These days, it seems everyone is all up in a bunch over something. It’s almost getting to the point that you can’t say, do, or look at anything without someone else having a problem with it. A big part of our history here in the United States is being questioned lately, and something that has stood for a long time to represent the South is now being questioned not as part of our history, but as part of our problem.
That one symbol that has a flock of people, particularly in the South, all up in arms is the Confederate flag, better known to many of us gearheads as the Rebel flag – like that on the roof of the General Lee Dodge Charger. For several decades it was the single most recognizable symbol in automotive television shows, and the General was the focus of every young set of eyeballs when the show ran its weekly course.
We can’t speculate, but we’re guessing that a vast majority of the gearheads who loved that car and the show saw the roof of the General Lee as a rebellion sign, and not as a symbol of oppression and hatred. But why get into political debates here? We’re gearheads and we just liked the car and what the car stood for (and of course cousins Bo and Luke – and Daisy Duke, of course). The flag on the roof was an adornment, not a message, not a symbol, just rebellion from some good ol’ boys.
But let’s keep politics out of this if we can, and lets focus on the latest concern with the automotive world. It turns out that the flag on the roof of the General Lee is now considered offensive, and it has been said that Warner Bros., the licensing company for anything Dukes of Hazzard, will no longer endorse anything General Lee if it displays the Confed – er, the rebel flag on it. What does that mean for you? It means that if you have a current General Lee toy, model, car, or whatever, with the rebel flag on it, it just might be a collector’s item one day.
Is this enough to just make you sick to your stomach? What are your thoughts about the roof of the General Lee: are you highly offended by the car, or are you highly offended by the latest politics? We just want to see the car jump, makin’ their way the only way they know how. We’re staying out of it, but that doesn’t mean you can’t voice your opinions below.