Monthly Meatball "01"

What is the Monthly Meatball?

Each month the Monthly Meatball will look to shine light on some of the more troublesome tech issues, add in some news, and showcase products you need to get your hands on.  From performance to electrical we look forward to building up an instructive knowledgeable database on the not so obvious.  So stick with us as we start off and get things rolling. Here’s a Q&A with Tom about his “01” for our Monthly Meatball volume 1.

; 

How long have you had it, and was it always destined to be the General Lee? I bought the car in 1997 in NJ. I had other Mopars (and still do) that I was focusing on so this Charger sat for 10+ years!  I had intentions of making it into a Buddy Baker replica Daytona and started acquiring parts do make this happen. Then several things happened to make me change my mind. First thing that happened to make me change my mind was a friend sent me an email that stated you could buy General Lee decals on eBay cheap, secondly my wife and I had a son in 2005 by 2006 I had decided it would come to fruition that I'd make a General Lee. The funny thing is the original email from my buddy about the decals (which I bought) I never ended up using them as my body guy painted everything on my car!

Craziest/most memorable part of building the General Lee? Hmm I guess it would have to be two different things that really stick out for me. 1) was when Brian Miller (My body/paint man) laid the first coat of the Code 70 Corvette Flame Red under the hood, I was like WOW that’s really BRIGHT! 2) would have to be when, after the car was painted but not done by any means, I took the deck lid off and traveled up to North Jersey with it wrapped in a quilt to meet John Schneider at a Dealership he was appearing at and have him sign it! He said to me, "Where's the rest of the car?"

There’s uniqueness to this General Lee, what is it? Well I'd have to go with several on this also but one is the unique LED tail lights. These lights are really bright, sequential and the best part is that they do not change the appearance of the stock lenses so they sneak up on people that have not seen them before! The other would have to ne the fact that the underside of the deck lid is now signed by every surviving original cast from the TV series!

This car is a traveler, how many shows/events and miles does it see each year? Your right I do drive this car A LOT. Having a new baby at home is harder to get out to shows this year so far. This car has been in the Philly Convention Center at Comic Con in 2011 with John Schneider (Bo Duke). It was also used by Ben Jones (Cooter) in Frederick Virginia at Harry Grove Stadiums Fred-neck Night. It has been to Carlisle every year since 2008 and won every year. I have taken it to Hazzard in the Hills in Sperryville VA. in 2011. I also do as many local cruises and car shows I'm able to from Levittown to Wildwood and everywhere in between! As for miles I really don't keep track but you can imagine it's a lot.

What’s most overheard question you get with the car at events? How did you meet all the cast to get them to sing it?

What do you think of the DIGI-TAILS LEDs? They are the coolest addition to the car since the paint went on. People seem to love them. Then after they ask me about them they realize all the avail custom options I have with them, like turning on or off the sequential, changing the speed of the sequential with the additional adjustable electronic flashed module that was added. The other thing that’s really cool is that there is no additional "box" or "brain" these things are all self-contained. It's only a small circuit board that is in place of the bulbs! 

What’s next for The General? I want to add the roll bar to my car. It may be a fake with the padding but I don't know yet, other than that....More shows and appearances and events and benefits to let people see and enjoy in what my opinion is an American icon!