April 25th, 2012 - Enjoy some of the more recent photos from LostGeneralLee.com
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September 24th, 2010 - Well the Smith Brothers have made considerable progress on the restroration of Lost General Lee number two. As you may know - the original Lost General Lee had a sister (or brother) car present upon its finding. The second car did not have as much evidence of its "General Lee days" as the first car - but certainly showed signs of its days on the set of "The Dukes of Hazzard".
The second car had been in possession of the Smith Brothers since building the first Lost General Lee for Gary Baxley. When they finally decided to sell - letting the car go to the owner of the first car seemed only natural. The car will be ready to hit the roads of Hazzard (actually Little Rock, Arkansas) very soon.
Mark was able to obtain a 383 motor from an original General Lee for use in this car. Careful consideration has went into the building of this car to keep it as authentic and original as possible. There are no extreme add-ons and even the door james and underhood colors are returning to original as they would have been on the set of "The Dukes of Hazzard".
One of the things Mark really did different wtih this General Lee was keep it authentic to how it would have been found on the set of the show.
(above) Yes - its gold underhood. When Dodge Chargers were purchased for use on the television show - it was only necessary to prep & paint what the camera would see. This left the door jambs, underhood & underside of trunk the original color of the donor car. Although it will probably generate a lot of questions at car shows for Mark - this car has been put back in the manner it would have been originally by returning the underhood area to the factory gold specified for the car originally.
Dodge Charger grills were a hard thing to locate just a couple of years ago. The 1969 divided grill was especially difficult. Today gill sections and the chrome trim are available from
March 16th, 2010 - Well the new site is up and running and we have had some really nice emails from A-Team fans! We plan to add more in the future to the new site - including new videos! Check out the new site and let us know what you think! www.myateamvan.com
March 2nd, 2010 - Well we have some cool news to share. For one - a brand new website will be going up soon to join the three current online efforts of Mark Osborne's Star Car websites. First, of course came this site www.lostgenerallee.com - followed last year by www.marksbanditcar.com. Coming very soon is www.myateamvan.com to share the exact details of Mark's awesome A-Team van. With recent impovements to air intake and re-jetting the A-Team van has become a beast of a machine for Mark. In fact, Mark is seriously considering that the van could take the Lost General Lee in a race if it came down to it! Roasting the tires is effortless for the 385 stroker motor - whether or not the van is starting from a standsill or moving at 5-10 mph. This van is powerful! Keeping checking back on the site as we hope to have it up very soon.
March 1st, 2010 - Photos Found! Mark recently stumbled upon quite a collection of photos that may include some never before seen photos of the Lost General Lee. We are including a few of the rare photos below. Enjoy!
January 29th, 2010 - Well Mark has returned from an awesome "Dukes of Hazzard" tour in California. Mark spent a week with the world famous Smith Brothers leading a full behind-the-scenes Hazzard tour as only they can do. Above you can see Mark standing on the Disney Ranch property and you may recognize the bridge. Used in the "Dukes of Hazzard" several times - a famous scene involved Bo bailing out the window of the General Lee into the pond below. The bridge is still standing today - merely yards from the custom house used in the Country Bears.
Mark and crew also did the backlot tour at Warner Brothers and visited the Hazzard set as it sits today. They also arranged for visits to several movie car lots and Mark finally laid eyes on where his Lost General Lee(s) came from.
Check out a few pictures from the trip!
And here is video from the trip!
November 15th, 2009 -
Well, we have to announce that some of the air has been let out of our sails in regards to the possibility that the Lost General Lee number two car appeared the Season Two episode "The Rustlers". As we told you last month, a sharp-eyed fan spotted a car suspiciously similar to the car being currently restored by the Smith Brothers. There is still a very real possibility that the cars are one and the same - however we have been informed that the Smith Brothers have been unable to locate evidence of orange paint on the top side of the rear trunk lid. With that news - one of the striking clues is absent from the big picture. Could the decklid have been replaced for use on "The Gladiators"? - absolutely. A great number of Dodge Chargers were green, and that would have been a very common part and an easy swap with only four bolts to deal with. Even though this one clue is discounted - all the other signs are still there. The small push bar welds, the lack of roll bar bolt holes, etc. still point to an early Lee - and still quite possibly the one seen in "The Rustlers".
October 21st, 2009 -
As we recently annouced - the Smith Brothers of General Lee fame are in the middle of restoring the second "Lost General Lee" car found in a California movie car junkyard several years ago. While there is no confirmation on GL number or specific episode these cars were used in - this second car has some unique features that may make it more recognizable amongst the early (and small) fleet of General Lees used in the first couple of seasons.
For one, the car has evidence of a small pushbar welded to the front bumper. The use of small front pushbars dominated the first couple of seasons of "The Dukes of Hazzard" - so this would seem to relate this surviving car to the first couple of seasons. Another interesting fact - this car is a 1969 and retains its square side markers and back-up lights. The round back-up lights seen under the rear bumper typically were removed from the cars in the later seasons for a cleaner, more uniform look. Another twist to the car is the absence of evidence of an interior roll bar. The roll bars were often crafted from the same tubing used to make exhaust - however there were usually one or two cars on the set that didn't have one for use in the event Uncle Jesse or another character would be required to ride in the back seat. Also present on the car is the chrome strip running along the top of the quarter panels known as sail panel trim. These were present at times, removed at others - and occasionally painted over with orange! The trim is still in place on Lost GL #2.
And then there is the trunk. Originally a gold colored Charger - the Lost General Lee #2 was drug from the movie car junkyard with a decklid that has original Dodge Charger green paint on its underside.
So when reviewing the series - where do you find a 1969 car with a small pushbar, square side markers and back-up lights, no roll bar, sail panel trim and a trunk with green paint on the underside? Leave it to the die hard fans found on the Confederate General Lee Fan Club message board at www.cglfc.com.
Recently Mark made a post about the fact that this car was being restored and fans were accepting and supportive. Some even started their own "investigations" and an eagle eyed fan from Canada suggested that this "could" be a car used in "The Rustlers" - the only episode that James Best's wife Dorothy appeared in.
The photo above was pulled from "The Rustlers" episode. The car appears throughout the episode - note the square side markers, small push bar - and NO interior roll bar. The first couple of seasons did not maintain the huge numbers of General Lees "ready to go" on the set - so the possibility that Lost GL #2 can be identified are reasonable.
Dorothy Best (then Dorothy Collier) is seen here with Uncle Jesse and the possible Lost GL #2.
A different car is clearly used in the horse race scene. Roll bar is clearly visible and the abscence of side markers and back-up lights.
It is truly anyone's guess here. The bottom of the decklid retains a factory green hue. The still shot pulled from the episode "The Rustlers" clearly shows a rectangular sticker in the upper left portion of the decklid. That area on the Lost GL is pretty much all rust at this point. The back-up lights and sail panel trim remain after all these years. It is pure speculation - but a car used with very similar characteristics was used in the episode "The Rustlers" from the second season of "The Dukes of Hazzard".
September 19th, 2009 - BIG NEWS! Some of the biggest news in the "Dukes of Hazzard" world is found right here on lostgenerallee.com. Here is a brand new story available only here! Mark Osborne has decided to let the cat-out-of-the-bag. Mark, the proud owner of "The Lost General Lee" is now the proud owner of the "sister-car" found parked next to his current General Lee in the forgotten movie car junkyard not too many years ago.
You guys have probably read the story - but a quick refresh. The Smith Brothers (known for their devotion to the General Lee) located two previously screen-used General Lees forgotten in a movie car junkyard in California. After a deal was made, the Smith Brothers restored one of the cars (Mark's Lost General Lee) and retained the second car to rebuild as a personal screen-used General Lee. They might be restoration experts - but they are fans at heart.
Plans to rebuild the car kept getting pushed and thoughts of selling the lagging project began to surface. When the thought of re-uniting the car with the original it sat with all those long years came up - the Smith Brothers gave Mark a call. Mark thought about it - and realized this was an opportunity he would never get again - the chance to put both cars back together and have both road-ready. Mark purchased the car some time ago and let the car sit until ready to take on the large (and potentially expensive) restoration of this car.
(above) There it is - the tell-tale signs of its General Lee heritage - orange paint. What a life this car has had.
What we know: We have always known that the Lost General Lee (blue & yellow when found) and this second car (black & yellow when found) were used in the movie "Gladiator". They were also seen in a rare charity fund-raiser race video featuring stunt drivers in the 1980s. After that - these seemed to be lost forever. Since the day they were found - the current "Lost General Lee" had always shown more evidence of its General Lee heritage than the twin car. It does raise some interesting questions however. The orange paint is underneath the makeshift black & yellow movie paintjob - however, the wide pushbar weldmarks and roll bar attachment points present on the Lost General Lee are not present on this car. This seems to signal an original very early season car- possibly Season Two of "The Dukes of Hazzard". Some very obvious "missing roll bar" cars were present on the series (most notably when Uncle Jesse had to ride in the back) - and this appears to have been one of them. The General Lee being chased by a lone squad car around the trees during the closing credits is one of these such cars - and quite possibly this very car. No roll bar and small pushbar is the very set-up of that car as well.
Look closely at this video - this could quite possibly be this very car!
The Plans: Mark has spent a considerable amount of time and money towards the refining and "modernization" of his current General Lee. A built in radio and Air Conditioning add a lot of creature comfort that the Duke Boys didn't have on the show. Right now the plan for the sister car are simple and a complete 180 from his position on his current car. The Smith Brothers are being very careful about the dismantling of the car in an attempt to preserve any and all evidence of its former orange life. This is somewhat historic - as this could be the very last real General Lee ever restored. Documentation of the entire process is underway - and the the Smith Brothers only recently received all of the necessary new sheetmetal for the restoration.
Mark is thinking along the lines of putting the car together EXACTLY as it would have been on the television show. The fender tag seems to indicate an original factory gold car - and Mark is seriously contemplating returning the underhood and trunk area back to that color. Remember, in those days General Lees were built out of grocery-getting Chargers in as little as eight hours - there was no time for underhood areas to be turned orange. Mark has also been able to acquire an original General Lee engine for the car as well - as we understand it a 383.
History: This car, like the "Lost General Lee" that was restored before it, has an incredible history - and much will remain untold. Prior to being used on "Dukes" it could have easily been driven by a little old lady who drove it to church on Sundays followed by a likely short history in the first or second season of the series. After that we know that five cars were brought from the Dukes set for use on "The Gladiator" - a Mad Max style action film. No word on what happened to the other three cars - perhaps destroyed completely during the movie shoot.
After use in a Charity stuntman race - the cars were retired to a lonely movie car junkyard. Pulled from the junkyard just few years ago - the Lost General Lee (the yellow & blue car) was the first to be brought back to life with an extensive restoration. We are proud to announce that the second car will once again come full circle - and be a running and driving Dodge Charger in it's full GENERAL LEE uniform!
Update June 8, 2009 - The Lost General Lee recently appeared with Mark's A-Team van at a Car Show in Cabot, Arkansas sponsored by the Arkansas Pontiac Club. The General was very well received to say the least!
May 2nd, 2009 - The Lost General Lee is BACK IN ARKANSAS! Mark may have just installed the best upgrade for a late 60s Mopar ever created - FUEL INJECTION! Pumping the accelerator & difficult cold weather starts are a thing of the past. In fact, any sign of hesitation in the engine is a thing of the past. However - from the looks of things under the hood - the vast majority of casual and hardcore car enthusiasts would never know the injectors were there. That's right - engineered to look exactly like carburetors - the folks at Retro Tek www.retrotekspeed.com have designed the most unique computer-controlled self-learning fuel injection system known to man.
Mark has a lot of unique upgrades on the Lost General Lee. From electric exhaust cut-outs to a Vintage Air Conditioning system - the Lost GL is not short on technology. However - the recent addition of fuel injection could very well be the best upgrade yet as far as inproving the driveability and reliablity of the car. It truly is a whole new car. The system was completely installed by fellow CGLFC.com board member Patrick Hagerman. Patrick told Mark the installation was a new challenge for him - with over 70 different wires included in the system hook-up - but Patrick is looking forward to the next one and considering adding Fuel Injection to every future car he builds.
Fuel Injection is a neat addition to the Lost General Lee - and one that Mark's dad Bob didn't recognize or believe. Bob actually got up under the hood and still couldn't believe he was not looking at vintage carburetors!
April 9th. 2009 - Mark's new Fuel Injection system is in the General! Installed by Scotlea Hot Rods!
April 1st, 2009 - Just a nice photo of Mark and his daughter Olivia.
April 1st, 2009 - No April Fools Joke here - more unique features were found on the Lost General Lee recently!
Posted are photos and a letter from Dr. Patrick Hagerman.
Mark,
I've attached pics of a couple of brackets that are welded to your rearend that I didn't notice last time I had the car. One is a tab over the leaf spring on the pass side, the other is a multi-hole tab welded to the frame directly over the rearend on the driver-side. These would have been connected by a panhard bar that keeps the rearend centered under the car during hard turns and slides, whereas the leafsprings alone would bend, allowing the rearend to move from side to side. These brackets were probably welded on when the car was used on screen. I didn't know if you knew about them or what they were for. It might be interesting to do some digging and see if you can find out more.
I have the same style panhard bar on my 68 Camaro - it's still a design used today, just not with leaf-spring cars, usually 4-link suspensions.
Unless you plan on sliding the car around a lot, you don't need a panhard bar, but if you want me to, making one is pretty easy - just a piece of tubing with adjustable rod ends on each end, bolted to the brackets. These brackets might also explain why the car had circle track wheel studs - to prevent breaking the wheels off during hard slides.
Just interesting..
Dr. Patrick Hagerman
Scotlea Hot Rods Inc.
Further investigation by Mark explained it once and for all. These brackets were added to the car by the late Rich Sephton during it's original restoration at the Smith Brothers shop. During that time there was a lot of talk of a magazine article documenting this car squared off against John Schneider's General Lee on a race track. The event never happened - but Rich had welded these there himself in case it did. Just another very cool and unique feature about the Lost General Lee. The fact that it was done by an original Dukes of Hazzard mechanic makes it that much more special.
March 31st, 2009 - Bandit page is growing big time! Now complete with photos and desktops! Check it out!
Feb 25th, 2009 - The Bandit Page is up! Check it Out!
Feb. 2nd, 2009 - Mark is building the movie car collection (which could turn into a brand new site). This has been a big week - as not only was the A-Team van completed - but Mark closed a deal on a Smokey and the Bandit Trans Am!
July 16th, 2007 - The Lost General Lee to appear at Dukesday 4 in Branson, MO! James Best will also appear at the show and help lead the world famous midnight parade through Branson on Saturday night August 11, 2007!
NEW - Complete article about the Lost General Lee engine in Muscle Car Power! click here!
