You know we are in a period of serious inflation when it costs $9.9 million just to buy a car so that you can drive down to the fillin' station and buy a moon pie.
This is funny- the Gneral lee had multiples during shooting. If I'm not mistaken- there were in the range of 16 total cars that were painted up for the show.
Don't even ask how I know this - my friend still has 2 of the wrecked cars in his warehouse here in the Valley. He was one of the stunt drivers in the series.
I don't have any facts but what MORGANHUNTER2 says agrees with my understanding. If John Schneider was able to own a street legal example it would be worth a lot, but not 10 mill. I love muscle cars but many I cars are worth more to me (Ferrari, Masserati...)
<< <i>The most famous model of the most famous car in the world! This car was named by TV Land in 2004 as the most famous car in Television History. And this is the exact car that they gave that prestigious award to. [...]
under the hood are the autographs of all the living orginial cast members and crew that were on the TV show. >>
Sweet, it's not just any General Lee. It's pedigreed too.
In my opinion, there is no way the car sold for that much- even if it belonged to Bo Duke.
According to IMDB, "there were a total of 309 "General Lee" cars (some of them were 1968 and 1970 model Dodges) created and mostly destroyed during the series. About 20, in various states of disrepair, still exist."
On the opening credits, when the General Lee jumps from the dirt mound in town, you can see one of the front quarter panels completely buckle upon landing. There was a reason they always cut to Bo and Luke inside the cab after every landing.
The Tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. -Thomas Jefferson
<<It cracks me up that a famous actor is slumming on eBay. >>
That cracks me up too. I do believe it is really John S. selling stuff on eBay. I'm not sure the bidders are serious though... Thanks Russ for the link, that is a cool auction.
It will be interesting to see what this car legitimately goes for.
The 1966 Shelby Cobra Super Snake is a one of a kind and sold for $5.5 million in January. The nickel got pretty close to that. Ron Pratt was the buyer of the Super Snake and also purcahsed the GM Futureliner in 2006 for $4.32 million. It might be interesting to compare top car collections and coin collections in addition to the individual collectibles.
Did Cooter check it out to make sure it was in sound condition?
Always took candy from strangers Didn't wanna get me no trade Never want to be like papa Working for the boss every night and day --"Happy", by the Rolling Stones (1972)
so let's see, this car, which is acknowledged as being one of the most famous cars in the world, couldn't possibly be worth $10 million to some rich person who collects cars, hence, the auction is a fraudulent one. but the 1913 Lib Nickel is worth $4 million to most people who can't afford it??
<< <i>so let's see, this car, which is acknowledged as being one of the most famous cars in the world, couldn't possibly be worth $10 million to some rich person who collects cars, hence, the auction is a fraudulent one. but the 1913 Lib Nickel is worth $4 million to most people who can't afford it??
why is that?? >>
Imagine asking people what they thought about paying $5 million for a nickel on a car forum?
I saw this car. A Harley Davison dealer just outside Green Bay Wi has a back room with the most awesome collection of cars. This was one of his latest purchases when I was there.
I agree, the bidding on that auction was NOT restricted to pre-approved bidders. Any schmo could put in a bid on that auction whether they had the money/credit or not, whether they were serious or not. This will not stick and it will not sell.
Undubtedly friends of BOTH industries he is in were bidding too.
If you read the comments they had to delete a LOT of bids that brought it from 6 million down to 2 . They said they implimented a preapproval process before bidding to stop 'silliness' in bidding on his item. Of course Words are jusy that
I think the sale is legit. JAY Leno probably bought it
When I was deeply into Mopars in the 1990's and read many of the mags there were a number of stories on the General Lee cars. As I recall, the President of the GL club was in contact with the studio and had discovered that about 20 of the cars used in the show were still "alive" in some studio car lot. Most of these were in rough shape and many had nothing under the hood (318's, etc.) since they weren't used for closeups, etc. He negotiated a deal to get them all distributed to club members, etc. He was able to get his pick of the primo car of that group to keep. I don't think he even had to pay for it. It's possible Schneider got his car from one of this orig group dispersed around 10 years ago. There were a total of 320 cars used for the show. Documenting them to the show is the hard part. Restoring just any '69 Charger to GL status will not get you a million bucks.
In any case none of these were show condition cars or anything close. They were parked after heavy abuse on the show and left to rot. To my knowledge none could be pedigreed as the "key" car to the series. Though it is known there were some nicer cars used just for closeups (and those did not have performance engines as a rule).
At the time, the best of these cars might have been worth $20,000 or so. That was in the mid to late 1990's. Most were only worth half of that or less. Most were not driveable or readily restorable. But the key to their value was that they were from the show and could be fixed up. Today, one of these 20 or so cars could be worth in the $50-100K in unrestored range.
What sold on ebay is anyone's guess. The show never had a 750 hp car running around. It's possible that Schnieder or other cast members were given a "mint" General Lee during the show's run...but I don't recall any such thing. Autographs and other such stuff added to a built car not from the show is worth only what it took to restore the car (ie $20K-$100K) plus the novelty of the signatures ($10,000?). From what I've seen on the blogs Schneider's car was not restored very well. And the fact that it was not restored to it's orig show specs makes it worth even less to collectors (originality counts). And if it's not documented to the show itself, it's basically worth what any '69 Charger would be in similar condition ($50-75K?)
Considering that real 1971 Hemi Cuda Convertibles are bringing in the $2,000,000+ range (9 made), it is quite unlikely that any General Lee would be worth imo even 10% of that. But with all the money being printed these days, people can be as stupid as they want. For $200,000 I'm sure one could purchase one of the remaining 20 or so GL cars pedigreed to the original show (with studio documents), restore it to perfection, and purchase a new truck and trailer to tow it around to shows.
The above link details the restoration of what the GL club believes and has documented to be the VERY 1st General Lee used on the show. It appears in the opening credits of every show jumping over a Dodge Monaco. Current GL club owners restored it for $75,000. In my mind, this would be one of, if not the most valuable GL's out there. It was found in a junk yard in 2000. The rear of the car was totally unsalvageable and was replaced with mostly original replacment parts. One could go as far to say as if at least 75% of the car is not the original car, what do you have??? But a very neat ariticle on how detailed true car collectors have gone to document and restore memorable cars. I don't know all the details of the car that just "sold" on ebay but it would be hard pressed to beat out this very first general documented all the way back to BEFORE the show (ie the car had copper paint and was a commuter car used for college in Socal). And this car seems buyable for under $250,000 should it go up for sale. But who knows, as the very first GL, and quite unique, I could see a pair of "must have it" buyers paying well over $250,000 for it.
One interesting thing about the GTO when being compared to coins, is that many imitations were built on Ferrari chassis and using Ferrari parts, making them sort of like altered date/mintmark coins.
Here's a current General Lee on ebay - one of the 19 cars from the show that remain. $150,000 and all yours. Description states that 2 of those 19 cars were kept by Warner Brothers.
Assuming it was an authentic Dukes series car, Schneider has seriously devalued its true collector status by modifying it. Now if some sheik thinks differently, that's his business. Any Duke car would be a sight on the Saudi oil sands.
One interesting thing about the GTO when being compared to coins, is that many imitations were built on Ferrari chassis and using Ferrari parts, making them sort of like altered date/mintmark coins. >>
Correct. There are probably 10x as many "built" GTO's as there are originals. Kinda like 1916-D dimes
When I worked in La La land in the 1981-1986 time period, I was travelling the downtown LA freeways one day and ended up driving right next to the "Ghostbusters" ambulance. I did a double take and thought how cool it would be to drive that car down the road with the lights and sirens on and with the "Who you gonna call,........Ghostbusters" theme song playing loud on the tape player with the windows down.
I wonder how much the "Ghostbusters" ambulance would sell for today at auction?
The funny thing is, this particular car that just sold was not one of the almost 300 Chargers used during the filming of the TV series. This was a car John personally bought/ cloned in 1997, which was about a dozen years after the show ended. This particular car was never even in the show , it has just been used for more recent "Dukes' promo work . That's what makes the 9.9 Million such a stupid number. You can buy one of the real ones , a camera car or whatever, restored back to condition as used in the series, for probably 100 k , and have a paperwork pedigree with it. Johns car has a ton of things wrong and incorrect on it, and could have never been good enough for upclose camera work , inside or out. I have personally owned 23 Dodge Chargers (68-70 models) so I know these second generation Chargers pretty well. The one that just sold was about a $ 15,000 car (because it needs a restoration , it's pretty rough,and it's not an R/T ) with a $ 15,000 motor, and maybe a $ 15,000 pedigree of being a post-series promotional car owned by one of the cars stars.
Lewis
(Former president of the Tennessee Valley Mopar Club)
Coxe
Posts: 11,139 ✭
Comments
CG
Don't even ask how I know this - my friend still has 2 of the wrecked cars in his warehouse here in the Valley. He was one of the stunt drivers in the series.
Russ, NCNE
<< <i>The most famous model of the most famous car in the world! This car was named by TV Land in 2004 as the most famous car in Television History. And this is the exact car that they gave that prestigious award to. [...]
under the hood are the autographs of all the living orginial cast members and crew that were on the TV show. >>
Sweet, it's not just any General Lee. It's pedigreed too.
Russ, NCNE
Famous actor and country-western singer.
In my opinion, there is no way the car sold for that much- even if it belonged to Bo Duke.
According to IMDB, "there were a total of 309 "General Lee" cars (some of them were 1968 and 1970 model Dodges) created and mostly destroyed during the series. About 20, in various states of disrepair, still exist."
On the opening credits, when the General Lee jumps from the dirt mound in town, you can see one of the front quarter panels completely buckle upon landing. There was a reason they always cut to Bo and Luke inside the cab after every landing.
That cracks me up too. I do believe it is really John S. selling stuff on eBay. I'm not sure the bidders are serious though... Thanks Russ for the link, that is a cool auction.
The 1966 Shelby Cobra Super Snake is a one of a kind and sold for $5.5 million in January. The nickel got pretty close to that. Ron Pratt was the buyer of the Super Snake and also purcahsed the GM Futureliner in 2006 for $4.32 million. It might be interesting to compare top car collections and coin collections in addition to the individual collectibles.
Didn't wanna get me no trade
Never want to be like papa
Working for the boss every night and day
--"Happy", by the Rolling Stones (1972)
why is that??
<< <i>so let's see, this car, which is acknowledged as being one of the most famous cars in the world, couldn't possibly be worth $10 million to some rich person who collects cars, hence, the auction is a fraudulent one. but the 1913 Lib Nickel is worth $4 million to most people who can't afford it??
why is that?? >>
Imagine asking people what they thought about paying $5 million for a nickel on a car forum?
<< <i>Famous car from 'Dukes of Hazzard'sells for 9.9 mln dlrs >>
That's probably the most money old Bo has ever made.
-David
If you read the comments they had to delete a LOT of bids that brought it from 6 million down to 2 . They said they
implimented a preapproval process before bidding to stop 'silliness' in bidding on his item. Of course Words are jusy that
I think the sale is legit. JAY Leno probably bought it
In any case none of these were show condition cars or anything close. They were parked after heavy abuse on the show and left to rot. To my knowledge none could be pedigreed as the "key" car to the series. Though it is known there were some nicer cars used just for closeups (and those did not have performance engines as a rule).
At the time, the best of these cars might have been worth $20,000 or so. That was in the mid to late 1990's. Most were only worth half of that or less. Most were not driveable or readily restorable. But the key to their value was that they were from the show and could be fixed up. Today, one of these 20 or so cars could be worth in the $50-100K in unrestored range.
What sold on ebay is anyone's guess. The show never had a 750 hp car running around. It's possible that Schnieder or other cast members were given a "mint" General Lee during the show's run...but I don't recall any such thing. Autographs and other such stuff added to a built car not from the show is worth only what it took to restore the car (ie $20K-$100K)
plus the novelty of the signatures ($10,000?). From what I've seen on the blogs Schneider's car was not restored very well. And the fact that it was not restored to it's orig show specs makes it worth even less to collectors (originality counts). And if it's not documented to the show itself, it's basically worth what any '69 Charger would be in similar condition ($50-75K?)
Considering that real 1971 Hemi Cuda Convertibles are bringing in the $2,000,000+ range (9 made), it is quite unlikely that any General Lee would be worth imo even 10% of that. But with all the money being printed these days, people can be as stupid as they want. For $200,000 I'm sure one could purchase one of the remaining 20 or so GL cars pedigreed to the original show (with studio documents), restore it to perfection, and purchase a new truck and trailer to tow it around to shows.
General Lee - the VERY FIRST one - 001
The above link details the restoration of what the GL club believes and has documented to be the VERY 1st General Lee used on the show. It appears in the opening credits of every show jumping over a Dodge Monaco. Current GL club owners restored it for $75,000. In my mind, this would be one of, if not the most valuable GL's out there. It was found in a junk yard in 2000. The rear of the car was totally unsalvageable and was replaced with mostly original replacment parts. One could go as far to say as if at least 75% of the car is not the original car, what do you have??? But a very neat ariticle on how detailed true car collectors have gone to document and restore memorable cars. I don't know all the details of the car that just "sold" on ebay but it would be hard pressed to beat out this very first general documented all the way back to BEFORE the show (ie the car had copper paint and was a commuter car used for college in Socal). And this car seems buyable for under $250,000 should it go up for sale. But who knows, as the very first GL, and quite unique, I could see a pair of "must have it" buyers paying well over $250,000 for it.
roadrunner
<< <i>Now if it were a Ferrari GTO >>
One interesting thing about the GTO when being compared to coins, is that many imitations were built on Ferrari chassis and using Ferrari parts, making them sort of like altered date/mintmark coins.
Here's a current General Lee on ebay - one of the 19 cars from the show that remain. $150,000 and all yours. Description states that 2 of those 19 cars were kept by Warner Brothers.
Assuming it was an authentic Dukes series car, Schneider has seriously devalued its true collector status by modifying it.
Now if some sheik thinks differently, that's his business.
Any Duke car would be a sight on the Saudi oil sands.
I'd prefer the Lib Nickel...or even a 94-s dime.
roadrunner
<< <i>Ebay sale GL - $150,000
Here's a current General Lee on ebay - one of the 19 cars from the show that remain. >>
Somehow, this just seems wrong, very wrong:
<< <i>
<< <i>Ebay sale GL - $150,000
Here's a current General Lee on ebay - one of the 19 cars from the show that remain. >>
Somehow, this just seems wrong, very wrong:
Lincoln set Colorless Set
<< <i>
<< <i>Now if it were a Ferrari GTO >>
One interesting thing about the GTO when being compared to coins, is that many imitations were built on Ferrari chassis and using Ferrari parts, making them sort of like altered date/mintmark coins. >>
Correct. There are probably 10x as many "built" GTO's as there are originals. Kinda like 1916-D dimes
I wonder how much the "Ghostbusters" ambulance would sell for today at auction?
during the filming of the TV series. This was a car John personally bought/ cloned in 1997, which was about a dozen
years after the show ended. This particular car was never even in the show , it has just been used for
more recent "Dukes' promo work . That's what makes the 9.9 Million such a stupid number.
You can buy one of the real ones , a camera car or whatever, restored back to condition as used in the series, for probably
100 k , and have a paperwork pedigree with it. Johns car has a ton of things wrong and incorrect on it, and could have never
been good enough for upclose camera work , inside or out.
I have personally owned 23 Dodge Chargers (68-70 models) so I know these second generation Chargers pretty well.
The one that just sold was about a $ 15,000 car (because it needs a restoration , it's pretty rough,and it's not an R/T ) with a $ 15,000 motor, and maybe a $ 15,000 pedigree of being a post-series promotional car owned by one of the cars stars.
Lewis
(Former president of the Tennessee Valley Mopar Club)
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
Russ, NCNE
<< <i>Dukes of Hazzard car buyer doesn't pay.
Russ, NCNE >>
Second chance offer?
Russ, NCNE
Russ, NCNE