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28 | March 29, 2017 | Malibu surfside news Life & Arts
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Ride of the Week
A rare version of the famous General Lee
Fireball Tim Lawrence
Contributing Columnist
Malibu resident
When I reached out
to some friends
to find a unique
car for this last weekend’s
Wheels and Waves
car show, I got a host of
suggestions. We wanted
something that would be
fun for people to see, and
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we had a lot of ideas.
But through that process,
and knowing that this is
Hollywood, the idea of a
film car solidified.
A friend suggested that
one of the most iconic
movie cars ever is the General
Lee from “The Dukes
of Hazzard.” And knowing
a lot about that car due to
the fact that I interviewed
the creator of the show
on my show, it seemed a
fitting car for a tiny Hollywood
town. So, I was put
in touch with Dave Joseph,
owner of www.galleryjosephs.com,
a business for
representing and framing
museum-quality fine art.
Dave and Steven Joseph
are father and son co-owners
of a nearly perfect 1969
Dodge Charger General
Lee. Steven is 29 years old
and started watching “The
Dukes of Hazzard” re-runs
in 1997, when he was
10. He started collecting
Dukes memorabilia and
convinced his dad to build
(or find) a completed 1969
440 Charger General Lee.
According to Dave, the
first one was purchased
from a guy in Tennessee
and was a “bucket
of bolts.” It had to be
returned.
“After a year passed and
we were no longer gunshy,
we found a builder
in San Diego and gave
him a deposit to build us a
perfect General Lee,” Dave
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Called “Her Deepness” by the New Yorker and the New
York Times and “Living Legend” by the Library of Congress
said.
“He was behind on
getting his cars built for
others, and was having
difficulties. We got the car
incomplete about halfway
to go and invested a lot if
time and money to get it
to where it is today. We
love it so much and have
made many friends going
to Starcar Central events
(our club) and shows that
we wouldn’t sell it for a
million dollars.”
Most General Lee cars
are variations on the original,
although the originals
were spray canned with
orange paint and crashed
not too long after. To find
or create one as a perceived
perfect version is
pretty rare.
But Dave goes on with
more cool info: “My boys
Derek and Steven, are special
needs and very loving
guys. As a family, we have
bonded when we do events
as we did at the Hollywood
Christmas Parade this last
holiday. Steven was smiling
like a Cheshire Cat,
waving at onlookers lining
Hollywood Boulevard and
the Red Carpet.
“Halfway through the
parade, the Dixie horn
blared. ‘Dad you’re too
heavy on the Dixie horn,’
said Steven. I had to
replace the compressor
as I had blown it out by
sounding off too much. But
it was worth it to see the
smiling and laughing faces
while we passed by.”
In regards to the Confederate
flag, Dave hasn’t
gotten one bad vibe or
comment in 11 years. And
being a point of contention
for some with the flag, we
can in this town especially
see that this car is simply
a film character and no
different than any other.
And underneath that skin
lies a classic that just about
any car guy would dream
of having.
Big thanks to Dave for
visiting us and bringing his
hero car.
This begs the question,
What is your favorite
movie car? Leave me a
comment on my website
and we may bring it to the
next show!
Want to be featured in Ride
of the Week? Send Fireball
an email at askfireball@
fireballtim.com.
Wednesday
APRIL
12
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Elkins Auditorium
Pepperdine University
www.MalibuCity.org/LibrarySpeakers
Dave Joseph and his famed General Lee were among attendees of the recent Wheels
and Waves car show. Photo Submitted