Dodge
Charger "General Lee" LEE 1 (The Dukes of Hazzard first car)

Why it matters

LEE 1 is the first General Lee, the orange Charger that defined The Dukes of Hazzard and set the template for the hundreds of cars that followed. It made the jump over a police car seen in the show's opening credits, a stunt that wrecked it. As the only surviving car from the very start of the series, it is the most important General Lee.

How rare is it?

Six separate kinds of rarity – never combined into one number.

Each kind of rarity is rated separately and never combined.

Production

Every figure says what it counts.

Independent counts (e.g. engine and colour) are never combined into a calculated figure. Surviving examples are never presented as original production.

History

LEE 1 was a base-model 1969 Charger with a 383 engine, originally copper with a vinyl top. It was one of three cars prepared for the first episodes and was filmed at Oxford College in Georgia in late 1978. Its jump over a Hazzard County patrol car became the show's opening-credit shot, but the landing caused severe frame damage and the car was retired.

The wreck spent about 25 years outdoors in a junkyard, still carrying cement ballast in the boot, before a fan-club president bought it for less than $1,000 and had it restored to its condition at the time of filming. It sold for $110,000 at Barrett-Jackson in Scottsdale in January 2012 and is now in a private collection.

Technical specifications

Engine

Transmission & drivetrain

Chassis, body & dimensions

Performance

“Not yet verified” means no source has been checked for that value yet. Nothing is estimated to fill a gap.

Sources

Each number links to the exact facts it supports.

1. 1
   The Dukes of Hazzard General Lee (Auto123) Level C

   • 3 General Lees prepared for the first episodes (LEE 1–3); over 300 Chargers followed during the seven-year run

   Accessed 2026-11-12
2. 2
   First General Lee sells for $110,000 Level C Fox News · 2012-01-23

   • sold for $110,000

   Accessed 2026-11-12
3. 3
   Masters winner Bubba Watson owns the original 'General Lee' Level C Jalopnik · 2012-04

   • A 383 engine

   Accessed 2026-11-12