understeer & plowing was no problem for the Duke boys; they were mostly on dirt roads & just drifted it anyways

Dodge charger is such a beautiful car.

Might be an older video, but I have to mention; these cars had good power at the time, but also, they were absolutely wonderful to modify. A new cam, exhaust and larger carb with some fiddling would bump the power figures exponentially to wacky amounts of horsepower. That's what people loved, how easy it was to tune and the large displacement meant anything you do to it results in significant gains.

I didn't need to see that race to know a classic Charger would beat a Gran Torino.

They used so many cars in the 'Dukes' that the engines actually varied greatly. they had everything from a 318 to the 440 in the cars. It all depended on what they could find.

You really need Hutch and Bo driving head to head to make this a real contest!

*"If you can't RAM it..., then you'd better at least DODGE it..."*

I was on vacation in Florida when they were filming Smokey and the Bandit. The film crew rented a complete hotel and in the parking lot were at least a dozen black trans am's, probably fifty police cars and two of the custom painted eighteen wheelers used in the movie. It was pretty cool to see as it was not part of my travel plans, I just happened to be staying in a hotel across the street. ☺

"the brakes are diabolical"!!! Oh how the Brits make English sound so poetic. I'll miss this show.

who puts old muscle cars through corners and hairpins lol - that's like putting an elephant on a greyhound track

The general lee, according to the laws of physics, is the fastest car ever made

Back in the late 1980's I was able to buy a 1970 Dodge Charger. It was loud, and sound nice! I miss that monster of a car.

Oh what a beautiful machine the General Lee is 😎

Vicki didnt like the General? This is why I prefer Daisy

That Gran Torino plowing into a turn...you nearly see the tire come off the rim. That tank ain't made for cornering that's for sure !!!

Lordy, anyone who loves S&H knows it's never been about the speed, it's always been the looks. That's one gorgeous striped tomato!

Love the English accent . Stawsky and Hutch and the Red Tomato .Smashing good fun.

When you’ve got John Schneider at the wheel it’ll always win 🤪

Waiting for her to actually drive the cars...

After reading some of the comments about the General Lee, I hope to set the record straight. First they were ALL - every single one of the 300 or so Chargers used in every episode were ALL automatics. The “shifting” soundtrack was actually the same overdub used on Smokey and the Bandit, and Bandits T/A was an automatic as well. Second, there was never a 440 or Hemi used on the show. The VAST majority of Chargers had the 383, with a handful of 400s. Maybe 20 at the most. So, an authentic General Lee Charger would have a Torqueflight and 383.

This is all wrong. The General Lee should have a built 440 and a manual 4 speed, and the Torino should have a 460.

British people trying to do an American accent is hilarious.

Best race of cars from my youth ever

Both two iconic cars...!! Very cool...!!! Thanks for sharing....!!! Don’t care who’s faster....!!! Both amazing vehicles....!!! Would gladly take either one...!!! 🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁. Both winners in my book....!!!

GOD THAT IS NOT THE WAY TO DRIVE A CHARGER!!!!!

I like the bigger back tires on that General. Always drove me crazy when I was a kid that they always ran those wimpy 235's on the back. Always knew it would look SO much better with wider tires, glad someone finally did it!

I was only 8 years old when Starsky & Hutch first came on and headed into my teens when The Dukes Of Hazzard was coming on air. Loved both show, but I would have to say Starsky & Hutch has to be the better show.

How dare u disrespect the General

In the 1970s my grandmother drove a V8 red Ford Torino no stripe though, as a kid I never realized how cool that was I guess I never made the connection back then. I do remember the black vinyl bench seat in the back that was at what felt like 1,000C in the summer, sliding around on the seat due to not wearing seatbelts if the fake leopard skin blanket covering the seat moved your legs fried on that hot vinyl.

The Torino was not ever a "muscle" car. A sporty looking personal coupe perhaps. By 1974 all engines were weezy EPA strangled boat anchors.

Not just epic body roll, but those front tyres on the gran torino rolled so much it looked like she'd kerb the rims on the flat tarmac

Got to remember most of the chases were on dirt. So why need brakes.

these weren't made for European roads, honey... your friends in Australia understand what I'm talking about.

The damn tires on that Ford look like they're gonna slip the bead when she turns!

I truly miss this show. It was my all time favorite.

they were one the best shows that play in their time it bought back time in my life.

Regardless which was faster or handled better both are awesome looking cars. The General would be my favorite but seeing both bring back great memories.

Moonshine will always give the General the edge

The Gran Torino for the show was fitted with bucket seats because on right hand turns Hutch kept sliding across the bench seat and hitting Starsky. Brings back great memories from high school as a friend had a Starsky and Hutch Gran Torino.

Forever The Gran Torino!!!!! I Love!!!!❤

I'm fairly certain the Starsky and Hutch car used the 460 Police Interceptor engine. The 351 would have been badly outmatched by all the muscle cars that would have still been on the roads in the middle-late 70's. Mid sized cars were being repositioned due to the two gas shortages of the 1970's to grab sales away from the large cars of the day that were falling out of favor because they used too much gas and as a result they became heavier as they took on more standard equipment and the option lists grew, which killed performance. Police would have needed a bigger engine than the depowered 351 to catch anyone.

I now get why most of the chase scenes were on dirt roads lol..

These are the two best cars from my youth in the mid to late 70s absolutely love them

I took my drivers test in a grandmother torino wagon, when you were getting onto a freeway, you had to floor it and started a 5 second countdown then it took off! Like a rocket! It was scary how long it took to get up to the speed you wanted.

How can you not get a charger with a 440 to go sideways!?

Thank you Hollywood for creating a shortage of one of the greatest muscle cars ever. 320!!!???

The story I heard was... some of the General Lees started life as 1968 chargers despite the obvious differences (taillights, and marker lamps) between the two model years!

As a former owner of a 1975 Gran Torino Elite, excellent condition, bought from my uncle after being garaged for 18 years and rarely driven, all I can say is: It handles like a dead whale. We called it a boat. Floppy, undulating flow from the plush/soft suspension, unpredictable handling, etc. The sway bar was at least an inch diameter!!! The acceleration was ridiculously slow, my 6 cylinder pickup accelerates faster. Had 3 accidents in that monster due to having to turn the steering wheel 2 revolutions to make a right turn. But so plush inside! We had a "mafia staff car" license plate rim, because it was big, black and intimidating and could probably fit between 5 and 7 bodies in the trunk (it was a nightmare to clean, had to climb in), huge back seat, and seats you sank into. Fun car, but just for slow cruising.

Bullitt Mustang vs. Vanishing Point Challenger??

Starsky's Gran Torino is awesome,but I still have to go with General Lee

The General Lee was in the :"Give Me Liberty of Give Me Death" episode of Knight Rider.

I love this test. The cars look fantastic.

General lee vs the bandit would be better

To put it into perspective the next slowest car was a 4.3l Vantage that did a 1:40 in very wet conditions. 👍

Thanks for the nostalgia. Fun post!

Love those cars.. Great memories - Those good old days!!!

They're sure "slow" compared to nowadays' cars, but for the time these were absolute monsters (and for me, they're still :D)

Great vid!! Those old, beautiful beasts were not really made to corner.....at all!!!....LOL But both great cars. Both great shows! But I'm old....LOL

I like the tire setup on this General, it always drove me crazy they always had such small back tires on the show. Looks awesome with the setup here.

MAN I WAS IN LOVE WITH THE GENERAL LEE CAR GROWING UP BUT I ALSO LOVED THAT GRAN TORINO WITH THAT RED STRIPE IN STARSKY AND HUTCH!!! STILL LOVE THEM BOTH TILL THIS DAY!!! AAHHH MEMORIES OF MY TV SHOWS

I'm not usually one to pick nits, but I feel I should remind Vicki that the car was almost never referred to as "The General Lee". It was referred to as 'General Lee' and "the General'.

"Two biggest car icons of all time." Well, goodbye KITT and DeLorean time machine...

The Torino and the Charger actually did race in the first episode of the dukes of Hazzard

watching this again by dumb luck 8 years later, I am amazed she made it around any of the corners and still kept the front tires on! The Torino couldn't have had more than a half inch of tire left before the bead was on the pavement. Back in my high school days, I had an 86 grand marquis, with as many parts from a 91 police interceptor LTD as I could physically carry, including the 351 and modified AOD. (the 351 eventually ended up in my 81 mercury capri with a T5 behind it, but that's a different story all together). But with the monster front and rear sway bars and progressive rate police package springs on all 4 corners, it actually handled pretty good. The trick was higher air in the front vs the back.. by like 6-8 pounds, then the 225/70's actually stayed flat on the ground through corners. Wasn't the fastest thing I ever owned, but it was a great car that destroyed a motorhome and dodge colt when I totaled it on I95 and barrel rolled it through the center median and literally walked away from it.

The General Lee also had roll bars which your car didn't, that added weight probably would've made it a bit closer.

Would love to do a slow lap of VBH love the pigtails.

That was fun, thanks for posting!

Back in the day when you got a sixties era car much over 80mph you knew it. Going over 100 mph was the stuff of legend. I just came back from New York City in my four cylinder Accord Sport. I drove past a speed trap and when I looked at my speedo I was going 85. (I thought I was driving the speed limit, LOL). New cars are heads and shoulders above the old ones. Luckily the Statie was on his phone.

The non smog 1969 440 Charger is bound to be faster that the smog motor 460 Torino with the added weight of 5 MPH bumpers. And the fact that the studio trashed over 300 Chargers just pisses me off.

Great episode! I grew up watching these cars on TV but looking at them now really makes me appreciate the modern advancements in car design and engineering. Well done!

No one can beat rawness of American cars

My family owned auto wrecking yards in Orange County California ... My Dad knew the Hollywood Studios well and we were tasked with keeping the producers rich with these Chargers and spares . Dad personally had me stocking those "Turbine" wheels . Considering that almost every jump destroyed suspension and body parts , I stayed fairly busy . Most of the "jump cars" were sans engine and transmission and if the camera angle warranted an "up-shot" , a show engine and exaust were fashioned , sometimes with a fake driveshaft....though it was rare , some jump car actually drove to their demise !

Never dis the General!!

The Gerneral Lee was a 4 speed manual, but I'm still glad to see the race.

Now we just need to see BA’s van from the A-team race

Two of my favourite TV cars of all time! I'm totally agree with Vicky on that!

The General Lee has no competition.

No muscle cars in 74. EPA was making broad and deep changes in emissions and fuel mileage and the big three achieved those by making "de-tuned" power plants. I dont care what car you had that was built in the US...it used older tech that was de-tuned in order to meet the new standards. Even corvettes were a ghost of what they had been. We went from super muscle cars of the 60's and maybe 71/72 to pathetic lead sleds until sometime in the 90's when manufacturers hit the curve and started to use electronic fuel injections and other digital wonders to put tremendous HP into our vehicles while still achieving even more stringent EPA standards. As far as the brakes on the '69...likely these are front drum unless you got the optional disc...and no, neither car was built to be a road racer. The Charger was a straight line muscle car. Torino of '74 was nothing more than a show piece sadly....meant to do the double nickle on the interstate.

Was thinking about doing a Smokey and the Bandit T/A restoration. And I ran across a Smokey car someone had done! Really cool. Would have been great to see them together!

I realize by all standards the old muscle cars pale in speed and handling when compared to today's cars but I still love the feel and sound of a classic heavy car with glass packs on it.

Really sad when 'British Blonde' has no sense of history to realize that a 'modified version' of the General Lee was driven by Richard Petty, and with the 7.2L Hemi (not to be confused with the 7.4L 440 which the General Lee had), it was the FIRST CAR to run a NASCAR qualifying lap of 200-mph. Yep, bad brakes, slushy corners and no horsepower; tell that to 'The King', Richard Petty. That's also why NASCAR jacked the rules to run Chrysler out of NASCAR, because Ford and Chevy couldn't beat the big, bad HEMI. Whine enough, threaten to pull out, and you get NASCAR catering to the GM-Ford gestapo.

she only drives Charger about 2500 max rpm not using any horsepower of the upper rpms. This was cruise not race!

HELLO, MICHAEL R KINKEAD HERE-(A.K.A.)- HILLBILLY MIKE, I REMEMBER WATCHING BOTH OF THESE SHOWS & I HAVE BEEN REALLY IMPRESSED WITH THE FACT THAT THE GENERAL LEE WAS ABLE TO OUTRUN STARSKY'S TORINO , THOUGH IT WAS ONLY ABOUT 2 SECONDS, BUT STILL- I AM IMPRESSED ! PLUS, I REALLY LIKED BOTH SHOWS.

Tough call. Cant decide. Both epic

Shes lucky to drive that charger ive only sat in one but it was a 68 charger

i'd rather have the 69' Dodge Charger R/T! (specially for the power and the V8 sound!)

"That was great, nice paint work very shiny'.

Fun fact. Paul Glaser, who played David Starsky, hated the Gran Torino because of how ridiculous it looked for a police detective’s car, and because of how cumbersome and underpowered it was. He tried to wreck it every chance he got by slamming it into the curbs. He said by the end of the series it was just plastered with Bondo. The General Lee was definitely the cooler of these two cars. But even that one was unusually attention grabbing for two guys running illegal moonshine.

You need someone that knows how to drive an American car.

440 powered machines have the potential to rip out stumps. A 440 will defy any efforts to destroy it. You can stuff it in a motorhome and run it wide open all day.If it has clean oil of proper specification and a properly functioning cooling system , it just wont quit. You will likely run out of money for gas before you can kill the beast. What an engine.

Flashback, whole family on the couch watching Dukes of Hazard; don't remember watching too much Starsky & Hutch, just enough to appreciate and love the remake. Film students; Great topic for a documentary on how an extremely popular television show destroyed the major population of an iconic automobile. And, You can even save the day, by introducing the latest model, Charger, Challenger, and, Mustang

I Wish this Program was Featured in Motor trend Is Very Good She looks Cute with the Daisy Duke Hair Style BTW

this is the only 5th gear clip I can bear to watch... too bad the Starsky cone was not done properly, wrong stripe, missing chrome trim, wrong wheels and the red is Viper red instead of Ford's 2B code red.... That said "The General" looks awesome... I have a proper clone of Starsky and will one day have a "General"... best two TV cars ever...

I love the General but I’m a Ford guy at heart.

Freaking sweet!! Love the comparison!!

She is fun to watch. I like her :-)

Charger is boss here, but make mine a '68.

Respect for showing the flag.

I want both of thim setting in my drive way along with the night rider (: love Starkey and hutch have all of there episodes.

Grandpa Munster's 'Drag-u-la' will demolish all these guys on a race course. Light weight, high horsepower, fueled by black magic... Done