Iconic ‘Dukes of Hazzard’ car involved in Missouri crash
TANEY COUNTY, Mo. (KOLR) – A historic vehicle was involved in a single-vehicle crash in Taney County, Missouri, on Sunday afternoon.
According to a Facebook post from the Western Taney County Fire Protection District, the car was a General Lee, the iconic Dodge Charger used in the television show “The Dukes of Hazzard.”
Two people in the vehicle were evaluated and transported by the Taney County Ambulance District.
Hollister Police Chief Preston Schmidt told the Springfield News-Leader that, based on an investigation, the driver of the General Lee was believed to have been traveling too fast for conditions, lost control of the vehicle, and found themselves in the ditch. No citations have been issued as of Monday.
There were 309 General Lees built for the original “Dukes of Hazzard” show, and another 26 for an early-2000s remake. Only a few survived filming, according to the News-Leader, with 17 being sold to private owners in 1991 by Warner Brothers.
One of those, belonging to John Schneider, who played Bo in the television series, was destroyed by Hurricane Ida in 2021, Insider reports. In a photo posted to Facebook, Schneider shows the vehicle smashed by a tree.
Warner Bros. stopped producing General Lee toy cars in 2015 amid rising calls for the removal of Confederate symbols (the car is named after Civil War General Robert E. Lee) across the country, The Hollywood Reporter writes. Reruns were also reportedly removed from TV Land.
It’s unclear how many genuine General Lee vehicles remain, and how bad the damages were to the car involved in Sunday’s crash.