‘The Dukes of Hazzard’ Replica Car Jumps 150 Feet Over Fountain in Kentucky

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https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/...205257091.html

During the Somernites Cruise event on June 28 in Somerset, KY., stuntman Raymond Kohn drove a replica of the “Dukes of Hazzard” car known as the General Lee over the town’s fountain square (via Commonwealth Journal). The car jumped 150 feet in front of an audience of fans and locals.

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The General Lee Flies Again

As a fan of the classic TV era, I’m always excited by those times when life imitates art.

One of them happened a few weeks ago in Somerset, Kentucky, population about 12,000, when 40,000 people showed up to watch the General Lee jump over a fountain in the town square.



The event was organized by a local car club and a stunt group called the Northeast Ohio Dukes of Hazzard County. The man behind the wheel was Raymond Kohn, who had performed similar jumps before. Each one requires months of preparation and planning.

“You get one shot at it. This is a very scary situation,” he said. “You’re putting yourself in a life-and-death situation on purpose.”

So why do it? Why drive a car at top speed up a ramp, soaring more than 150 feet in the air, before hitting the ground – hard – risking life and limb in the process? And Kohn wasn’t the only one in danger. When the General landed parts of the car were sprayed out along the road, and one cameraman barely got out of the way as the car skidded toward a row of barricades before stopping.

I think moments like this say something about the magic of television, of the relationships forged between characters and the viewers who idolized them. Over the course of seasons and years they became as familiar to us as our own families, and we wanted to visit them and share in their stories. Since that isn’t possible, we look for ways to bring some of their fictional world into ours.

That’s what happened when the General flew that day in Kentucky. It couldn’t hit the ground and keep moving the way it did when Bo Duke was driving, but that was the other magic of television.

[Dude111]

Ah man!!