car in Moonrunners had been named Traveler after the horse General Robert E. Lee rode during the Civil War. Waldron named the TV series car after the general himself, and suggested an orange, Dodge Charger for the part. The confederate flag was originally placed on the hood, but later moved to the roof, and the details of who chose the car’s 01 number for the side doors are still up for debate.
Warner Bros. Television’s Philip Mandelker and Paul Picard both agreed the Dukes should have a fast car, as the southern states are the hotbed of stock-car racing. The Atlanta 500, a major NASCAR event, is held at Gorgia’s Atlantic International Raceway. So it was written that the General Lee was to be a race car forced reluctantly into street service by the Duke boys. Waldron’s suggestion was a logical one, because of the Charger’s history of racing successes. In 1969, for example, Dodge Chargers won 22 of the 54 major NASCAR races. It’s no longer clear exactly who in that department thought a ’69 Dodge Charger was the perfect car, but Waldron agreed. Warner Bros. started buying every ’69 Dodge Charger in Southern California. The first few Chargers to become General Lees were bought from used-car lots to film the five pilot episodes in Georgia. NOTE There’s no real “Hazzard County” in Georgia; it was invented purely for the TV show, and after the pilot episodes, most of the show was filmed on a back lot in Burbank, CA .
True fans of the show, and it’s stars, will be pleased to note that most of the driving done by Bo (John Schneider) and Luke (Tom Wopat) is actually performed by the actors themselves. It was to this end that Schneider went to the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving. The two actors became quite skilled at putting the General into controlled drifts, quick spins, and short stops. Whenever the General jumps for any length of time, however, stunt doubles must be used, as the studio can’t afford to have injuries put its principal players out of commission.
The General Lee on the Dukes of Hazzard TV show, in it’s day, was without question the most famous car on television. The Duke cousin’s 1969 Dodge Charger appeared indestructible, surviving every episodic adventure. NOTE Although it became a co-star on the classic TV series, the General Lee gets no screen credit. Car buffs, and rabid Mopar maniacs especially, watch the show to root for the General as much as for the Dukes. It’s safe to say this car can be credited for the TV show’s appeal, action packed episodes, and top-ten ratings success. Although 320 additional General Lees were used and destroyed while filming of the TV series, Lee 1 is the only General Lee to appear in every episode. That’s because the car appears at the end of the opening credits, launching itself up and over that now famous ’74 Dodge Monaco squad car.
Although it was a huge hit when it originally aired, I don’t think anyone realized the legacy and influence The Dukes of Hazzard TV show would have on the upcoming decades of popular culture Internationally. Getting into a car Dukes of Hazzard style is a recognised term for entering a car through the windows, and Daisy Dukes is a recognised term for very short jeans. The series has been referenced in many modern TV shows, such as The Simpsons, South Park & Family Guy. It’s music industry nods include Johnny Cash’s song “The General Lee” and the show’s theme song The Dukes of Hazzard (Good Ol’ Boys) written and sung by Waylon Jennings.
The Continuity of this show makes it fairly difficult to nail down exact specifications. For example, the General Lee has been depicted with a 4 speed console mounted manual transmission (Repo Men, first season), a column shifted Automatic (fourth season, Mean Green Machine) and a console mounted Automatic (Duke Vs. Duke, third season).
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Year By Year The Dodge Chargers on The Dukes of Hazzard TV Show
1978
The first 5 pilot episodes were filmed on location in Atlanta and Covington, Georgia. All of the 1969 Dodge Chargers, a total of 11, were purchased from local used car lots. Only one of these “Season One” cars is thought to still exist, used in the episode “Daisy Song,” and it’s on display in a museum in the Northeast.
1979 – 1980
In 1979, production of the Dukes of Hazzard would move to the Warner Brothers Sound Stages and Backlot in Burbank, California. “Season Two” saw the purchase of 26 more Dodge Charger cars. This is the first year that 1968 and 1970 Dodge Charger models were used on the show, but were converted to cosmetically resemble the 1969 model. The production company would often leave the quarter panels of the 1968 Charger (distinquished by its small round parking lamps, versus the 1969 model’s large rectangular ones). This season also saw major continuity problems for the General Lee’s interior. It was depicted in several different colors, including Black (episode Luke’s Love Story). A total of 42 Dodge Chargers were purchased for this season, and eventually destroyed.
1980 – 1981
It is not 100% certain, but commonly thought that 28 Chargers were purchased for this season, which saw a spin-off Series, entitled “Enos.” The show followed Enos Strait, the dumb deputy who consistently failed to catch the Dukes for 3 seasons, as a detective in Los Angeles. During filming, several Dodge Chargers were driven andor jumped into Canals. The waterways on the Warner backlot run up to 35 feet deep, and these cars may still be at the bottom of those canals today. (That accounts for about 8 Generals Lee total through the show’s original run).
1981 – 1982
Disputes over royalty payments forced Tom Wopat and John Schneider to leave the series for 18 episodes of this season. During that time, actors Byron Cherry and Christopher Mayor filled in as Coy and Vance Duke. To compensate for, or distract from, the loss of its leading men, the series creators tried to fill the shows with even more action-packed stunts than ever. Because of this, a whopping 36 Dodge Chargers were destroyed in these 18 episodes. This season, also saw the birth of a Dukes of Hazzard Cartoon show. In total, 40 Dodge Chargers were destroyed this season.
1983 – 1984
Since so many cars were destroyed last season, a record 46 Dodge Chargers were purchased for this season’s filming (only 2 are known to survive, and both are privately owned). Slipping ratings were countered with elaborate chase sequences and more dangerous stunts. This slowed the show’s decline, but the following season would be the shows last (some say due to the cheap, plastic model cars they used to try to replace real car stunts). These episodes best showcase the wild stuntwork for which the show became famous.
1984 – 1985
Due to the scarcity of the Dodge Charger cars (because of the boom in Muscle Car Collectors), Warner Brothers could only purchase 9 Chargers for this season. As a result, the editors had to dig up stock footage to re-use, and use Dodge Charge plastic model replica cars (used extensively this season). This was the beginning of the end of “The Dukes of Hazzard.”
Estimated Totals
Total # of Dodge Chargers Used during Original Production 240-321
Total # of Dodge Chargers To Survive Production 18
(Warner Brothers gave 17 away to private owners in 1993)
1997
Warner Brothers hired Gy Waldron, in 1996, to develop a reunion film for the Dukes of Hazzard TV Series. This move was prompted by the success of the second-run syndication the series developed on the TNN cable network. In 1997, Pre-Production began on the “The Dukes of Hazzard Reunion!,” with the purchase of two 1969 Dodge Chargers (Warner Brothers still retained one from the original run). One was perfectly restored as a “closeup” car, while the other was left rough for the chase scenes, and all three cars survived film production. Two of the Chargers were powered by 383 cid Wedge Motors (not hi-po, so only 300 horsepower). The Third Charger only ran a 318 cid V8.
1999
Warner Brothers contracted Gy Waldon again, in 1999, to produce a second made for TV movie, “Dukes of Hazzard Hazzard in Hollywood!” (2000) They purchased a Derelict ’69 Dodge Charger powered by a 318 V8, but it was destroyed in a new jump sequence. This time, the #1 “closeup” vehicle was John Schneider’s personal General Lee Replica car (he built the car in 1998, calling it Bo’s General Lee, after his Duke character.). In the film, this General Lee was running a 440 Six Pack V8. NOTE Normally, it runs a 426 Hemi V8, but John blew up the motor, by accident, only a few weeks before filming began. Two of the Chargers purchased for the 1997 reunion movie were used for stunt work on this one too. Thus, a total of 4 cars were used in “Hazzard in Hollywood,” with 3 surviving filming.
John Schneider’s personal General Lee, the 1969 Dodge Charger from the Dukes of Hazzard, sold on eBay for a record breaking $9,900,500.00! This officially makes it the second highest price for any auto auction in known history. (The first is the $11 million 1987 sale by Christie’s of a 1931 Bugatti originally owned by the Bugatti family.) The General Lee was purchased by William Fisher, owner of knifecollectors.com. The eBay page of the General Lee auction received over one million hits in a single week.
A feature film remake of the series, The Dukes of Hazzard premiered on August 5, 2005. It earned over $113 million dollars worldwide, although it was critically panned. A second Dukes of Hazzard film, The Dukes of Hazzard The Beginning, a prequel to the original (and the first film) was a TV movie and also went straight to DVD release.
2005 movie Bo and Luke Duke are southern cousins. In Hazzard County, Bo and Luke help their Uncle Jesse and their sexy cousin Daisy run the Moonshine business and always getting into trouble with Sherriff Roscoe P. Coltrane and recklessly driving in their orange car General Lee. Boss Hogg, the mean and corrupt local county commissioner who hates The Dukes evicts The Dukes from their farm. Bo and Duke travels to Atlanta and meets up with old friend Katie Johnson and her friend Annette as they set out to find out why Boss Hogg has evicted them from their farm and what he plans to do. With local ace race car driver Billy Prickett in town to take part in the Annual Hazzard Road Race rally, Bo and Luke sets out to save their farm and foil Boss Hogg’s scheme. Written by Daniel Williamson