The General Lee was the automobile used by Bo Duke and Luke Duke in the television show The Dukes of Hazzard to make an ass out of Sheriff Roscoe Coltrane or Boss Hogg in every single episode. 229 Dodge Charger R/Ts were used in the making of the show, 210 of which met their demise in the spectacular jumps. Once a General Lee was jumped a single time, it was stripped of all surviving parts and junked, even if the shot didn't come out. An average of 3 cars per episode were destroyed.

It's important to note there were two types of cars used in the series: the ones used for closeup/regular driving shots and the ones used to jump over shit. The cars used to jump over shit didn't necessarily conform to all these specifications, for obvious reasons, but they were certainly all Dodge Chargers with big engines and the same paint scheme.

Specifications

  • 1969 Dodge Charger R/T, although some 1968, 1970, 1971 and non-R/T models were used.
  • Engine: most had 426 Hemis with Edelbrock torquer intake, others had 440 Magnums, all were big, ridicuously powerful V8s with a street-stock stall converter.
  • Carburetor: four barrel Holley 780 Double Pumper
  • Transmission: most had Chrysler A727 "Torqueflite" automatic transmission, widely considered to be the most durable automatic transmission ever built. Some had manual transmissions.
  • Exhaust: headers into dual 3" pipes with 30" glass packs, no catalytic converter, (weren't manditory on vehicles until 1978).
  • Suspension: reinforced with beefier shock absorbers and helper springs
  • Exterior: Hemi-orange (depending on who you ask, see note below) with the Confederate Battle Flag painted on the roof and "01" on each door, both of which were welded shut. An early General Lee was green, as it was the only color Cooter had at the time and many actually had doors that would open, although they were never shown to open in the show.
  • Other modifications: 3 point roll bars, grill guard, ratcheting locking mechanism removed from the parking brake (to help make the sharp 180 degree turn known as "Bootleggers' Turn"), horn played the first 12 notes of "Dixie", trunk-mounted CB antenna.
  • License plate: Georgia CNH 320



Extra special hootin' & hollerin' goes out to Cousin Ouroboros and Cousin grundoon, as they helped with the name of the color. They both suggested blaze orange instead of my phrase "bright fucking orange". Cousin lagrange has further muddied the waters by suggesting hugger orange as the actual name of the color.

The problem with the color of the General Lee is this - a whole lot of oranges were used. The first General Lees were Hemi-orange, an honest-to-dog Mopar color available on 1969 Dodge Chargers. Since then, other oranges were used (blaze orange and "hugger" orange, whatever the fuck that is) depending on what paint was available and how quickly Warner Bros needed another car.

So what color is The General Lee? if forced to pick a color, put your money on the honest-to-dog Mopar color of Hemi-orange.

this info came from all over the web and my own memories of watching the show religiously as a child