Cars

YouTubers found the first ever General Lee forgotten in a scrapyard in Atlanta and rebuilt it to its former glory

  • The first-ever General Lee was found abandoned in Dawsonville, Georgia
  • The car still had its original features intact
  • The car was eventually brought back to life

Published on Jan 18, 2025 at 4:00 AM (UTC+4)
by Daksh Chaudhary

Last updated on Jan 15, 2025 at 10:02 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by Kate Bain

The General Lee, the classic car from The Dukes of Hazzard, was found abandoned in a scrapyard in Dawsonville, Georgia.

It had been forgotten for years, but when it was discovered, fans couldn’t believe their eyes.

The famous jumping car used in the hit 1980s TV show was in bad shape, yet it still held some original features.

This is the incredible story of how the first-ever General Lee was brought back to life.

DISCOVER SBX CARS: The global premium car auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie

The discovery of the first General Lee classic car

Travis Bell, who was obsessed with The Dukes of Hazzard, made it his mission to find the original General Lee.

He knew that many of the show’s cars had ended up in Georgia, where the first five episodes were filmed.

In fact, the show’s cars were originally painted in Georgia, and the transportation director had 51 cars in 1978.

Sadly, many of these cars ended up at Shaw Recycling in Dawsonville, Georgia.

The place is well known to classic car hunters, and not too long ago, 30 vintage cars were found hidden in a barn.

The first General Lee was found by accident in this very scrapyard, with a door welded shut, the original roll cage, and still painted in orange.

General Lee car
VINwiki

Interestingly, it even had a Los Angeles parking sticker still attached.

The car had been used for some of the most famous jumps on the show, and it still had concrete in the trunk, which was used as ballast during the jumps.

Travis Bell General Lee classic car story
VINwiki

General Lee’s VIN number was found intact, which confirmed its authenticity.

Travis Bell revealed that the scrapyard owner, Cliff Shaw, didn’t even know he had the original classic car from the show.

The abandoned car was brought to its former glory

Abandoned General Lee
VINwiki

Besides Lee, the scrapyard had other items from the show as well, like Roscoe police cars.

Surprisingly, Travis bought the valuable car for just $400 and restored it to its original state.

VINwiki covered the whole story on their YouTube channel, where we earlier saw the Lamborghini Aventador tracked down after the buyer was scammed.

user

Meet Daksh: Not your typical pro, but definitely a pro at being fascinated by supercars, tech, and all things futuristic. When he's not nose-deep in work, catch him glued to anime screens or lost in the pages of a good book.