1969-dodge-charger-general-lee-02

This is an official vehicle that was made for the 2005 motion picture “The Dukes of Hazzard,” and has the Certificate of Authenticity. One of three 1969 Dodge Chargers released by Warner Bros. Dash autographed by many of the cast members. Comes with an original certificate of title from Warner Bros. feature films. Also has a copy of the 2005 movie.

Includes photos of the vehicle in front of the studio, along with photos with the cast members in this car. This truly is a special car and offers a chance to own a piece of motion-picture history.

SCM Analysis

Detailing

Vehicle:1969 Dodge Charger “General Lee”
Years Produced:1969
Number Produced:89,200 total. 309 General Lees were built for the original TV show. At least 26 were built for the 2005 remake.
Original List Price:$3,839
SCM Valuation:$30k–$45k (Charger R/T), $55k–$70k (this car)
Tune Up Cost:$150
Distributor Caps:$7
Chassis Number Location:Tag on top of dash
Engine Number Location:Pad on block next to oil pan
Website:www.hazzardnet.com
Alternatives:KITT Trans Am, Bandit 1 Trans Am, GMC A-Team van
Investment Grade:B

This 1969 Dodge Charger, Lot 784, sold for $60,500, including buyer’s premium, at Barrett-Jackson’s 2013 Palm Beach sale.

TV and movie cars have a tendency of flowing into the public consciousness — think of cars such as Doc Brown’s DeLorean time machine, the A-Team van, KITT from “Knight Rider,” Bandit 1, and the Batmobile. They’re all instantly recognizable and continually copied by adoring fans who saw them as the four-wheeled stars of the shows. As a result, originals that saw screen time tend to be worth a lot of money at auction.

Among the screen cars that have rooted themselves in the daydreams of dyed-in-the-wool gearheads, the General Lee ranks high — it’s still easily the most famous muscle car around, even nearly three decades after the Duke boys jumped their last prime-time creek.

Good ol’ boys

Over the course of six seasons and 145 episodes, the Dukes managed to fly, slide, and crash their way into national notoriety. Bo and Luke were the epitome of good-natured rebels, and, as Mr. Waylon Jennings sings in the opening credits, were just “makin’ their way the only way they know how.” Fortunately for us, that was “just a little bit more than the law would allow.”

With Waylon’s melodic voice introducing each show, cousin Daisy Duke’s mesmerizing cutoffs attracting boys like moths to a flame, and appearances by the likes of Tammy Wynette, Cale Yarborough, Roy Orbison, Buck Owens, and the Oakridge Boys, “The Dukes of Hazzard” was early ’80s television entertainment at its finest. Toss a genuine, ramp-jumping hot rod in the mix, and it’s not difficult to understand why boys and young men of the era were so enamored with the hillbilly hijinks.

Adding to the show’s allure was the fact that the General Lee was not only the fastest car in Hazzard County, but, being a ’69 Dodge Charger, was also a real-deal muscle car. The power slides and burnouts were performed by actual cars with actual drivers. There were no high-budget effects to hide behind.

The General was aired out on a regular basis, much to the delight of fans, and the hundreds of ’68 and ’69 Charger carcasses left behind attest to the brutality of the on-screen stunts — more than one General was written off per episode, at least on average. The car, like the Dukes themselves, came to represent the fearless, hard-working, dependable everyman with humble roots and a heart of gold.

Fame and fortune

Although the last episode of “The Dukes of Hazzard” aired almost 30 years ago, the show’s influence has not been lost on the men and women who tuned in as children.

Bubba Watson, the PGA Tour’s 2012 Masters Champion, is a perfect example. In 2012, Bubba made his way to Barrett-Jackson’s annual Scottsdale sale with the specific intention of driving home in the car of his boyhood dreams. He then plunked down $121,000 in prize money for the car that was jumped in the show’s opening sequence, Lee 1 (Lot 1291).

Only a few years earlier, the virtuosic Kenny Wayne Shepherd commissioned the build of a custom General after shredding his way to the top of the Billboard charts. Dubbed “Xtreme Lee” and featuring a fuel-injected 440, Kenny’s Lee, which he still owns, made its debut at the 2004 SEMA show and was featured on an episode of the hit TLC series “Rides.”

Dukes fever went through the roof when John Schneider’s (Bo Duke) personal General Lee was sold at Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale sale in 2008 for a staggering $495,000 (Lot 1321). What makes that price all the more astounding is that the car was never actually featured in the original series. While it had a professionally prepped Hemi and a host of performance and suspension upgrades, Schneider built the car to feature in the Dukes reunion movie. The car was then signed by much of the original cast, and went on to be featured in Car and Driver magazine.

A little over a year later and after some of the hype (and the collector-car market) had died down, Schneider’s car was resold at Barrett-Jackson’s Las Vegas sale for $258,500 (Lot 691).

Valuing a remake

Considering all that, why did our feature car sell for such a comparably low price?

Let’s be honest. The 2005 “Dukes of Hazzard” movie, for which this car was built, was awful. Granted, the original series wasn’t a shining moment in the history of scriptwriting, but the film was even worse. Bo and Luke were played by two knuckleheads, and the plot was as exposed as Daisy’s derriere. While a lot of the visual elements of the TV series were there, the original spirit of the Dukes just plain wasn’t.

Sure, this remade General looked fantastic once Cooter got around to fixing it up in the film, but by that point in the script, the movie was simply too far gone to be saved. Although the sales literature notes the inclusion of an original copy of the movie, that’s not really a bonus — I’d be willing to bet the owner just wanted it out of his house.

While this car is a General Lee, it will always be a General Lee from the movie and not the TV series. And that makes a big difference in cool factor, and alternatively, in value.

Silver screen to silver dollars

Maybe the new owner was just after a nice Charger, and the addition of the General Lee persona was icing on the cake. The price paid here really wasn’t that far off the $45k you’d probably spend for a quality, well-built 1969 Charger R/T. This car had a 383 under the hood, which didn’t really help in the value department, but the final number achieved at Barrett-Jackson is only above the current market level for a street-spec Charger by about 30%.

Think about it this way: If you were hunting for a solid General and really wanted to drive one home, an additional 15% upswing over a comparably equipped Charger would be pretty reasonable. Add to that another 10% to 15% for the Hollywood effect and the numbers start to make sense.

At $258k, the last price paid for Schneider’s car seems stratospheric. But it, along with the $120k Lee 1 sale, sets the bar for General Lee values at auction. In that light, our $60k “face” or display car that was also used in the Dukes franchise and never put in harm’s way seems to make much more sense.

At the end of the day, this is a real-deal General you can slide around corners, and it comes with a free pass to holler “Yeehaw!” whenever so inclined. All things considered, I think the buyer got the better end of the deal. I’d even bet the farm on it.

(Introductory description courtesy of Barrett-Jackson.)