When the decision was made that a big screen version of "The Dukes of Hazzard" would be be made, Warner Brothers already had three cars left over from the last production that was filmed in 1999, "Dukes of Hazzard: Hazzard in Hollywood" (2000). The three cars were sent over to JEM FX to be prepped for the movie. A transportation coordinator was hired to start purchasing the other cars that would be needed to make the movie. Many of the cars were about 50-85% completed by the time everything was packed up and sent down to Baton Rouge, LA... where the production lot would be.
In mid-October 2004 the truck loads of cars began to show up in Baton Rouge, and so did the crew members. Work picked up right where they left off on California. The first time I visited the production lot was on Oct. 30, 2004. The Chargers that they already had were already painted in the familiar orange that was to be expected. At this point, no cars were painted in the faded Pre-cooter style. Some had full decals, some had no decals. The wheels on the cars varied from 10-spoke Vectors, to 15-spoke turbines, and even factory Magnum wheels. The interiors were not complete either.
HOW I GOT MY FOOT IN THE DOOR:
As soon as the crew showed up in Baton Rouge, they began scouting for cars and parts. It wasn't long before they heard about Travis Foster, who lived in the nearby city of Gonzales, LA. Travis had many Charger project cars, parts cars, and quite the stash of Charger parts. They quickly got in touch with him because it was only a matter of time before they would need some hard to find parts. On Thursday Oct 28, Travis called me and said that he was contacted about possibly helping work on the cars. He told him that he would not be able to but knew someone who may be interested. That is when he called me. I had to work on the following day but after work, I went straight down to Travis' house so that we could show up, first thing Saturday morning (Oct. 30, 2004). With a fresh resume in hand, Travis and I showed up at the production lot at 7am and I sat down with John Feinblatt who was the Picture Car Coordinator for the movie. I was willing to take some time off from my normal job in order to help build cars for the movie. Mr. Feinblatt was concerned that I lived 2hrs away but I told him that I would live with Travis if I had to, or stay at a motel, or whatever. He really appreciated me coming in to interview but told me that they decided on the day before to sub out a lot of the work to local body shops, and that they no longer needed to hire extra help. He asked if I would be interested in being an extra for the movie but I declined and told him that I was mostly interested in the cars and stunts. He then gave me an open invitation to come back any time and watch them "jump and crash cars" whenever I wanted. That was all I needed! So from then on, Travis and I would frequently stop in. Travis had the joy of visiting that production lot more than I did because he was local and was always delivering parts for the Chargers.
I also wanted to mention; while I was sitting at John Feinblatt's desk in the Transportation office (which was only a three room mobile trailer), I noticed a very familiar site. Sitting on the window sill behind his desk was one of the red/white/blue CNH 320 license plates from the 2000 Reunion in Hazzard movie. I asked about it and he didn't really know much about it. He just said "Yeah, that was on one of the WB TV cars." This is when I first realized that former Reunion cars were being used on the movie.
GL#004 was first used as a General Lee in the 1997 Dukes of Hazzard: "Reunion in Hazzard" movie. It was then re-used in the 2000 "Hazzard in Hollywood" movie. During the two Reunion movies, this car was known as "GL 2".
In the Fall of 2004 GL#004, and a few other cars, were transported to J.E.M. FX in California where work began. Since the car had excessive damage to the body from being jumped on the 2000 Reunion movie, the decision was made for the body to be converted to a "Buck", which is only a section of the car. Bucks are used as close up camera cars and sometimes they are build to performs special tasks. GL#004 had the drivetrain removed and massive framing was built under the car, where heavy duty casters were attached so the whole body could be rolled around.
In Oct. 2004, GL#004 arrived to Baton Rouge, LA. In early Nov. '04 the car had the rear wheel well openings cut for clearance for the larger tires on the Go-Mobile, half of the fenders and hood were cut off, and the whole car was painted in the Pre-Cooter paint scheme. The body was mounted on the mic-rig. It was used for filming some interior scenes in late November.
The car sat on the lot without much use prior to the Christmas break. After the break, the car was cut even more where the rear clip was removed... leaving the car as not much more than an interior compartment. The body was repainted in the Post-Cooter paint scheme and a brand new tan interior was installed. The car was then listed as a Post Reverse Buck. I'm guessing that it was used for some interior scenes where they drove in reverse.
The car was not used more throughout Jan. '05 and on Feb. 4, 2005 GL#004 was shipped back to California to be used for Green Stage work.
Randy Holden, from Mopar Collector's Guide, received many parts that were cut off GL#004. Randy donated many of these parts to Scott Romine to be auctioned off for charity at a Duke of Hazzard event.
In 2008, GL#004 along with many other cars and pallets full of parts were auctioned off at the GAC Auctions in California. John Orlebeck purchased the car from the auction. Not long after, he sold the car to Scott Velvet in Branson, MO. The car was listed numerous times on eBay and it did not sell. I (Justin Cornette) purchased the car from Scott Velvet in Oct. 2009 and brought it home to Jackson, MS.
I started collecting parts for the car, I have have tried to track down as many of the original parts as possible. I will be restoring the car back to the way it appeared in the 1997 Reunion movie.
In the fall of 2004 GL#008 arrived to the JEM FX shop to begin it's transformation into a General Lee. Just like GL#007, GL#008 showed up to the shop as a nice black 1970 Dodge Charger. It was questioned that the two cars may have been used in one of the Fast and Furious movies, but there is no further evidence of this.
While at the shop in California, everything forward of the firewall was cut off the car. The car would be used as a "Post-Cooter" Tilt Buck. Through most of the filming in Louisiana, the car sat on the production without seeing much use at all. In Dec 2004, the FX Department built a tilting mechanism for the shell. The body sat on top of the rig with hydraulics and air tanks installed. The whole setup was moved over to the transportation department where the crew all new Legendary tan interior and General Lee graphics.
On Jan. 18, 2005, the FX crew removed GL#007 from the Go-Mobile and mounted GL#008 in it's place. With the tilting mechanism mounted under the body, this car was built for one purpose only. When you see Bo and Luke inside the car while it is tilted up on two wheels, that is this car. Cameras were mounted in front of the car to film the faces of Bo and Luke during this scene.
On the first week of February, the car was removed from the Go-Mobile and was being prepped for shipment back to California and was shipped out on Feb. 4, 2005.
After the 2007 movie, the car was sent to auction along with many other cars and parts from the movies. The car was purchased and then quickly sold to a car collector in Branson, MO. That buyer kept the car for a short time before selling it to a gentleman in Vermont.
In Vermont, the car finally received the proper "semi-restoration" by it's new owner. The owner located a 1970 Plymouth to donate the front structure for the General Lee. The front clip was properly grafted in by a local professional body shop.
Authentic screen used General Lee parts from the movie were located for the built. The damage was left in the body panels so that it looked "movie-correct" and not to look like an every day run-of-the-mill General Lee. The car is now powered by a small block with an automatic transmission.
GL#010 started life as a 440 powered 1968 Charger R/T. The car was pretty solid to start. Throughout the entire 2005 movie, it was a Post-Cooter stunt car. During most of the production, the car was away from the production lot and was on location. #010 was probably the third most heavily used Charger in the movie and was a favorite backup car for driver Rhys Millen.
In early Dec. 2004 GL#010 smashed through two Atlanta police cars during the chase scene downtown. This stunt did the most amount of damage to the car throughout the whole movie. Both fenders, the hood, grille, bumper, and valance panel were smashed beyond repair. Both quarter panels were also heavily damaged as the General Lee drove through the cars. Somehow, neither door was heavily damaged. The car was sent to a local body shop to have the front unibody structure pulled back into alignment and the quarters repaired. After the shop was finished, they sent the car back to the transportation lot where a freshly painted front cap was installed. After this stunt, every car received the dented and painted on grey scratches.
In mid-January 2005, The crew applied large black simulated tire marks down each side of the car and #010 was the only car in the bunch to receive this treatment.
Jan. 22, 2005 was the last day of filming 2nd unit at State Capital Dragway (for the race scene). Rhys car of choice for the day was GL#005, but GL#010 was on location as the back up car. While preparing for the day's shoot, the transportation crew used gasoline-soaked rags to remove all of the simulated tire marks down the sided of the car. They ended up using #005 for all of the filming on that particular day.
Jan. 26, 2005: GL#010 was parked alongside a fence at the transportation lot, with many other vehicles that were presumed "finished" being used for the production.
Feb. 11, 2005: GL#010 was freshly washed and was in line to be loaded up on the transporter, and make the long trip back to California. John Feinblatt drove the car around to the transporter and left it running. MCG editor, Randy Holden, recalls 'The car sounded great and had a slightly choppy idle'. This was a strong car throughout the whole production... and on the last days in Louisiana, this car had quite a bit of life left in it.
"The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning" 2007 Movie
For the 2007 move, the decision was made for GL#010 to be used as nothing more than a prop. This was one of the two cars built for the car that was pulled from the pond. GL#017 was the other car. GL#010 was the only car to be dipped in the pond though. The transportation crew de-trimmed the car entirely of every salvageable part. This car received all banged up and dented body panels from other cars. The 1970 hood and trunk lid were removed from the wrecked and vandalized GL#022 and installed on #010. Both quarter panels were beat up and had simulated rust holes drilled into them. There was some sort of fitting attached to these holes and clear plastic hoses were attached to them. All of the plastic hoses were run to two 2.5 gallon buckets which sat in the trunk compartment. The only thing I can imagine is, when the car was pulled from the water, they wanted the pond water to pour out of the car, through the quarter panels.
The engine and transmission were pulled from the car and the rear axle housing was drained and then sealed off to prevent any oil seepage into the pond. The carpet was left in the car but the rest of the interior was removed. The seats were stripped down to the frames and only had burlap linings and jute paddingFrom what we have been told, the body only sat under water for a few minutes before the cameras started rolling and the it was pulled from the pond.
Life Before The Dukes of Hazzard:
Before this car came to be known as "GL#127", for the 2005 Dukes movie, it was just a regular run-of-the-mill 1970 Dodge Charger that was originally Hemi Orange with a white vinyl top and white interior. It is believed that this car was originally from Oklahoma. It was a fairly base model XP car with a 318ci engine and an automatic transmission on the column. Early in the car's life, someone applied large "Dodge" decals on the quarters, which were very popular back in the 70's and early 80's. In the late 90's, a gentleman named JR Barton (from Kansas) was in the process of building a Daytona clone. He needed a pair of '70 fenders and hood for his project. He purchased this orange '70 Charger in 1999 just for parts. At the time, a decent Charger could be had fairly cheap... and only being a 318 car, they were pretty plentiful. The car was parked many years earlier and the tired 318 had not run in years... so it was a perfect candidate.
After a few parts were picked off the car, it was pushed off to the side. JR and his long time friend Lee Holland got the idea that they wanted to build a "stunt" General Lee out of the '70 parts car. Lee had his own Charger project at the time...but it was a 1968 model. Lee pulled a 318i out of his car in favor of a 440. So the 318 was pulled out of the '70, and they dropped in the 318 from the '68. A pair of '69 fenders were bolted on as well as a 68/69 hood. Lee donated a spare '68 grille to the stunt car project, and JR had a spare '69 center I-piece trim. The rest of the '69 simulated center grille section was made out of the Oklahoma license plate that was removed from the car, which was folded up and painted black.
They went to a local junk yard and found a 1978 Ford Bronco with a push bar that looked close enough to resemble a General Lee push bar. Inside the same truck was a roll bar. They bought the roll bar and push bar and figured they could make them work on their project. The dimensions of the roll bar had to be tweaked to fit inside the Charger body.
Most of the work on the car took place throughout September 2000. They would work on the car in their spare time and would chip away until it was finally finished. Since most of the car was still the original Hemi Orange, it did not take much paint to cover the whole car. JR taped off the flag letters, and 01 and sprayed them with Krylon.
In Oct. 2000, the car was finished. JR and Lee knew of a local railroad crossing that was perfect for jumping a car. On the first attempt, the car had an ignition problem and did not reach the speed they would have liked. They took the car back home and installed a GM one-wire alternator and HEI distributor that was converted to work on the 318. This allowed the ignition system to be less hassle. The second jump attempt was much better. JR hit the railroad crossing at about 65mph and sent the Charger flying through the air about 10ft high and a distance of around 30ft. They had so much fun, they decided to try it again. On the third attempt, the torque converter was damaged and once again, the Charger was out of commission.
Dukes of Hazzard Movie - 2005:
Fast-forward to late-2004. GL#127 was one of the two cars that were temporarily sold/leased to Warner Brothers by JR Barton in Kansas. It was already built as a General Lee replica when it arrived, but would receive a fresh paint job and decals.
The car arrived to Baton Rouge, LA on the second week of Dec. 2004. Work began on on the car pretty quick after it's arrival. The drive train and most of the interior was removed and the body got a quick paint job. By Dec 15, 2004, the car was in the Special FX shop where the crew welded in framing. The car already had a roll bar in the car when it arrived, but the crew cut away some of the bars and installed framing around the floor which allowed them to adjust the car's weight for the jump.
On Dec. 16, 2004 #127 was moved back over to the Transportation shop where they installed radio controlled drum brakes all the way around. The car was pushed outside where the fenders were beat in. Since the fenders had so much body filler in them, the body filler over the side marker cracked and fell out. A quick repair was made and the simulated scratches were painted on and the decals were installed
Dec. 18, 2004 was the day for the biggest jump on the Dukes movie. The crew hauled two General Lees to I-110 on the northbound side in Baton Rouge, LA. GL#015 was launched first and the tail end sprung up as it flew through the air. The car landed on it's nose and swerved hard to the right into the guardrail. So GL#127 was placed on the ramp and some adjustments were made. The car was launched onto the interstate and it flew well over 120ft. The car performed the longest jump during the movie. It anded right behind the Evo camera car and swerved hard to the left and hit the center concrete divider. This is the car that you see for the whole scene on the movie. The car was hauled back to the production lot.
After the car returned to the Production lot, a few parts were robbed off the car to keep other General Lees up and going. The missing parts were replaced and on Jan. 27, 2005 JR (with his son) and Lee were on the lot to pick up the car along with GL#126.
Since it's use on the movie...
In the spring of 2013 Mr. Barton sold the car to a gentleman who sent the car directly to Welby's Collision Center in Springfield, OR... home of Graveyard Carz. The car was fully disassembled and a complete restoration was done to bring the car back to show-quality condition. You can see most of the restoration take place on past episodes of Graveyard Carz (on the Velocity Channel). There were a few things were done different to the car... by request of the new owner... but the car turned out great!