Tarantino is a "Dukes" fan himself (remember the "CSI" episode he directed, which featured characters playing a "Dukes" board game?) and a friend of James Best, our own Rosco P. Coltrane. It's no wonder he would bring the make and model of the General Lee into his new filmwork.
"I sold numerous parts to the company that built the cars for the film," says Chad, who works for Year One in Metro Atlanta, "and I thought it was really cool seeing the cars along with the cast, especially Kurt Russell!"
"In the pic, left to right is actress/stuntwoman Zoe Bell, myself, Kurt Russell and actress Tracie Thoms. The second photo is of Bell and Thoms sitting on the hood of Kurt Russell's 'Death Proof' killing machine ... a 1969 Dodge Charger. (Notice the 'rubber duck' hood ornament!)"
Chad goes on, "The Charger(s) that Kurt Russell drives are pretty neat and have a few connections with other television shows/movies from the past. For instance, the rubber-duck hood ornament that graces the hood of the Charger is a tip of the hat to the old '70s trucker film 'Convoy' as the main character had that same ornament on the hood of his semi. The license plate on Russell's Charger(s) is also tip of the hat to another 'car flick' of the '70s ... 'Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry' starring Peter Fonda. Fonda also drove a '69 Charger in that film and Tarantino saw it fit to give his 'Death Proof' Charger the exact same license plate number as the one on the car that Fonda drove.
"Last, but not least, Russell's Charger(s) also give nod to the General Lee from 'The Dukes of Hazzard' as all of the cars used wore American Racing's reissued 10-spoke 'Vector SE' wheels. Pretty cool, huh?"
Yea, Chad, that's pretty cool ...
Very cool :)
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