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"dukes Of Hazzard" Movie Reignites Excitement For The Dodge
By Sarah Breeding and Bobby Parks, Tue Dec 6th
"Dukes of Hazzard" Movie Reignites Excitement for the DodgeCharger NORFOLK, VA - October 4, 2005 - The excitementsurrounding the big screen remake of the popular televisionseries, "Dukes of Hazzard", has reignited interest in the 1969Dodge Charger. The Charger gained popularity during the 1980'sseries as The General Lee, as the car used by the Duke boys towreak havoc. The renewed interest is being felt on third party onlineclassifieds sites, such as CollectorCarTraderOnline.com[CCTOL.com]. Searches for the Charger on CCTOL.com increased by3,000 between July and August, with over 28,000 searchesperformed in August. Currently, twenty-eight 1969 Dodge Chargersare listed on CollectorCarTraderOnline.com, including fourGeneral Lee replicas. Three of the General Lee replicas listed onCollectorCarTraderOnline.com are from Luedtke Auto Group, a LakeVilla, Illinois dealer. The Luedtke brothers began transforming1969 Chargers into the General Lee five years ago and have soldwell over 100 General Lee's since. They have had sales in all 50states as well as in Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom,Denmark and other overseas locations. Luedkte Auto always has atleast 10 Dodge Chargers on hand that can easily be transformedinto a General Lee.
"Over 150 man hours go into each of the cars," says OscarLuedtke, "and it is fun to say the least." Luedkte Auto Group recently sold seven of their replicas toWarner Brothers for use in the "Dukes of Hazzard" movie thatcame out in August. Warner Brothers used a total of 20 carsduring shooting. The choice of the Dodge Charger for the General Lee was noaccident. With the south being the hotbed of stock car racing,and with one of the major events, the Atlanta 500, beingheld
at Atlanta International Raceway, the idea was born thatthe General Lee would be a racecar turned into a street car bythe Dukes. The connection with the Charger and the "Dukes ofHazzard" goes deeper than just the General Lee. When charactersBo and Luke Duke left the show during the 1982-83 season, theviewers were told they went to try their hand at racing.During the show's run, notable Cale Yarborough made aguest appearance. The history of the Charger itself is a storied one. Launched in1966 as a response to the muscle car fad started by the Mustangand the Barracuda, the Charger quickly found its way to theNASCAR scene with it's famous Hemi engine. It remained anindustry leader until 1974 when stricter emissions standardsforced Dodge to scale down the engine. After 1974, though theCharger name remained until 1987, Dodge branded the car as aluxury item. In the past few years, interest for classic muscle cars hasreturned. Baby boomers, who remember the classic cars from theirchildhood have been paying big bucks to restore cars such as theBaracuda, Pontiac GTO and the Chevy Camaro. According to KelleyBlue Book, the 1969 Charger has seen its value increase by 64percent over the first six months of 2005, from $28,200 to$49,900. Hoping to cash in on this renewed interest, Dodgedecided to bring back the Charger, beginning with the 2006model. The Charger even made a return to in 2005 and hashad its share of success on the circuit. "Pop culture has always been the road map for popular trends, soit was no surprise that surrounding the release of "The Dukes ofHazzard" movie the Charger saw a resurgence of popularity. Themovie introduced the General Lee to a new generation whoseinterest is now peaked," said Marcus Dame, Business DevelopmentManager for CollectorCarTraderOnline.com. About the author:None
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