Mainer’s Charger wins big at DukesFest

PITTSFIELD – For more than a year, Emery Pratt has meticulously restored a 1969 Dodge Charger into the vintage television star The General Lee.

The bright orange car with the Confederate flag on its roof and the number 01 on the side took top honors earlier this month at DukesFest in Nashville, Tenn., besting the looks of more than 140 other restored Chargers.

The General Lee – arguably the most famous television car in history – was one of the stars of “The Dukes of Hazzard” television show from 1979 to 1985. Driven by cousins Bo and Luke Duke as they eluded a country bumpkin police officer in the Deep South, the car was famous for its stunts, and Warner Bros. used more than 400 Dodge Chargers during the series’ filming, including Pratt’s restored car.

Pratt grew up watching the series and said he was hooked the first time he saw the Charger fly through the air on the show.

Seven members of the Pratt family – wives, children, uncles and nephews – spent four days at DukesFest, gathering autographs from the stars of the television series, “The Dukes of Hazzard,” and showing off Pratt’s restored vehicle, which was honored by other drivers and car owners as the best at the show.

“Many of the cars that were there are driven on the roads, fixed up in backyards and home garages. Mine was rare because it was a professional restoration,” Pratt said last week.

“We came in under everyone’s radar,” he said. “When we dropped our ramp and let that car out of the trailer it was like taking a diamond out of a jewelry box. People just crowded around with their mouths open.”

The proprietor of Central Maine Mustang in Detroit, Pratt spent 1,200 hours over the past year and more than $40,000 to restore the vintage Dodge to new condition – right down to the horn that plays “Dixieland.”

“You just can’t imagine,” Pratt said, of displaying his car in front of more than 100,000 fans. “There was no doubt I had the car that people wanted to see. It was awesome.”

Pratt also surprised many of the fans and other car owners by coming all the way from Maine – the driver who came the farthest. “Most of the other cars came from the South, particularly in Georgia where many of the ‘Dukes’ episodes were filmed,” Pratt said. “Other drivers kept asking me where my accent was from. I was the lone Yankee in the crowd.”

During the event, Pratt said he made new friends and good business contacts, including people from Sweden and Australia. He also met many of the actors who played the original Duke roles, such as Bo Duke (John Schneider), Cooter (Ben Jones) and Roscoe (James Best.)

But it was the experience itself that thrilled him most.

“On Saturday night, there was a 10-lap parade of all the General Lees and [restored] sheriff’s cars. More than 140 orange cars, all revving their engines, going around that track. There were fireworks on the fourth turn, and we drove through the smoke and out in front of the crowds. It was pretty intense,” he said.

“The fans were taking pictures, and I used my horn so much it broke,” Pratt said.

At the Sunday grand finale, Pratt said the original Dukes of Hazzard stunt team jumped a General Lee 202 feet, killing the motor in midair so it slid upward in silence. “When that car landed, on all four wheels, it exploded their tires. All you could hear from the crowds was the call: YEEEEEE HAAAAAAA!”