John Schneider’s General Lee Stunt Car Crushed During Hurricane Ida
Say it isn’t so! One of the classic cars used in The Dukes of Hazzard series was damaged during Hurricane Ida. John Schneider had one General Lee on his property in Louisiana when Ida came roaring through. A tree crushed General Lee in an almost picture-perfect scenario. What happened to this famous car since filming, and what other vehicles were involved in the show?
Who owns the General Lee car now?
In the Dukes of Hazzard series, John Schneider drove a myriad of vehicles that looked like the General Lee. According to an interview with the Daily Mail, there were over 300 replicas used in the movie for various parts. 329, to be specific. Technically, the real General Lee was a 1969 Dodge Charger. The one that Schneider kept on his property was a Ford Crown Victoria modified to look like the famous Charger. The Crown Vic General Lee was one of the original stunt cars used throughout the series.
Schneider has his own studio now, John Schneider Studios, and uses the car for stunts. It has been involved in filming for a few movies. When not in use, it sat outside by the entrance to the property. Sometime during Hurricane Ida, a tree came down on the roof of the historic movie car.
Since production used so many vehicles in the movie, there were a bunch of General Lee’s floating around at one point. That doesn’t make it any less sad, though. The good news is the orange car doesn’t seem totalled.
What are the future plans for General Lee?
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Schneider is pretty active on social media with fans. In the comments of some of his posts, he is adamant he will fix General Lee right up. The property had heavy flooding right after Hurricane Ida, but it didn’t seem to be damaged by the water. The car in the tree is just decoration.
“Oh I can bang out a few dents. That car is me. I am going to straighten it out a little bit and leave it that way. Because I believe that people who have no scars shouldn’t be trusted.”
John Schneider | The Daily Mail
Since the hurricane, Schneider and his wife have been out helping the people in the area. While General Lee was left a bit damaged, much of the community was devastated. Schneider has been working on fundraisers and other initiatives to help the area.
The Dukes of Hazzard was an original that used tons of cars
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While films like the Fast and Furious are famous these days, The Dukes of Hazzard was one of the originals. In comparison, the Fast & Furious franchises have destroyed about 2,000 cars and one submarine to the 300 car versions of General Lee used. The television show had 147 episodes and featured a bunch of vehicles that people grew to love. In addition to the 1969 Dodge Charger, production used a Plymouth Road Runner, Jeep CJ-7, and a Cadillac Coupe de Ville.
A complete list of all the vehicles used can be found on the Internet Movie Cars Database, including various Dodge Chargers in varying conditions. It isn’t surprising that production needed so many cars for such a long-running show, but the sheer number of vehicles featured is enormous. In addition to the Charger, there were tons of other Dodge cars.
From a 1978 Dodge Aspen, a few different Coronets, a D-200, D-300, and even some Dodge Dart and Dart Sports made it into production. And yet, even with so many cars available, General Lee was the star of the show. It sounds like Schneider has gotten right to work after Hurricane Ida, so it likely won’t be long until the pair is back on the road.
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The post John Schneider’s General Lee Stunt Car Crushed During Hurricane Ida appeared first on MotorBiscuit.
