Matts General Lee replica

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Sat Jun 04, 05 8:21 pm

This is my child hood dream come true. Not everyones cup of tea but I love it, it's lots of fun and makes people smile where ever it goes.

As you can see from the photos it is a '68 model converted into a '69 but I have been sympathetic to the car in that I have kept all the '68 parts that I removed from it. These can easily be put back on and the tail panel although welded is a simple change over. The side marker light holes are filled in as were the later warner bros General Lees but they were not welded so this modification can also be reversed.

On the Dukes of Hazzard they used a '68 as a close up car on many episodes so I was happy to retain the original interior. This is dyed but can also be returned to original should the car be restored to original spec in the future.

There are still bits and pieces to do to complete the restoration of this car but for the moment I'm just having fun cruising around and going to shows.

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Sat Jun 04, 05 9:40 pm

saw your car at brookands, looks great, but i did wonder why you didnt buy a 69 to start with. (i cant talk mine is a 70 converted to 69, and the reason was not knowing how different they really were, doh!)

Amusingly, in that pic of the 4 generals at Brooklands, only one car was a 69 ! Two were '70s !

AllKiller · Post by **AllKiller** » Sat Jun 04, 05 9:57 pm

Truly Love That Car, Way Cool

AllKiller · Post by **AllKiller** » Sat Jun 04, 05 10:02 pm

And how good is Brooklands Banking for pictures.

AllKiller · Post by **AllKiller** » Sat Jun 04, 05 10:05 pm

Sorry Matt not trying to hijack you page

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Sun Jun 05, 05 12:46 pm

WillDatsun wrote:saw your car at brookands, looks great, but i did wonder why you didnt buy a 69 to start with. (i cant talk mine is a 70 converted to 69, and the reason was not knowing how different they really were, doh!)

Amusingly, in that pic of the 4 generals at Brooklands, only one car was a 69 ! Two were '70s !

I had done lots of research on the warner bros General Lees and they regularly used '68s converted to a '69 so I was looking for either year to clone into a General Lee but a '69 would have been preferable. The car was always going to be a post '82 General with the wide push bar and deleted side marker lights so the '68 side marker lights didn't matter.

But the main reason is the '68 was the first good running and solid car to come up and they were generally cheaper than the '69s. Also it was being shipped over for me and registered, MOT'd and taxed for a good price.

If I can ever afford another charger though I will get a '69 (most likely a basket case) clone that into a Lee and return my '68 to it's former glory.
Sounds mad but I really enjoy restoring these cars and I know I can do the next one better.
Unfortunately I need to work on the house first then Mel's Beetle and build a garage so I can restore cars undercover instead of in the garden.

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Sun Jun 05, 05 12:49 pm

AllKiller wrote:Sorry Matt not trying to hijack you page

No worries

It's a nice pic anyway.

AllKiller · Post by **AllKiller** » Sun Jun 05, 05 1:18 pm

They used to do the same with thw 71 Cuda's convs in Nash bridges
they found 71's rarer and harder to find than 70's so they used to convert 70's in to 71's had a guy scouring the country and converting them,grills and rear light panels...... Madness
Notice that they done away with the HEMI billboards very early on in the series, compared to the cost of the cars and converting them, the billboards must have been peanuts!

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Sun Jun 05, 05 1:28 pm

It is madness but I guess the TV companies do what's quickest for them.
Believe it or not I am one for originality that's why I kept the '68 parts for mine rather then sell them to help fund the project.

I recognise that these are quite rare cars and a future owner may want to restore the car to factory spec if I haven't already done so. I intend on keeping the car for many years to come but who knows what the future holds.

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Sun Jun 05, 05 2:47 pm

i read on another board that the worlds most valueble general is a 68 its been in every series and is still owned by warner bro,s

AllKiller · Post by **AllKiller** » Sun Jun 05, 05 6:43 pm

Im not one for getting rid of things if I remove them, I've got tons of stuff from my cars everywhere.

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Sun Jun 05, 05 7:21 pm

TwoLanes wrote:i read on another board that the worlds most valueble general is a 68 its been in every series and is still owned by warner bro,s

I suppose that would be the most valuable General then. That would fetch a fair bit on ebay. I'm not sure but that could be the one used in Forever Young before it was turned back into a General Lee for the reunion movies.