The Dukes of Hazzard crew loaded the General Lee down with ballast such as concrete and sandbags. In fact, the General Lee had plenty of stunt doubles ready to replace it whenever the car got totaled — which was typically at least once per episode. In fact, the General Lee had about doubles while filming The Dukes of Hazzard television show, and around 26 doubles in the feature film. Every single one of these Dukes of Hazzard car doubles was destroyed during filming. There is not a better documented General Lee in existence.
Documentation includes a complete paper trail of ownership from the owner prior to Warner Bros. Bills of sales in Warner Bros. Statement of authenticity from the the previous owner of Lee 1 and restorer of Lee 1 verifying the roll bar being from Lee 1, letters of authenticity from 4 of the original builders of this car. One more very unique piece of documentation is the original ad from when Don Schisler sold the car.
This ad would be the first ad ever of a General Lee for sale! Originally scrapped in GA, no longer exists. Roof was cut off and used as template for Ronnie Edwards to continue painting graphics. Lee 3: Close up car. The first three Georgia Lees had a set of crossed flags a Confederate Flag and checkered flag on the panel between the rear window and trunk lid.
Although four sets were created, only three were used. They were discontinued due to difficulty with continuity of the General Lee's graphics, making it one less thing to be used. The three surviving cars went back to California and had the crossed flags removed upon reconditioning. Viewers can also see two "Georgia" cars used often up into the early second season. LEE 3 and a specially caged car never appearing but built in Georgia were used heavily in early California episodes.
The Veluzats were somewhat inconsistent in how they built the cars, so this is when the most variations from specification are found. The paint was GM code 70, Flame Red, still orange, just the name of the color but there does appear to be some variance here: interiors were mostly dyed brown and occasionally SEM Saddle Tan.
WB mechanics had to maintain the cars at company expense. The money generated by building General Lees financed the Veluzat family project of restoring Gene Autry's Melody Ranch; it had burned in the s. This ranch is where many classic Western films were shot as well as the television series Gunsmoke. By , Warner Brothers turned total control of building General Lee s to a man named Ken Fritz because the Valuzets were caught selling wrecked cars that had received cosmetic repairs and forged VINs.
Fritz didn't have the job long before he too was fired and at this point Warner Brothers moved full production in-house. The General Lee was now the highlight of the series, and WB received enormous amounts of Lee -specific fan mail that nit-picked the inconsistencies of the cars. Because of General Lee's fame, WB had their staff mechanics build the cars to a specific appearance, even underneath. All graphics had to meet specifications, all side markers and rocker panel chrome trim were removed; and roll bars and push bars had to meet an exact specification.
However, some changes were made before the specifications were laid-out: the push bar became wider, the interior became a light beige color, and the roll bars were covered in a black foam padding. During this period, the only true way for fans to distinguish the conversions from the originals is by the shape of the dashpad.
As the WB era rolled on, finding the cars became an issue: Piper Cubs were hired to search for and Chargers amongst the populace; the jumped cars were now no longer scrapped after one jump if deemed salvageable, and were repaired and used until they could no longer function; and, as last resort, miniature radio-controlled models were also brought in toward the end of the series to replace most of the big jump stunts, thereby saving more cars - something that proved unpopular with many episode directors including Tom Wopat who felt that the models looked too fake.
By this time, there was also a rivalry for "TV's greatest car" with the Knight Rider series, leading to the models being used more and more for greater jumps to try and out-do that series. Taking full control also saved some money as now WB had the ability to buy cars, recondition them, and use them without paying daily rental fees.
At the beginning of the movie, the General was a faded orange with a hand-painted "01" on the doors, black steel wheels, standard front bumper, and no Confederate flag. Midway through the film, Cooter repairs the General after it's vandalized by Boss Hogg's hirelings. He repaints it a bright orange and adds the well-known trademarks American Racing "Vector" spoke "turbine" wheels, octagonal "01", black grille guard, Confederate flag on the roof, "Dixie" horn, and "General Lee" above the door window openings.
In an era of Political Correctness, the Confederate flag on the roof is made an object of conflict in the movie on two occasions. In the first occasion, the Dukes are stuck in an Atlanta traffic jam. During this time passing drivers make remarks towards them that alternate between cheering the South and condemning them as practicing racism, leaving the Duke boys puzzled; the last to comment says, "Nice roof, redneck!..
Mystified, Bo and Luke slide out of the windows so they could sit on the windowsill to look at the roof and, to their horror, discover the flag. In the second incident, the Dukes wind up with coaldust on their faces, giving them the appearance of driving around in blackface; they stop at a traffic light and some African American youths notice this and the Confederate flag on the General.
The youths come to the conclusion that the Dukes are making a racist statement and are about to give them a physical opinion of their roof graphic and facial appearance. Just as the youths were about to assault Bo and Luke, two black police officers show up and throw the Dukes in jail. The movie General not only flies and makes controlled landings, but also drifts with the aid of professional drifter Rhys Millen.
During jump scenes, some stunt cars were jumped under their own power by stunt drivers; others had their engines and transmissions removed.
The engineless Chargers were then launched without drivers by a gas-driven catapult similar in principle to those used on aircraft carriers. Approximately twenty-four to Chargers were used in the film. Every time the General Lee made one of hundreds of daredevil jumps, it soared in the air and landed rear-wheels first.
To avoid this from happening, the General Lee was loaded with extra mass by placing concrete ballast, sandbags, or weight boxes in the trunk. This meant that its heaviest side was now in the back, allowing the Charger to briefly fly in the precise way that the directors wanted it to. The General Lee is known for many iconic features, one of which is a horn that plays the Confederate song "Dixie. The General Lee is known for making breathtaking jumps, with its highest peak being 16ft high across a distance of 82ft before crashing down.
The jump broke records and ratings, landing its way into television history even if the car itself got totaled. The Charger that made this jump is also the only General Lee to appear in every episode of the show, with its archive footage being used in the opening credits.
0コメント