Jim Suva and The Suva Files Blog

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

 

Miami Vice Screen Used Daytona

Miami Vice Screen Used Daytona

Reporting by Jim Suva

In 1984, a new TV show called Miami Vice hit the air waves on NBC. It was a big hit because of the designer clothes, exotic cars, the hit sound tracks. Don Johnson starred as Sonny Crockett and Phillip Michael Thomas as Rico Tubbs as two undercover Miami Vice detectives. Sonny drove a black 1972 Ferrari Daytona GTS/4 Daytona Spyder.

The Ferrari Daytona cars that were used on the first two seasons, and a few episodes of Season 3, were actually Daytona kit cars built on a Corvette chassis. This is the story of the original Daytona, Car #1. The car is presently owned by the Volo Auto Museum, in Volo, Illinois. Brian Gram oversees Volo’s extensive Star Cars display. He has thoroughly researched the Daytona Spyder, and this is what Brian found out about the history of their car.

 

Birth of the Daytona Spyder Kit Car #1

In the 1980s, Al Mardekian, who was a specialty car dealer in CA, also built kit cars, such as a Lamborghini. He considered doing a Cobra replica and contacted known builder Tom McBurnie. Tom visited Al’s shop to discuss the project. Al’s idea was to build a Cobra on a Corvette chassis. Unfortunately, Tom said the proportions were too different to make this possible. While at the shop, Tom noticed a Ferrari Daytona Spyder for sale in the dealership showroom, and asked, “What about a Daytona?” Al agreed and gave Tom the Daytona (which was really a customer’s car and not Al’s) to be dismantled and have molds made from it. Once the molds were made, Tom set out to make his first car, which was built on a 1976 Corvette chassis. When putting the car together he ran into an issue. The panels did not fit on the passenger side. Tom was unaware that the Corvette donor car had been in an accident and was improperly repaired. The wheelbase was 1.5 inches shorter on the passenger side than on the driver side. Tom was able to make the adjustments to make it fit, the car was painted red and had a Gale Banks Twin Turbo engine in it. Tom continued to build an additional three cars, known as Cars #2, #3, and #4. Car #4 was black with a tan interior, built on a 1981 Corvette chassis. Those were the only cars Tom built for Al.

   

The Miami Vice Connection

Meanwhile, Universal Studios was working on the new Miami Vice TV series. They wanted an exotic car that would fit the character of Sonny Crocket. Miami Vice producer, Michael Mann, was friends with Dan Haggerty, a.k.a. Grizzly Adams. Dan had seen the Daytona replicas on Al’s car lot and suggested to Michael that they should be used on the show. Michael went to visit Al and asked about leasing Car #4, the black and tan one, and Al agreed. The Miami Vice pilot was filmed, and the show went into production. Once in production, they needed a second car to use as a stunt vehicle. They ended up leasing Volo’s Car #1 from Al. They had to remove the Gale Banks motor for a tamer engine and painted the car black so it would match Car #4. Meanwhile, Al got into some difficulties, and Universal was concerned because they were leasing the cars. The studio couldn’t afford to lose them. So, they did what any large, well-heeled movie studio would do, they bought them! (See Ferrari Lawsuit Section below.)

Universal Studios secured the cars and continued to film. On an interesting note, Michael Mann placed the Ferrari emblems on these cars, and it is obvious he placed them incorrectly. In the early episodes, you can see that the nose emblem was placed high above the headlights. In later episodes it was moved to the correct location between the lights.

 

A Real Life Miami Vice Sting Operation

During filming, one of the Daytona’s was borrowed by a mechanic who worked on the set. Unfortunately, the mechanic used the car to make an illegal deal selling gun silencers. But it was a sting operation and he was arrested. Luckily, the car was returned to the set, unharmed by the experience!

 

Ferrari Lawsuit

Since Miami Vice became such a popular TV show, Ferrari became upset with the notoriety the replica Ferrari was receiving, so they sued Universal Studios. In the end, Ferrari and Universal came to an agreement; they would get rid of the Daytona in the storyline. This would ostensibly make people forget about the Daytona. Ferrari would then donate two new Testarossa’s to take place of the Daytona’s in the show. But how would they make Sonny’s Daytona disappear from the storyline? The answer was simple. Blow it up on the show! Disclaimer: Special effects were used; no Daytona’s were actually harmed during filming!

Universal Studios now had two Testarossa’s and two Daytona’s, but they needed a Testarossa stunt vehicle. They agreed to trade the two Daytona’s to Carl Roberts, who had been involved in maintaining the cars on set, for a Testarossa replica for stunt use. Carl built the Testarossa stunt car, and took possession of the two Daytona’s, but without their titles.

Carl wanted to go into business building Daytona replicas. However, Ferrari eventually sued both Tom McBurnie and Carl Roberts for trademark infringement and put a stop to production.

 

Daytona Car #4 history after Miami Vice

Carl Roberts sold one of the Daytona’s, Car #4 to a private party. Car #4 changed hands several times, but today has been owned by the same owner for many years.

 

Daytona Car #1 history after Miami Vice

After Miami Vice stopped using the Daytona’s, Carl Roberts rented out two Daytona’s to produce Speed Zone, starring John Candy. Which included car #1.The movie was filmed in Canada. The cars were delivered to Canada, used for filming, and then set back to California. Carl hired Don Horn to pick the cars up in California and bring them to his shop in Lubbock Texas for storing. That way Carl could pick them up at a later date. Carl sent a driver out to pick up the “Hero” (Car #1), but the driver blew the motor, so Carl had Don Horn pulled the engine from the other Daytona. Once that was done the hero car was driven back to Carl’s garage. Carl made a deal with Don Horn that he would trade Don a Daytona body kit to cover the cost of the repairs. Don borrowed the money from Roger Pamperine to do the repairs. But Don never paid Roger Pamperine and Roger put a lien on the car. The lien was for $3,000, but Roberts refused to pay. In order to get a title, the car had to be put into a police auction and sold. Roger Pamperine bought the car from the auction, allowing him to get legal title, selling the car to regain his investments.

The car was then acquired by Jeff Allen from the TV show Car Chasers. He put it on eBay, where the Volo Auto Museum was the high bidder. Jeff represented the car as the original Daytona from Miami Vice, he had documentation, emails and letterhead copies that referred to this and the other Speed Zone car as Miami Vice Daytona’s. Brian Grams, not being a historian on Miami Vice, accepted the documents as proof of it being the original car.

        Volo Auto Museum did a partial restoration and presented the car in the museum. Shortly after being put on display, the Volo Museum was called out for representing a replica car as the original. Most of the time Brian ignored those comments, because usually they came from Miami Vice fans who were comparing the car to what they saw on-screen. In this case, it was not accurate, since Carl Roberts had modified the car for Speed Zone. Then, a person who had knowledge of the original VIN numbers approached Brian. He was friends with the owner of Car #4, and he had copies of the Universal documents that listed the two Daytona VIN numbers. He was able to confirm that Brian’s VIN number was neither of the VIN numbers listed. He knew a story of Carl Roberts scrapping the chassis and not knowing the whereabouts of Car #1’s body, and he suggested that maybe the Volo car was the body from Car #1. They went back and forth over many of the unique details of the body. There was a patch where the fiberglass was repaired, from when Michael Mann improperly placed the nose emblem, the passenger side of the car was shorter by 1.5 inches, and it was red under the black paint. There were holes cut in the doors where speakers were originally placed in the Miami Vice car. The auto museum determined that it was likely, but unprovable, that this was the body from Car #1. Brian left it at that, not happy, but satisfied it wasn’t a complete replica car. The problem was that even though there was evidence to support it, it cannot be proven this is the Car #1 body.

   

This put a fire in Brian, he knew he was missing something. He went to the car and wanted it to talk to him. Brian just kept looking at it wondering what was missing, and then there it was! He was reading the VIN number and he noticed the rivets holding the VIN tag were not GM rivets, which immediately made him question the authenticity of the VIN tag. Brian immediately went searching for the frame number, which is located at the rear of the frame, near the rear tire, but there was no VIN, no stamping of any kind. Remember, Car #1 was wrecked before Tom McBurnie got it. The entire rear section of the frame was replaced with a new one. That was evident by the type of welds. Not knowing any additional location where he could check a VIN number, Brian was quite let down. One more piece of the puzzle, the frame replacement, supports it being Car #1 but without that VIN, the proof wasn’t there.

Brian called a Corvette restorer whom he knows and was told the VIN is also on top of the frame on the driver’s side. He told Brian you can’t see it without taking the body off. Brian knew taking the body off was not an option. The Corvette expert said, if you were to sit in the driver’s seat, place your hand down on the sill, that’s where it would be located on the frame. Brian got a hole saw and cut a hole there, and just like a bullseye, there was a VIN number. It was NOT the same VIN number listed on the tag. The VIN number on the tag was for an 81 Corvette, the frame was a 1976 frame. Brian called the original source who had knowledge of the VIN numbers, to see if it matched against the Universal paperwork. Unfortunately, he was on vacation. After about a week of nail biting, he did call Brian to congratulate him on finding the missing chassis, but the body still could not be confirmed. Then it occurred to Brian that perhaps the original trim tag was still in the door jamb, and sure enough, it was. The codes on the tag were for a 1976 Corvette, NOT a 1981 Corvette like the VIN tag would have implied. To further prove it, the date code on the Trim Tag matched up to be within three weeks from the date of the frame. Everything was finally tied together and proven! Volo had found, without doubt, the missing Daytona from Miami Vice and the #1 prototype Daytona replica. He was provided with copies of the Universal Documents once he was able to prove the car’s pedigree. Brian talked to Tom McBurnie about it and he mentioned it was originally a green Corvette, who said that the original car he used was white. Brian sanded down some of the paint in the door jamb, and it went from black, to red, to white, and finally green. The car must have been painted white after the collision. Mystery solved!

 

Conclusion

Since the discovery, Volo Auto Museum has spent thousands of dollars reversing the modifications made to the car by Carl Roberts. Their goal was to bring it back to its screen accuracy as closely as possible to its Miami Vice days.

Here is link to a YouTube video Volo did with Tom McBurnie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRKxnCj5Gpk

The Rockford Files Trading Card Set

Matt Williamson from Retro Cards has introduce a set of 20 Trading Cards of The Rockford Files.  These are like the old trading cards that came in packages of bubble gum.

Here is a link to their web site to purchase a set. http://thecowboysguide.com/RetroCards-Rockford.html?fbclid=IwAR03aAIOogVC0sCLgVMhocdoa0OJIvdhYbdFCnTUQVSlDOvmRrBWF09Uhxo

My favorite is the #9 Card for the Rockford Firebird.  They used a picture that I took of my 1977 Firebird.  

I received my set of Rockford cards and they absolutely look great.  I recommend these to anyone who likes the Rockford Files.  A wonderful addition to any Rockford Files collection.

1979 Vista Group/Rockford Files Photo Shoot

1979 Vista Group/Rockford Files Photo Shoot

Eric Dahlquist and James Garner

Here is the latest addition to my Suva/Rockford Collection.  This year for my Birthday, my wife Julie purchased a number of slides, negatives, proof sheets and original drawings.  These items are from a photo shoot by the Vista Group in 1979.  It features James Garner and the vehicles from The Rockford Files.  They were creating a poster for GMC Trucks.

Here are some of the pictures from the GMC Truck photo shoot.  The Cherokee Productions trucks are in the back belonged to James Garner.

These pictures are from the Rockford Firebird and the Trans Am Kamback wagon being added to the shoot.

Here are two posters that came out of this photo shoot.

   

I am always looking for Rockford Files photos and memorabilia.  If you have anything, please contact me at:  jimsuva34@aol.com

 

The Unofficial Rockford Files Collection/Museum

My Unofficial Rockford Files Collection/Museum

Since I am a big Rockford Files Fan,  I have been looking for a screen used Firebird from the show.  Unfortunately,  the ones that are still around are not for sale and are priced out of my price range.  So I have decide to start a Collection/Museum for display for fellow fans of the show.  So I am looking for items used on The Rockford Files or items related to the show.  If you have anything that could be added to the display just email me.  Email address is below.

 

I have more items that would not fit in the display cabinet.  Such as copies of scripts, posters, magazines etc...

If anyone is interested in seeing my display and are in the Chicagoland area, just drop me an email: jimsuva34@aol.com  

Newspaper Articles About The Rockford Files Firebirds

Here are two articles from 1977.  Rob Morris found these, so a big thank you to him.  The first article talks about one of the shows new Firebirds, being stolen from Universal Studios.  The second describes the filming of a car chase scene, from the episode: "The Bees, The Trees, and T.T. Flowers".

 

Rockford Files Firebird Goes to Barrett-Jackson

Here is my latest edition of The Suva Files.  It is published in the Pontiac-Oakland International Car Club's magazine, Smoke Signals.  May 2019 issue.

Special thanks to Tim Dye and Thom Sherwood my editor, for making The Suva Files look so good!

The Hunter TA in the Pontiac Registry

The Hunter TA in the Pontiac Registry

The Pontiac Registry is a wonderful resource, for all Pontiac models.  Here is a link to their website: https://www.pontiacregistry.com/.  If you love Pontiac's as much as I do, please consider joining this group.

 

The Rockford Files 1/25th Scale Diorama

The Rockford Files 1/25th Scale Diorama

By Thomas Ellifritt

Tom build a beautiful diorama of the Paradise Cove set of The Rockford Files.  Here are some pictures of his craftsmanship.

Jim Rockford's 1958 Nashua Trailer.

1975 Pontiac Firebird

 

Rocky's GMC Pickup Truck.

Rockford Goes To Barrett-Jackson 2019

Rockford Goes to Barrett-Jackson

Written by Jim Suva

Two years ago, I received the opportunity to purchase a 1978 Pontiac Firebird Formula 400 that was used on The Rockford Files. This car was one of three used, on the last two seasons of the series.  This Firebird was used as the sound car.  Meaning this car was used primarily for filming dialog inside the car and was also used for exterior filming as well.  The best part of this Firebird is that James Garner purchased this Firebird, after filming stopped on the show and owned it till May of 1981.

Now the owner at the time wanted more money, than I could afford. Plus, this car needed a complete restoration, new interior, leaking fluids and had a couple of rust areas that need attention.  So I gave the owners contact information to two friends of mine that deal with vehicles for the movie and TV industries.

They purchased the Firebird and had Michael Flaherty of Custom Design LTD in Wisconsin do the frame on restoration. I met with Mike in February 2018 and went over the Firebird with him in regards to what had to remain from filming Rockford.  Since this was a sound car there were holes drilled in areas to run wiring for a allegra sound recorder, that use to be mounted in the trunk.  They also had mounted plugs in exterior of the car for power and microphones.  The Firebird even has the original Garner mic bay that sits in the console.  Of course there is also a skid plate mounted under the engine and transmission, so that it could be used for stunt driving.  All of these items were retained.

The object for buying the Rockford Firebird, was to preserve the car as much as possible.  The 78 Firebird was finished just two weeks before it was auctioned on January 19, 2019.

My friends asked me to come out and represent them at Barrett-Jackson and help sell the Firebird. This was a once in a life time opportunity for me.  Plus to be able to stand by an original screen used Rockford Files/Garner owned Firebird was wonderful.

Barrett-Jackson is more than an auction or car show. It is an event that every car person should experience once in their life.  Everyone I met that worked for Barrett-Jackson were so nice and helpful.  The fans of The Rockford Files that I met were great.  All day Friday and Saturday I was by the car telling people about the history of the Firebird.  There were plenty of people from all walks of life that were checking out all the cars and trucks on display.

I got to meet with Kevin from Bitchin Rides and saw celebraties like Gary Sinise, Motor Trend hosts: Christy Lee , Mike Joy, and fellow Chicagoan Chris Jacobs.

Saturday afternoon the owners arrived and told me, they wanted me to ride in the Firebird onto the block for the auction, which was the biggest trill, since I watch the auctions on TV, all the time.

The Firebird was moved into the holding line around 1:40 pm. Author Matt Stone, who has written a number of car books which includes James Garner’s Motoring Life was there to talk about the Firebird on the TV coverage, from the auction block.  Matt and I had an enjoyable lunch together and talked about Garner and the Firebird.  There was a wide variety of food vendors to choose from and different displays and a Restoration Row of vendors to check out.

After lunch I went to find the Firebird in one of the two holding areas, in line for the auction. I had a wonderful opportunity to talk with a number of people that were interested in the Rockford Firebird.  We moved the car through the first staging area to the second, which is located right outside the door of the auction building.  Once it was time to drive the Firebird into the building, I sat in the passenger seat and was still answering questions about the Firebird till it actually went up on the ramp to the block.

 

Below are two videos from the Discovery Channels coverage of the auction.

I can’t thank my friends enough, for such a wonderful opportunity. The Rockford Firebird sold with buyer’s premium for $115,500.00.  I had estimated it would sell between $100,ooo and 125,000.  So I was pretty close.

The car was purchased online by a Pontiac-Oakland International Club member and hard-core Rockford Phile who wants to remain anonymous.  He considers himself a caretaker of a small, but important part of television history and wants to share the car with fellow Pontiac and Rockford enthusiasts at car shows and if they’re interested – museums.  He felt it was important for the car to remain in the United States and ideally in southern California where the show was filmed.

Next up he will be installation of the correct “Custom” or deluxe upholstery and door panels original to this car (and all Rockford Firebirds of all years of the series).  Other plans for the car include tinting the exterior rub strips (currently white) to match the color of the interior as these cars had back in the day. 

The car drives like a new car – just like the owner’s 1978 Esprit did when it was new.  I am so happy that the owner plans to share this Firebird with all of us and not just put it a collection in a garage somewhere.

All of us Rockford fans will be anxiously awaiting to see this car hit the Car Show circuit in the near future.