'Dukes of Hazzard' General Lee fetches US$10M bid

[PatS....]

Associated Press

Updated: Sat. May. 5 2007 9:00 AM ET

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A version of the General Lee -- a 1969 Dodge Charger made famous in the television show "The Dukes of Hazzard" -- fetched a winning bid of nearly US$10 million Friday in an online auction.

If the bidder comes through with cash or financing for the $9,900,500 price, the car will be the most expensive item ever sold by eBay Inc., company spokeswoman Catherine England said.

Actor John Schneider, who played the blond heartthrob Bo Duke in the show, sold the car, which was not featured in the original show but carries the signatures of the cast.

Schneider, 47, said Friday that he expected bidding for the orange coupe, which has "01" on the doors and is emblazoned with the Confederate flag, to go for $3 million at most.

"In my wildest dreams, two people would get into a bidding war at about $2.5 million ... and I would have been delighted with that. However, I'm three times as delighted as that now," he laughed.

All the living original cast members and crew from the show, which started in 1979, signed their autographs under the hood of the car. It was also featured in the movie "Dukes Go To Hollywood," and Schneider raced it in The Silver State Classic Challenge in Nevada.

The actor said he would use the money to help produce a sequel to his 2006 movie "Collier & Co."

"I think I'll go on vacation first and then make the movie," said Schneider, who after "Dukes" acted on Broadway and had roles on shows including "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" and "Smallville." "This is really, really quite amazing."

When bidding escalated this week, customer service representatives at San Jose, Calif.-based eBay called Schneider and recommended he take bids only from pre-qualified eBay customers who could confirm financing and provide other details. Although all eBay bids are considered a legally binding contract, the transaction isn't official.

E-mails to the winning bidder, who uses the screen name "Fishbashr1" and beat out 60 other bids, went unanswered on Friday afternoon.

"The way it works is the money and vehicle swap hands between buyer and seller, but until we hear from buyer and seller we have no way of verifying whether the transaction happened," England said.

The current eBay record sale is $4.9 million for a private jet several years ago.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070505/general_lee_070505/20070505?hub=Entertainment

[Norm's Coupe]

IMHO no car is worth anywhere near that amount. If someone has that kind of money to waste, they should give it to charity instead of wasting it on a car.

[jd52cranbrook]

This cant be true. Those cars were made to wreck just like all the movie cars.

Heres a link to the prowler club, they raced two of the Lees last year at the drags.

http://www.prowleronline.com/ubb/Forum18/HTML/003375.html

[Norm's Coupe]

This cant be true. Those cars were made to wreck just like all the movie cars.

Heres a link to the prowler club, they raced two of the Lees last year at the drags.

http://www.prowleronline.com/ubb/Forum18/HTML/003375.html

Not so sure about that. I would think the Associated Press would check the story before running with it. Don't forget Jay Leno has sold two new Harley's on ebay in the past signed by a bunch of famous people. Think the first one went for over 1 million. Now, that bike wasn't worth anywhere near that either. However, all the money went to charity, so that was ok.

[PatS....]

I thought the money for this car was going to charity, but it seems it was Schneider's personal car and the money goes into his wallet.

Now, what's stopping him from building another one next year and having his pals sign it too and get another few million?

Remains to be seen if he actually collects the cash...it IS eBay, you know.

I'm glad I don't waste a good portion of MY income on an old car!!!!

[Young Ed]

Nothing to stop him from getting another charger and recreating his car. I think it said right in there he's sad to see it go but excited for the building of a new one. However not all the actors from the TV show are still alive so he can't get them to all sign his next car. Also it said he was selling it to fund his next movie project.

[Guest tagree01]

That is a huge ripoff!! The car is not even close to the real General. It is about as close to the original as this one!

[1just4don]

return that mail I got then. Forgot to look at it its such a trivial part of life anyway!! NOT!!!

[jd52cranbrook]

Not so sure about that. I would think the Associated Press would check the story before running with it. Don't forget Jay Leno has sold two new Harley's on ebay in the past signed by a bunch of famous people. Think the first one went for over 1 million. Now' date=' that bike wasn't worth anywhere near that either. However, all the money went to charity, so that was ok.[/quote']

True story,, two prowler owners were in the movie with their dirt track racers.

Man this is a clicky site.

[Brad Lustig]

Turns out the $10million bid was a hoax. So much for qualified bidders. John Schneider is looking to sue

http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007May10/0,4670,DukesofHazzardCar,00.html

[wills 51]

I don't know if It's true but I heard kid rock owned the original car.