1997 Dukes of Hazzard Reunion: "GL 3"During the Reunion Movie, this car was titled as "GL 3". This car is a 1969 383 Charger. GL 3 would have been considered the Stunt car. This car was rough around the edges and bondo’ed up, but it still played some very significant roles in each movie. I would consider this car the underdog of the movie. GL 2 and GL 3 were always hard to pick out on the movie. They both had the same decals, interiors, steering wheels, roll bars… except one thing. The crew forgot to install the two front chrome bumperettes on this car. So now, as long as you had a clear shot of the front of the car, and you knew what decals were on the doors, you could pick out the cars with ease.Many rumors spread about the car in the barn scene at the very beginning of the movie; “Romeo’s Car”. The biggest rumor of the whole movie was about this scene. Many people liked to believe “this is exactly how the original TV series General Lee (WGL 2, GL 1, GL#002) was found on the WB lot… so the producers left it in as-found condition and used it for the shot”. In fact, Romeo’s (the rooster) car was indeed GL 3. This can clearly be seen with the more narrow “01” and the missing bumperettes. So GL 3 is the very first General Lee seen since the end of the TV show in 1985. GL 3 is also the car seen being hauled by Cooter’s tow truck. When the car is in the garage and they pop the hood to find a hen and a bunch of feathers, that is this car too. This is when you can see the engine bay details. When the General Lee is getting rammed by the black Ford on the back roads, that is also this car. The whole passenger side of the car was repaired either during or after the '97 movie.
GL 3 Characteristics:
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2000 Hazzard in Hollywood: "GL 3"After the 1997 Reunion the car was repaired from being rammed in the side by the Ford. The car was also prepared for only one scene in the 2000 Reunion movie. Many interior components were removed and a full cage was installed in the car. Only the bare necessities were left. The cage consisted of a double loop behind the driver and an "X" brace that went from the roof, through the rear seat, and into the trunk compartment. A single bar went down either side of the right and left A-pillars and down to the floor. A single horizontal bar attached the A-pillar bars and ran right in front of the dash frame. From the dash horizontal bar, a chain looped under the steering column to support it. Massive plates were welded to the floor to support the roll cage. Gussets, made of 1/4 inch steel, were welded at intersection of the bars. The stunt driver's safety harness was attached to the base of the "X" brace with chains.Craig Baxley Jr., a young a young stunt driver, preformed the jump in December 1999 in a residential area on the streets of LA. He was only 24 years old at the time. This would be his first jump on film. He said the car barely ran and came down hard on the rear of the car. According to him, the car flew 127ft.
GL 3 Characteristics:
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2005 Dukes of Hazzard Movie: "GL#004"For the 2005 movie this car's new title was "GL#004". #004 was first listed on the picture car lists as the "Old Pre-Buck" car, which was to serve as a mic-rig car in filming. When it arrived in Baton Rouge, #004 was a complete General Lee which had obviously been in storage at Warner Brother for quite a while. With battered old General Lee paint, #004 revealed a lot of pale yellow paint in it's jambs and through many scratches, which was definitely it's original color. Rusted and bent, #004 was cut up in early November 2004 and painted in Pre-Cooter colors very soon after it arrived. This initial cutting left little more than a passenger compartment with a pair of crumpled quarter panels, neither of which were in good shape. Presumably, this hulk had ben lying out in the weather somewhere in California in one of WB's lots. #004 was moved into the transportation unit's shop after receiving a Pre-Cooter paint scheme and mounted on a mig-rig vehicle. It was used in some filming in November, but it was seldom away from the lot, so this leftover Reunion General Lee hadn't seen much use prior to the Christmas break.#004 was seriously cut up and repainted in Post-Cooter paint right after Christmas. The dutchman panel and both quarter panels were cut off, in pieces, opening up the whole rear of the car. A brand new interior was installed, making this one look fantastic inside, but it was nothing more than a passenger's compartment with a roof and a pair of doors. It was shuffled around the lot quite a bit in January, still not doing much film work. The door jambs on this car still had a VIN decal in place and still wearing it's original pale yellow paint. #004 was seen on the first week of February marked for shipment to California on Feb 4. Later that day, it left Baton Rouge. A number of pieces cut off GL#004 were turned over to Randy Holden by John Orlebeck and Tim Woods on Feb 16, 2005. Randy then donated many of the parts to Scott Romine in March 2005 to be auctioned off as a fundraiser.
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