No More Jumpin' Generals!
Remember back a couple of years ago when the Dukes of Hazzard movie was on its way? The big media machines were pumping the hype, Jessica Simpson was snug in her Daisy Dukes serving beer on TV, and promotion companies were flinging Dodge Chargers like it was a food fight on Tater Tot day. We printed one of the spectacles in the November '05 issue and showed you stunt driver Corey Eubanks drilling a General Lee Charger into the ground, then flipping it upside down as part of the Cooter's Place Web site launch.
At the same time, Ronnie Duke of Hardcore Racing was getting in on the action with his own General jump for the grand opening of his new 40,000-square-foot racing shop. He hired the Hazzard County Stunt Team to do the dirty work, and it was ugly. On the takeoff, the Charger smacked the ramp and left with most of its surface attached to the lower control arms, forcing the car to lose speed and land headfirst. Stunt driver James A. Smith was somehow uninjured, but the car died at the scene.
We waited to publish this sequence in hopes of deterring copycat promotions in the immediate wake of the movie. Now that the film is ancient history, we brought you this to properly mourn the loss of an original '69 Dodge Charger R/T with a 440 and a four-speed. Ronnie later auctioned off the corpse on eBay.