Autoblog

click here to view more pics of John Schneider's General Lee

Actor John Schneider's second attempt to sell the one-of-a-kind 1969 Dodge Charger "General Lee" from his Dukes of Hazzard TV show and other acting roles has failed... again. The first attempt to sell the General Lee on eBay resulted in a winning bid of nearly $10 million, which later fell through. The winning bidder, William Fisher, claimed to CNN in an email that his eBay account had been hacked and the exhoribitant bid was placed without his knowledge, though eBay claims there is no evidence his account was illegally accessed.The second auction on eBay required that bidders be heavily screened before making a bid, which resulted in only one legitimate bid of $100,000 that failed meet Schneider's reserve price.

Perhaps realizing that eBay Motors isn't the most appropriate place to sell his iconic car, CNN is reporting that Schneider will now put the car up for auction on the biggest block in the world at the 2008 Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, Arizona next January. We'll be in Scottsdale like we were this year, though we're starting to wonder if the General Lee will ever find a new home.

Thanks for the tip, Peter!

[Source: CNN]

click above image to see more views of John and his General Lee

We all knew this was coming. As many expected, the person who entered the winning bid of $9,900,500 for John Schneider's personal 1969 Dodge "General Lee" Charger on eBay Motors last week has withdrawn it. Or at least, that's what we're led to believe by negative feedback left by Schneider, who on eBay goes by johnsebiz, on the profile of fellow eBay user fishbashr1.

Schneider left the comment, "This is the guy that for fun, decided to bid on the General Lee. Thanks...." The comment was left at 2:57PM on Sunday, May 7th.

On the auction page for item #250108256198, fishbashr1 is listed as the winning bidder, which is pretty damning evidence that this transaction is not going to take place and that the General will remain in Schneider's possession.

We know what you're really worried about, though. What will become of the sequel to Schneider's self-financed film Collier & Co., Hot Pursuit! that was reportedly going to be financed by the sale of John's General Lee? It's in fate's hands now.

Thanks for the tip, WiZZla!

[Source: Digg]

Though it hasn't been determined yet whether or not the final bid is an honest one, the eBay Motors auction for John Schneider's 1969 Dodge Charger that was originally used on his hit TV show, The Dukes of Hazzard, was a wild ride that ended last Friday with a winning bid of $9,900,500. As we reported then, if the sale goes through, that would make the General the second most expensive car ever auctioned behind a rare Bugatti that went for over $11 million at Christie's about 20 years ago.

If you've ever auctioned an item on eBay, you know the last few minutes can be exciting, agonizing and, hopefully, profitable. Such was the case for Schneider, and his pals had a handycam trained on him for the last five minutes of the auction. Check out the video after the jump to see a surfer-looking Schneider watching the most bizarre car auction ever in its waning moments. Perhaps the best part is when our man reads the note on his auction that states "Your reserve price of $1,000,000 has been met."

We've also learned that Schneider has likely already driven his General Lee for the last time. Before he had decided to sell the car, Schneider agreed to give a ride to a child with cancer whose wish it was to "hit the road in the General Lee," and the two apparently did just that last Saturday.

[Source: Carscoop, Post Chronicle]

click above image for more pics of John "Bo Duke" Schneider and his General Lee

When we first posted that John Schneider, aka Bo Duke, was selling his personal 1969 "General Lee" Dodge Charger used in the cult classic show "The Dukes of Hazzard" and various other productions, the bidding on eBay Motors was at $2.3 million. The Autoblog team immediately started arguing whether or not the car was worth that amount. In the end, we were all wrong, as the eBay Motors just ended at 1:00PM EST with a winning bid of $9,900,500.00! The auction was stopped once to remove fake bids when the price hit the $6 million dollar range, but after that, bidders were required to register before making a play for the car.

According to this CNN article, if the winning bid holds, the "General Lee" will be the second most expensive car ever auctioned behind a rare 1931 Bugatti Type 41 Royal Sports Coupe that was sold by Christie's Auction House in 1987 for $11 million.

Auctionistas inteviewed by CNN are astonished, with one stating bluntly, "There is no basis in my experience in the collector car world to justify that kind value". We're sure Schneider could care less, as his purpose in auctioning the car was to raise money for a sequel to his self-financed movie "Collier & Co., Hot Pursuit".

Whether or not the car is worth nearly $10 million is certainly up for debate, but there's no denying it's one hella cool car. Schneider actually owned the car before it appeared on "The Dukes of Hazzard" and leased it to Warner Bros. for use in the show. It's even scratched! Schneider put a nick near the driver's side window once while performing his trademark through-the-window entrance. He left the scratch figuring it would only increase the car's value. Considering that auction experts claim the car is actually worth about $150,000 to $200,000, we'd say he was right.

Thanks for the tip, Peter!

[Source: eBay Motors via CNN]

Gallery: General Lee Charger

Click image for full gallery of John Schneider's original General Lee

While we might stop just short of calling it "The most famous model of the most famous car in the world!" as the seller does, we wholeheartedly agree that this is one of the most iconic cars in cinematic history. And when the seller happens to be one of the stars of the show that made the car famous, well, this is easily one of the most valuable star cars in recent memory. Bo Duke, aka John Schneider, (aka Jonathan Kent - Ed.) is auctioning off his personal "General Lee" Dodge Charger R/T. According to John, this particular car was one of the cars featured in the last REAL Dukes of Hazzard movie, "Dukes Go To Hollywood". The underside of the the hood is autographed by all of the surviving orginal cast members and crew from the TV show, as well. It was also the prototype for all of the General Lees used in the most recent Jessica Simpson Dukes of Hazzard movie.

Thanks for the tip, Matt!

[Source: eBay]