After my first drive with Car Chase Heroes, I decided that I would return and do another drive with them as the last one was fantastic. The first drive i did can be found following this link
This time the venue was Kemble Airfield (now Cotswold Airport) in Gloucestershire and the car of choice this time was The General Lee from the Dukes Of Hazzard. I was accompanied on this trip by my dad, Bernie Kirby and my daughter Maddi.
As from the above photo, this makes for an amazing setting being based around aircraft.
This is a 1969 Dodge Charger and was one of the 320 that was used in the filming of the series.
The owner Tom bought it at an auction of a film studio and had it shipped to the UK. The boot of the car has been signed by the original cast members.
The General Lee comes equipped with a 440ci engine that produces around 400 bhp with a 3 speed 727 Torqueflite Automatic gearbox, no power steering and no aided breaking.The photo's do not do this cars size justice as it is 18 foot long, 6 feet wide and weighs around 2 tonnes.
I arrived early to sign in, pay the insurance, find out what time the driver briefing is and book on for the sighting laps in the Porsche Cayman to get some knowledge of the track.
The driver briefing was soon after the sign on, then my name was called by the paddock staff Amber and Michelle and I made my way to the Porsche Cayman to go on the sighting laps. These were conducted by David da Costa who is the Head Instructor at Castle Coombe.
David took us around the airfield track showing us how best to take the corners and when to go flat out. If you ever meet David, ask him about Noel Edmunds. Once the laps were completed I made my way back to the waiting area to be called to drive the General Lee. While waiting, I bumped into Tom and we had a chat.
The boot has been signed by the original cast of The Dukes Of Hazzard.
The below photo's are of the engine and were taken by April Essom at Car Chase Heroes.
My name is called and I make my way to the General, once Inside, this car has lost of space and is very comfortable. My instructor Matt is ready and waiting and greets me with a warm smile, a handshake and introduces himself. We chat and Matt takes the card I have and starts to fill in some details.
The key is in the ignition and i'm asked to start the car, I turn the key and the MOPAR V8 comes to life. I rev the engine and the noise is incredible. With the car put into gear I make my way to the track entry. It becomes clear just how heavy the steering on this car is. With a clear track I accelerate hard, the rear wheels start to turn and the nose raises slightly, the noise increases and the torque of the engine makes itself felt. I make my way to the hairpin corner. I then begin to break and take a wide line through this corner. There is a fair amount of body roll as the car makes it's way through the corner. Back on the power and down the second corner where a hard right hand corner awaited me. Through that one safely, time to accelerate making my way through a chicane. Time to break hard for a left hand hairpin corner. Back on the power and then another chicane that heads towards the last corner which is a tight one that also leads back into the paddock area. As I Make my way around for the second lap, i'm getting used to the handling and the noise. With the steering on the General Lee, you have to correct the steering in order to stay straight. I notice that a white Audi R8 seems to be gaining on me. Time to see if the General can outrun the Audi. I make my way around the course for the second and third laps, my confidence increases. Even when driving this car in a straight line you need to keep correcting the steering to stay straight. Chatting away to Matt I take each corner and straight as they come and then sadly it was time to end my time driving the General Lee. Happily, I was able to outrun the Audi. I thank Matt for his guidance get out taking my sign on card and memory stick with me.
The below photo's were taken by my daughter Maddi using my iPhone
Professional Photo's
To summarize, if you like iconic cars then this is one to drive, its not going to be like driving a modern day daily driving car, Supercar or Hypercar as it has none of the driver aids. It's raw, it's basic but it loves to shout about about it. You will leave this car grinning like a kid in a sweet shop.
Below is the video of the drive.
As I make my way through the paddock, I notice a car at the back of the paddock that appeared to be looking back at me.
It was time to find my dad and Maddi to make sure they were OK and to find Tom again to ask some questions.
Find the answers in the next blog post.
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