Everybody knows that for a lot of "Dukes" fans, it's all about the car. And collecting that blazin'-orange beauty known as the General Lee is a largely "male" sport. But once in a while, you might accidentally encounter a female who loves and appreciates this 1969 Dodge Charger just as much.
Andrea, avid "Dukes of Hazzard" fan, found her own General over the Internet in the first week of June. "I have been looking for a couple years for a car, and I've found total junk heaps that I myself wouldn't know how to work on," she says. "The scenario with this car was perfect."
A friend of Andrea's who lives just an hour away from the car's location, in Kentucky, picked up the car for her and took it to his place. Then Andrea, along with a friend, traveled with a U-Haul trailer from Michigan to Kentucky to spend some time working on the car.
The car was already orange, and it already had the horn and vectors. It did not have the decals, however. "Everything was factory on it," Andrea says. Nothing had to be done with the engine, she notes. "It was in excellent driving condition."
"We did entire restoration photos and everything. We worked for like 14 hours a day on the car, scrubbing and sanding. We did a heck of a lot."
Her friend had already sent her the broadcast sheet and the actual warranty sheet from the car, which she says is rare to have. Andrea is still in contact with the car's most recent (second) owner, whose name is Chris, who is still in contact with the original owner, who still has the original title for the car. "We're working on getting that. Chris had gone to the hall of records and searched around."
Andrea is actually putting together a scrapbook of the history of her treasured possession, which will include the broadcast sheet, warranty sheet, title, restoration photos and more. But there's still some work to be done, she says, beyond what folks saw on the lawn at the Hair Dare Dukes Days.
"When I brought the car to Paul's show, it still needed wet-sanding. I still have that to do. In turn, I didn't put any of the trim on the car for Paul's show. But that's it. Down the road I want to give the engine more power. Put a 383 in it."
A labor of love for this "Dukes" fan? You betcha! "I watched the show when it was brand-new every Friday night, and got into John Schneider's fan club, and have been a fan of his ever since," she says. "When I first saw the show, I fell in love with the car and had to find out the history of what kind of car it is. I loved it, I loved the style and the body, and everything about it."
What a fun journey it's been, no doubt. And did Andrea ever imagine that at the very first show she took her new Lee to, the car would actually be driven by none other than Coy Duke? Here he is below, Byron Cherry behind the wheel of Andrea's car, with Paul Casey at his side and us girls in the back, on our way to a restaurant during the Hair Dare weekend! Fun!
You can learn more about Andrea and her Lee at her website: http://www.katzcharger.com/. She's a huge cat lover, too, by the way! You can see that at her home. "I have cat things everywhere, sheets, blankets, calendars, trinkets. Anything and everything is cat-shaped."
And hey, while we're talking General Lees, we just can't help but add in these two photos sent along by Bruce and Carole. This is their lovable poochie Tucker, who made friends with BRB during the Hair Dare show. Tucker loves to ride in Bruce and Carole's own Lee, you can see by these photos. Thanks, you guys, for sending them along ...
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