Jim Suva and The Suva Files Blog

Rockford files Firebird in Hemmings Classic Cars

My friend Bill Nawrot and I have stories about our Pontiacs in the February issue of Hemmings Classic Car magazine.





Here is the link to the article: https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/pontiac-people/amp?fbclid=IwAR3J-FkzTi4FnmmeYDNwnZ1ewdHCyOFAodzdDqfyJskE1Tc4_v2kcYbUP6g

45 Years of The Rockford Files

45 Years of The Rockford Files

Written by Jim Suva

Black Pawn Press recently released Ed Robertson’s new book, 45 Years of The Rockford Files. This is the 3rd edition of his Rockford Files book. I have always said that the previous edition, 30 Years of The Rockford Files, is my bible on the show. This new book gave me the opportunity to talk with Ed to find out how he started out as a writer and host of his radio show, TV Confidential.

According to Ed’s mom, he learned how to read and write when he was five years old by devouring TV Guide cover to cover. He would make up his own shows and then make up loglines. (A logline is a sentence-long summary or description of a movie/TV show.) In school Ed became an English major; many of his teachers recognized his talent and encouraged him to write. Within a few years after graduation, Ed published his first work.

In 1993, Ed published his first book, The Fugitive Recaptured, a behind-the-scenes history of The Fugitive, the classic TV series starring David Janssen. The success of that book led to the publication of Ed’s two books on the career of James Garner, Maverick: Legend of the West (originally released in 1994) and This is Jim Rockford: The Rockford Files (first released in 1995, for the 20^th anniversary of the show). In 2005, Ed updated his Rockford book as a second edition, called Thirty Years of The Rockford Files, and again as a third edition in 2020, under the title 45 Years of The Rockford Files. Both 45 Years of The Rockford Files and the revised third edition of Maverick: Legend of the West are available through Black Pawn Press.

 

Ed Robertson is also host of TV Confidential, a radio show about television featuring interviews with the stars, writers, and producers of some of America’s most popular TV shows, including many of the shows that originally aired when we were growing up. Ed did a two-hour tribute to James Garner in 2014, while his previous guests have included Rockford writer/producer Juanita Bartlett plus many actors who appeared as guest stars on The Rockford Files. Here is a link: https://www.televisionconfidential.com/.

Ed not only admired James Garner, he actually met and talked with him. Ed shares some of his remembrances of Jim for the first time in 45 Years of The Rockford Files, including the thrill he felt watching Jim work one day during a visit to the set of First Monday. The revised third edition also includes about 60 pages of never before published information about Rockford, including a production memo from Stephen J. Cannell and Roy Huggins from 1975 that really sets the stage for the infamous “Glen Larson incident.” There’s also 20 new interviews, 6 new appendices, some new photographs, and a beautifully written foreword by Gigi Garner, James Garner’s daughter. The 3rd edition still has the wonderful drawings by Darin James Bristow, plus more information on the 1990s Rockford movies.

The reason Ed updated this book was to include more information about Rockford and to pay tribute to those who have passed away in recent years, such as James Garner, Stephen J. Cannell, Jack Garner, Luis Delgado, Roy Huggins, and Adele Mara, just to name a few.

James Garner passed away on July 19^th 2014, and per his request, he had no memorial service. His daughter Gigi started the James Garner Animal Rescue Fund in his honor. It is a 501c3 charity with its donations going to help animals all around the world. Twenty-five percent of proceeds from the sale of 45 Years of The Rockford Files will be going to JGARF. For more information about this charity go to www.jgarf.org.

As a bonus, if you purchase 45 Years of The Rockford Files directly from Black Pawn Press, you will receive an MP3 recording of a conversation between Ed and Roy Huggins from February 1995. On this recording, Roy not only reads his original 26-page first-draft story “The Rockford Files” (which he later developed into the script for the Rockford pilot), but provides a running commentary about certain aspects of his original story that were later developed for the Rockford series. To order directly from Black Pawn Press, go to Rockford45.com.

Photo below from the collection of Ed Robertson.Ed with Roy Huggins.

If you would like an autographed edition of 45 Years of The Rockford Files, you can order that directly from Ed himself at https://edrobertson.com/rockford-45. (Ed told me that if you order the book directly from him, you will receive the bonus recording as well as a signed copy.)

In my opinion, this is a “must-have” book for any Rockford Files fan. I consider it the most detailed and best book available on The Rockford Files. Also, it is a nice way to honor James Garner by helping support the James Garner Animal Rescue Fund.

For more information about the award-winning author, go to https://edrobertson.com/

I would like to personally thank Ed Robertson for all the time and energy that he has put into all his books. He is keeping some truly wonderful TV shows alive for years to come.

James Garner's Personnal Rockford Files Firebird on Jay Leno's Garage

From the Pontiac-Oakland International Car Club magazine, the Smoke Signals.  Here is the story about James Garner's Rockford Files Firebird on Jay Leno's Garage.  Guest and Rockford fan Mike Rowe takes Jim's Firebird out for a ride in Malibu. Click on thumbnails below to see larger version.

I even got a credit on the show.

I really like the picture of the Firebird at the Paradise Cove Pier.

Special thank you to the current owner of this Rockford Firebird as well Steve Reich, Jay Leno and the Crew of Jay Leno's Garage.

Rockford Files Firebird on Jay Leno's Garage

Be sure to check out next week’s episode of Jay Leno’s Garage! Mike Rowe and Jay take James Garner’s Rockford Files Firebird out for a spin! Wednesday July 8th on CNBC, 10 pm Eastern.

 

https://www.cnbc.com/video/2020/07/02/former-dirty-jobs-host-mike-rowe-and-jay-leno-admire-the-1978-pontiac-firebird.html?fbclid=IwAR2yX9wNUwoYwgr339su8H1ewLO0Zj4RtK0_TrZYgouEjs-rr4X7OoWH868

1977 Pontiac Firebird Tribute to Rockford Files

 

 

Terminator 3 Hearse

The Terminator 3 Hearse

Reported by Jim Suva

One of the most memorably roles for Arnold Schwarzenegger is that of the Terminator. He has starred in the first three Terminator movies as well as the latest Terminator: Dark Fate. This is a story about the Cadillac Hearse used in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, which was released by Warner Brothers in 2003. The Hearse was featured in a big action chase scene, filmed in Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, California.

Terminator Hearse comes to Volo

One of the longest standing movie car displays at the Volo Auto Museum is the Terminator 3 Hearse. At the time the movie came out, Brian Grams, Director of the Volo Auto Museum was buying a lot of cars from Cinema Vehicle Services. Cinema Vehicle Services is the largest supplier of TV/Movie vehicles in the Los Angeles area. An early 1980’s hearse used in the action-packed graveyard chase scene of Terminator 3 was one of the cars offered in a package deal. At that time Volo was very involved with buying and selling movie cars. At the same time Arnold Schwarzenegger was governor of California and his last film was Terminator 3. The Volo Museum needed to keep this one for their collection.

Investigating the Terminator Hearse

According to Brian, it was a cool car with a lot of “behind the scenes”, “how was it done” items left in the car. Such as a washer bottle filled with a smoke fluid with lines running into the exhaust instead of the wipers, which would allow smoke to bellow out of the exhaust pipes. This gave the illusion of a car in trouble. The hearse also had several bullet holes, many of which were rigged to explode, but were never detonated, showing how they gave the car the illusion of being shot up. Holes were strategically placed and punched into the car, then filled with a plastic explosive and painted over for a seemingly smooth finish. Behind the sheet metal was an interstate of wires leading to each explosive. The explosives were detonated on command giving the illusion of being shot up. Volo built a life-sized Arnold Schwarzenegger replica, shown carrying a coffin to enhance the display and depicting the scene. The museum had a customer approach them, wishing to buy the car. They were only willing to sell if it could be replaced. Volo had reached out to CVS who had an additional hearse they were willing to part with, and described it as being a nicer car than their current one. Volo made the deal selling their hearse and replacing it with the new and improved one.

Volo Museum gets a surprise

After a long journey from California the enclosed semi from CVS arrived, the door began to lower and Brian’s stomach dropped. The hearse was not better than the one they had just sold, in fact it was incredibly worse! The roof was smashed in, the glass was broken, there were holes cut into it, the vinyl top was destroyed. It was missing hubcaps, just a mess of a car. In the movie the evil Terminator, played by Kristanna Loken, is chasing the hearse, jumps on and crushes the roof and sawed into it trying to get in. It was screen used, but not the car they wanted for display. Brian called CVS upset after receiving such a misrepresented car. They apologized and quickly discovered their mistake of giving the transporter the wrong car! That was an immediate relief for Brian! Because the car was in rough shape and the cost to transport a car from California is so expensive, they allowed Volo to keep the car for the cost of transportation. That way, CVS would not have to pay to have the car sent back. Volo sold the collapsed car and CVS sent Volo the correct hearse.

The Volo Terminator 3 Hearse

The 1981 Terminator 3 Cadillac Hearse is still on display at the museum after approximately 20 years. This car is nicer than the original one they had purchased. It has a 368 V8 engine with a 140 horsepower. That must be enough power to get anyone to their finally rest place! But it was not very fast. It was also equipped with the bullet holes and explosives, but it also had a hand brake installed to lock up the rear wheels for power slides. Inside the hearse Volo also found two cardboard sheets of paper with the car hand drawn with a layout of the bullet holes, each numbered. Brian assumes this is for the firing sequence, a bullet hole build sheet so to speak.

The Volo Museum Terminator Hearse display is one of their best. It is a must see at their museum.

                                    www.volocars.com

Rockford Files Replica Firebird used in Sextuplets Movie

Rockford Files Replica Firebird from the Netflix movie Sextuplets, is for sale on Facebook.

‎Jorge Casillas‎ to The Street Machinery Sales And Service Sunday Swap-A-Rama

January 20 at 8:24 PM

Replica “The Rockford Files” Gold exterior, Camel Tan vinyl interior, Pontiac V8 engine, automatic transmission. Esprit-Trans Am being the very rare Gold. Vehicle was used as the hero picture vehicle for a film here in Atlanta. Almost perfect condition, please feel free to call/message.

Serious inquires only please don’t waste my time.

Thank You. 

There were 3 Firebird replicated for the filming.  Two are still owned by Jorge.  The Hero Firebird below, which he is selling for $17,500.00, or excepting any reasonable offer, is a 1977.

 

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The second Stunt Firebird has an LS swapped engine, upgraded suspension and a fuel cell.  It does need an interior.  It is a 1978 model year. Selling price $18,500.00, or excepting any reasonable offer.  Below are a few pictures of the Stunt Firebird.

Unfortunately, I do not have information on the third Firebird that was used in the movie.  A number of people have expressed interest in owning a replica of the Rockford Firebird.  Here is your chance.  It is already painted in the correct color and needs very little work to get it totally correct.

Disclaimer:  I have not seen these cars in person and I am just reporting on them.

 

 

Fast and Furious, 1970 Dodge Charger

 

The Fast and the Furious 1970 Dodge Charger

Reporting by Jim Suva

In 2001, Universal Studio’s released a movie, The Fast and the Furious. It starred Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto and Paul Walker as Brian O’Conner. That movie started a franchise of nine movies to date, and is Universal’s largest franchise. Another star of the movie was a 1970 black Dodge Charger, which belonged to Vin Diesel’s character and is one of the most recognizable cars from this franchise.

This story is about one of the screen used 1970 Dodge Chargers and the history of the connection between The Fast and the Furious franchise and the Volo Auto Museum.

 

Volo Museum history with The Fast and the Furious

Over the years Volo Auto Museum has had numerous cars from The Fast and the Furious franchise, they estimate close to 50-60 cars. The first one Volo purchased was the Red RX7 that Vin Diesel drove in the first movie. Through a friend who dabbled in movie cars, the Director of the Volo Auto Museum, Brian Grams, was able to purchase a green Eclipse, driven by Paul Walker, and Vin Diesel’s stunt Charger, that was rolled over at the end of the first movie. Both purchases were from Cinema Vehicle Services, which is one of the largest suppliers of TV/Movie vehicles in Los Angeles. [On a side note, the rolled over stunt Charger looked a little bit different when they purchased it, because after the The Fast and the Furious movie, it had been used in a junkyard scene in the movie Herbie Fully Loaded.]

Brian received a call from someone who had a relationship with Universal Studios. He had heard of Volo’s reputation buying movie cars, and he had an entire lot of Fast and Furious cars from movies 1, 2 and 3 that he wanted to sell. The deal included approximately 20 cars, multiples of the 70 Dodge Challenger and the Yenko 1969 Chevy, a Camaro from 2 Fast 2 Furious, many of the import cars from the 3^rd movie, three Monte Carlos and two Mustangs, one of which had a Skyline performance engine in it! Many of the cars were actually redressed and used in all the movies, cars from first movie were repainted and used in movies 2 and 3, and so on. But the favorite of the bunch was Vin Diesel’s hero Charger from the original The Fast and the Furious movie.

 

History of the screen used 1970 Dodge Chargers

There were a total of three Chargers built for the first movie plus a buck. A buck is a partial build vehicle, which is attached to another vehicle. The buck is driven by someone else so that the actors can be filmed doing their lines of dialog, with camera and sound equipment attached. Contrary to what rumors say, none of the cars actually had a Hemi engine. The garage scene that showed the blown Hemi, was just set in the car for that scene. The Charger never ran with that engine in it. Of the three cars, two were built for stunt and one for close ups. Volo already had one of the stunt cars, still in its rolled over condition, and now had the hero car. The other stunt car was kept by Cinema Vehicle Services and fully restored. During the restoration they did install a blown Hemi engine in the car. The Buck was also still at Cinema Vehicles at that time. The Hero Charger was kept by Universal and was displayed outside at Universal Studios in CA. Sadly, weather had taken its toll on the car.

 

The Hero Charger itself was actually built from a 1969 Charger and was made to look like a 1970. Since it was the hero car, there were no real modifications, no crash bracing under the hood, the interior roll bar was strictly cosmetic. The other two stunt cars had a heavier duty roll bar, the roll over cars main hoop was actually doubled up, and the difference can be spotted in the movie. It was a 318 car, and either Cinema Vehicle Services or someone prior, installed the hi performance 440 engine. The blower was a fake blower bolted to a tray that was built into the hood and a “belt guard” was built to hide the lack of a pulley and fan belt. [Side note: The original Fast and Furious movie was low budget and was originally titled Red Line.]

 

Fast and Furious Hero Charger history with Volo Auto Museum

Volo Auto Museum purchased the hero 1970 Charger and had the car sent to Custom Classics in Island Lake Illinois. There the car was stripped to bare metal and given a fresh show quality paint job. Volo also added a very low plastic bucket seat in passenger side of the car. Everything else was retained for originality, including the bolted-on blower for the engine. Volo’s Charger was the only one of the three to have a big block performance built 440 Magnum engine. This engine is still in the car today. Since Volo had this hero car they ended up selling the rolled over stunt car. [Side note: The person who bought the Volo’s stunt car eventually also obtained the buck from Cinema Vehicle Services.]

The museum displayed the Charger for a quite a long period of time and eventually sold it to someone who was going to open up a car museum in Nevada. Shortly after Volo sold the car, the buyer decided not to open up the car museum, and sold their collection off. Volo bought the Charger back. Then Volo sold it again this time to a customer in Norway. At that time Volo’s business focus was still prioritizing car sales over the museum. As their attendance built they decided to put more focus on the museum as an attraction, instead of solely focusing on sales. As Brian says, “We were keeping more of the movie cars, and only selling them to refine and better the collection”. Looking back at all the cars Volo had bought and sold prior to this point, there were many he wished we could have back, but The Fast and the Furious Charger which was #1 on that list, but knowing it went to Norway, he knew the chances of getting it back were very slim.

 

Volo finds a replacement Charger and then gets a surprise.

One day Brian received an email from a picture car provider. A picture car provider is a company that supplies vehicles to Movie/TV productions. This provider had a black 69 Charger that was used in the TV series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The car was used as the Ghost Rider’s vehicle. It was black with a blower and was very similar to The Fast and the Furious Charger. They purchased this car because it was as close as they thought they would ever get to replacing the Fast and Furious Charger.

1969 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D Charger

Only a few short weeks after buying the Ghost Rider Charger, Brian received an email from someone who was brokering the 1970 The Fast and the Furious Charger for the owner in Norway. He had a buyer, but wanted to confirm the car’s pedigree with Brian. Brian confirmed the pedigree and mentioned if the seller didn’t buy it, Volo would be interested. The next day, the seller said he would like to sell it back to Volo, and Brian excitedly agreed! Volo had the car shipped back from Norway. When it arrived at Volo, 10 years after it left, Brian was very pleased to see it in the same condition as when they had sold it. It even still bore their Volo Museum license plate. The owner from Norway had basically displayed the car and had not driven it.

   

Now that the car is back and Volo was given their third chance of owning it, they are not going to let it go! It’s almost as if it was destined to be owned by the Volo Auto Museum.

https://www.volocars.com/the-attraction

Ford GT40 from Ford v Ferrari

Ford GT40 from Ford v Ferrari

Reporting by Jim Suva

The movie Ford v Ferrari opened in November, 2019. It stars Matt Damon as Carroll Shelby and Christian Bale as Ken Miles. The movie tells the story of how Ford beat Ferrari in the 1966 “24 Hours of Le Mans” road race in France.

This story is about one of the screen-used Ford GT40s from the movie, and how Volo Auto Museum got ownership of it.

Opportunity Comes Calling

Brian Grams, Museum Director at Volo, was in his office chatting with his father, Greg Grams, Founder and CEO of Volo Auto Museum and Auto Sales. Greg had seen Ford v Ferrari the night before and was commenting about how great it was, and how Brian had to go and see it. Ironically, at that exact moment Brian received a text message from one of his contacts who works in the Entertainment industry. He was asking if Volo Auto Museum wanted any cars from the movie. Brian knew they would not be bargain autos by any means, and he figured there would be little interest on Volo’s behalf, considering they did not have any space to display an additional movie car at that moment. But he still brought it up to his father, whose eyes lit up with excitement. Brian thinks the adrenaline from seeing the movie was still racing in his veins, because Greg was definitely interested.

The offer was pretty wide open as far as the pick of the litter. They had their choice of cars, from the Ken Miles family’s woody wagon, to partially assembled Ford Falcons from the Ford factory scene, to Corvettes, Porches, Ferraris and of course, the GT40s. Not having seen the movie, Brian gravitated to the Ferraris, whereas his dad loved both the Ferraris and GT40s. They knew there was a limited window on this opportunity, because the cars were released that day, and were offered up to museums and collectors. They knew that the best ones would be the ones to disappear first. Brian and Greg narrowed their choices down to the #21 Ferrari or the Green #95 GT40. Greg suggested Brian and his brother Jay, go to see the movie. This would help them to decide which would be the right car. They could then make a more informed decision the following morning. Jay went to see the movie, but Brian was unable to go.

The next morning Jay said, “Get the GT before its gone! The whole movie is about the GT40!” Brian tried calling his father, but could not reach him. He called his mother and asked her to get in touch with Greg, but she had no luck either. Not wanting to miss out on the car, Brian decided to pull the trigger on the green #95 GT40. The purchase was done sight-unseen, and with little to no information about the car. He knew it had an LS3 engine and he had seen a few photos of the car, sandwiched between other cars, and it showed a lot of scrapes and scratches. Brian at this point had no idea how the car was built. Was it built quickly, just so that it would look good on film, like so many Movie/TV cars? Was the car built with quality in mind? What was he going to get for the premium price he was about to pay? He also knew in the back of his mind, that no matter the car’s condition, it would be timeless. Ford v Ferrari is the first true car movie to have been released for many years. Even the Fast and Furious franchise, that features a lot of cars is not a true car lovers movie. So here he had a real car from a true car movie.

After making the commitment to purchase the car, Greg reached out to Brian (the adrenaline of the movie having since left his veins), and decided that Volo did not need the car, did not have the space, and felt the funds could be better used elsewhere. When Brian told him he already bought the car, Greg was angry that Brian did not wait to discuss the purchase with him, but Brian also thinks he was secretly pretty happy and excited.

Inspection and History of Volo’s Ford GT40

The deal was completed and the car picked up. Upon delivery Brian noticed that the many scrapes and scratches that were on the car were actually studio effects! They were painted on, including dirt and brake dust, to give the car that race-track-used look. There was no actual damage to the car! He was happy to learn the car was not the typical movie car that was cheaply built just to look good on screen. It was an incredible build.

This is where Brian’s research began, which wasn’t too difficult, because the movie’s recent release. The first thing he did was a Google search, and picked bits and pieces out of articles. During that process he learned that two companies, Superformance and Race Car Replicas had supplied a majority of the cars to the film. Brian reached out to both Superformance and RCR. RCR replied that it was one of the cars they had built. They supplied the production company with over 100 cars, from the Ferraris to Porsches, GT40s, etc. All the cars used the same driveline per request by the production company. All the cars were powered by LS3, for ease of repairs and maintenance on the set. This was much easier than having a variety of different drivelines. There were a total of twelve GT40s and RCR supplied 10 of them. Superformance supplied the other two.

The cars all featured an RCR custom built aluminum chassis, designed after the original GT40 chassis. The body is made of fiberglass from a mold that was taken off an original GT40. It is a very close replica to an original GT40, unlike other replicas that have mis-proportioned bodies and use existing chassis, from a Fiero, for example. The RCR GT40 has the same chassis design, but is a few hundred pounds lighter because of its use of aluminum instead of steel. It handles and performs much like an original GT40. RCR sent the cars to the production company complete, with exception of one thing, the paint. All the cars were sent in bare gel coat, ready to be painted by the production company.

Another discovery Brian made was a few sheets of paper in the car, which depicted the Daytona race scene. This was an outline so the drivers knew where they needed to be positioned and when. It was essentially the race choreography. There was also a GPS transponder likely to be used by production to monitor everyone’s position and speed. One last thing he found in the car was a tag labeled Paul Dallenbach. With a Google search he discovered that Paul is a professional stunt and race car driver. Paul is the one who drove this GT40 in the movie. Paul said the car handled great, like a true race car, with the exception of the tires, which were chosen for looks instead of performance. They had a hard time sticking. Paul drove the car on average 130 mph for filming. Ironically, the #95 car that Paul was driving was in the 24 Hours of Daytona race scene, where car #95 had come in 2^nd place. In real life, Paul actually raced in the 24 Hours of Daytona race, and placed 2^nd in his racing career!

 

In the movie there are far more than twelve GT40s shown. Since the production company had only twelve cars, how was that possible? The cars were recycled and painted to look like different cars for different scenes. Through a friend, Brian was able to get a few images from the production “key list” of cars. He learned before Volo’s car was the green #95, it was the red #3 Dan Gurney car, that was used in the Le Mans race scene, as well as a yellow #8 car that was used in one of the pit scenes of the Le Mans race.

 

In addition, the key list showed a scene where the green #95 car hits a 66 Mustang, in which the Mustang ends up exploding. Unfortunately this scene must have ended up on the cutting room floor.

 

One last discovery was the paint scheme of the #95 car, the real Moody and Holman #95 car that raced the 24 hours of Daytona was white with some green accents. So why was this car not painted the same? The production company did this intentionally, to help the audience more easily identify cars that would otherwise look too similar and could be confusing to movie goers.

Final comment

I went to see this movie and I can’t wait for it to come out in digital format. In my opinion, it is one of the best racing movies ever made. If you get a chance, go see the movie and then come to the Volo Auto Museum to see this piece of movie history. You will not be disappointed!

 

https://www.volocars.com/the-attraction

Last Built General Lee in Georgia

Last Built General Lee in Georgia

Reporting by Jim Suva

In 1978, Warner Brothers Studios had a new TV show, The Dukes of Hazzard. It starred John Schneider as Bo Duke and Tom Wopat as Luke Duke. They were cousins who lived with another cousin, Daisy Duke, played by Catherine Bach. They lived in corrupt Hazzard County and were always in trouble with the law for doing the right thing. Another star of the show was their 1969 Dodge Charger they called the General Lee. The show ran for seven seasons, from 1979 to 1985.

 

The Start of Filming

Warner Brothers in California built three General Lees and sent them to Georgia for filming in November of 1978. The first five episodes of Dukes of Hazzard were filmed in Georgia, from November to December of that year. Don Schisler was hired as the transportation coordinator for the show and H&H Auto Body, owned by Henry Holman, was the shop that kept the cars in good working order. During that time, they rebuilt the three original General Lees over and over, to the point that they needed to acquire more cars. They built and used two more Chargers during filming for the first five episodes, for a total of five General Lees. After the first five episodes, production went on Christmas break; filming was to continue in January. However, during the Christmas break, Warner Brothers decided it would be better to film in California instead of Georgia, and production never returned to Georgia. The Studio had any usable vehicles in Georgia sent to California. This included three General Lees. The rest of Season 1 and all additional seasons were filmed in California, where it has been said anywhere from 250 – 350 General Lees were used. Of the five General Lees from the Georgia filming, Lee #1 and Lee #2 were scrapped, Lees #3, #4 and #5 were sent to California, used, and eventually scrapped. None of the five screen used Georgia cars remains today.

 

Volo’s History with The General Lee (#6)

In 2007 Volo Museum Director, Brian Grams, ran across a General Lee for sale. The description was vague, but it appeared to be documented with Warner Brothers paperwork. Volo promoted a “real General Lee” which sparked heated debate in the Dukes of Hazzard Fan community. They were told the car was never used, nor was it built by Warner Brothers. Volo was told it was bought as a parts car and was turned into a replica General Lee much later. At that time, Brian was no expert on the Dukes of Hazzard, so he had to rely on what he was told. But Brian also asked a lot of questions!

 

Investigation into Volo’s General Lee (#6)

The former president of the now defunct General Lee Fan Club, Travis Bell, visited the museum, suspicious of the validity of the car. He looked the car over and was able to confirm with Volo that their car has the main hoop section of the roll bar in it from Lee #1. Travis has the additional pieces of the roll bar from Lee #1 and was able to match them up, using the cuts and some of the chain links. Travis also supplied Volo with a few pictures of the car in pre-General Lee condition, taken at H&H Auto Body. This is where Brian’s investigation truly began.

   

Looking at the photos of the car in its original state, it was obvious to him that the car was much too nice to have been a parts car. Brian questioned if they had a car that nice sitting there, then why would they not use it instead of rebuilding the wrecked ones? One thing the photos did prove is that the car was still in its original state after filming had finished in Georgia. Lee #1 was repainted blue and used in the final scene filmed. Lee #1 was sitting next to Volo’s car (gold) in its final state before going to the scrap yard. Brian knew it was not screen used, but still questioned its pedigree based on the fact it was too nice to be a parts car.

He contacted a man by the name of Jon Holland. Jon had written a book called Roads Back to Early Hazzard. He was and still is the devil’s advocate about this car, saying that it is a Warner Brothers owned parts car that was bought by Don Schisler and turned into a General Lee replica years after production. Don gave the car to his son, John Schisler. Jon Holland has talked down the car since day one, which has been one of the greatest resources Brian could have had, because whenever Jon said something about the car, it gave Brian a new direction. For example, Jon said the car was painted several years after production left Georgia. This gave Brian the clue to finding out when the car was painted. If it was painted several years later, then it is a replica, plain and simple. However, if it was painted before Don Schisler bought the car (Dec 1, 1979) then it is a real General Lee and not a replica.

Thus began the quest: when was the car painted orange? No one seemed to know. Jon Holland’s theory is that the car was gold when production left Georgia, as seen in the photos. Brian’s debate on that is that just because the film production went on break, that didn’t mean business at H&H stopped. They had wrecked cars to dispose of, and not knowing at the time that production wouldn’t return, they would have been preparing for the return of production, which was supposed to happen in only a few weeks. Filming stopped, production did not.

The first thing that was proven, thanks to Travis Bell, was that the roll bar was in fact from Lee #1. The next thing discovered was that it was not Larry West who did the graphics on the car. Brian had posted the car to the Volo Auto Museum’s Facebook page which showed a man painting the graphics on it, with the caption “Larry West painting the graphics on our General Lee”. Soon after, someone named Ronnie Edwards left a comment “That’s not Larry West, that’s me”. Brian reached out to Ronnie and asked some questions. Ronnie was hired by Don Schisler to do graphic painting. Ronnie said Don hired him to do two General Lees. Lee #6 was for the show, it was a gold car with a 360 engine, that is Volo’s car. Ronnie said “It’s the real deal and the holy grail of all General Lees out there”. Ronnie could not remember when he did the graphics on the car, but he did supply Brian with more photos of the car when it was at his shop, having the graphics painted. There was an interesting item in one photo, the roof of a General Lee can be seen leaning against his building. This was the roof from Lee #2. They cut it off so Ronnie could copy the graphics.

 

Lee #1 and Lee #2 went to the scrap yard on Christmas Eve 1978, which raises the thought in Brian’s mind, if the car was built years later and Lee #1 and #2 went to the scrap yard, what is the probability that they would have, without reason, cut out the roll bar from Lee #1 and the roof of Lee #2, and just have them sitting around for years. Common sense says, they cut those parts off because they had immediate use, which tells Brian the photos were taken closer to the filming dates than the claimed built dates. Common sense isn’t proof though. Brian studied the pictures hard, looking to see if he could find something with a date, like a registration sticker, and then he spotted it. In the background of the General Lee is a sign “Bill Hutson for Sheriff”. Bill Hutson became Sheriff in 1980, his campaign was in 1979. The election was the 2^nd Tuesday in November of 1979. Ordinance is a campaign sign must be down no later than 10 days after the election. This was a populated town and not a rural area, the ordinance would likely have been enforced. That means the picture was taken no later than November 23^rd 1979, and there the car is, as a General Lee. That means the car was turned into a General Lee sometime between December 24^th 1978 and November 23^rd 1979. Don didn’t buy the car until December 1^st of that year, after it was already a General Lee. This also proves Jon’s “Years later” comment was incorrect. Being fair, there could have been a verbal agreement between Warner Brothers and Don and that’s just the paperwork date. So technically, Don could have built it into a replica, just earlier than thought.

Travis Bell, who confirmed the roll bar, had come across more photos of Volo’s General Lee, this time at H&H Auto Body with H&H employee Danny Hobbs behind the wheel of the car. Those photos place the car at H&H proving H&H were the ones to paint the car. So, Brian questioned how he could get in touch with any of the original builders. Ronnie Edwards was able to give him contact info for Don Schisler’s son, John, who was a helping hand during production, as well as the one the car was supposedly built for. Don had passed away several years prior to Brian’s investigations, so he was unable to speak with him. When Brian asked John about the car and brought up the story about the replica built from a parts car for him, he chuckled and said, “There is nothing further from the truth”. They had a discussion, which he later put in writing, that it was the last car they had built for the show. He said he remembered it well because it was the last one built. He said it is the only surviving Georgia era General Lee.

Brian was able to find Henry Holman, owner of H&H Auto Body and speak to him. Henry said, in writing, it was the last car they had built for the show, Lee #6. He also said he remembered it well, because he was the one who found it. Henry was making a beer run to the gas station, when a woman pulled up in the car, he asked her if she wanted to sell it, put her in touch with Don and they made a deal. He said when it was announced that production was moving to California there were four General Lees on set, three of them went to California, and the fourth was given to Don Schisler, to settle money owned to him by Warner brothers. Warner Brothers gave Don Schisler all the unusable wrecked and scrapped cars as partial payment. This showed the car as being built prior to mid-January 1979, and built for Warner Brothers with intent to be used, NOT as a replica for Don’s son.

Later Brian was able to track down John Blanchette, who purchased the car from Don Schisler in November of 1980. According to him, Don told him the car was screen used for close up shots and was sold to him as the real deal. John, amazingly, kept and still had possession of all his records of the car from work he had done to it, old photos, letter correspondents and best of all the original ad he purchased it from. The ad that Don Schisler himself posted. The ad clearly reads “General Lee as owned and built by Warner Bro. for Dukes of Hazzard series, not a replica, only privately-owned General Lee in existence.” The phone number in the ad corresponds to Don Schisler and is actually still is registered to his family.

 

 

Brian was later able to contact one other person, Danny Hobbs, the man pictured in the car at H&H Auto Body. He too confirmed that they “Got it ready, but didn’t use it” in the Georgia episodes.

 

Explaining the False Stories

As a summary, the false “known history” of the car was that it was originally bought by Warner Brothers, used as a parts car only, and was sold to Don Schisler, who later restored the car into a replica for his son John. Actually, this was the 6^th General Lee ever built, as well as the last General Lee ever prepared by the Georgia crew for screen use. It is also the only surviving Georgia-era General Lee. If filming didn’t move to California, this car would have been used and would not exist today. It is the first General Lee ever to be released to the public. The Volo ad has cool factor of being the first advertisement ever for a General Lee!

So, where did the parts car/replica rumor come from? This is what Don Schisler told people over the years. But why? It’s likely because when production moved to California, Don was given all the scrap and parts cars. Since the car was never screen used, Warner Brothers wouldn’t have known if the car was a parts car or a ready-to-use General Lee. He could easily acquire the car by saying it’s a parts car. The bill of sale shows “$10 and consideration” which supports the car was given to him as part of the “scrap and parts cars agreement”. When questioned, to avoid any backlash, he maintained the story he told Warner Brothers, except when he told the complete opposite, in writing, in his ad! Don basically told two different stories.

Travis Bell and a partner of his, located Lee #1 in the scrap yard and purchased it. That is how Travis was able to confirm the Volo car’s roll bar is from Lee #1. Volo’s #6 car has had only 1,500 miles on it since 1978 and it is all original and unrestored, just as it was built in 1978/79. Original H&H paint, original hand painted graphics, original wheels, push bar, etc., hence the only “Surviving Georgia Lee”.

 

Epilog

Brian believes only 20 TV series General Lees exist. 17 of the California cars were sold off to Wayne Wooten in 1990 – these are the ones that have a contract and are for private use only. There is Volo’s Lee #6, Lee #1, now owned by Bubba Watson, and there is a California TV series car that Warner Brothers painted a different color and used for another TV show after Dukes of Hazzard. It was later discovered to be a General Lee. Volo’s car is the nicest unrestored General Lee in existence.

You can find a video and many of the documents on the Volo Auto Museum website https://www.volocars.com/the-attraction/vehicles/13166/1969-dodge-charger