SHRINKING ICONS

When he was a youngster, one of my son's favorite TV shows was The Dukes of Hazzard.  The plot was thin, and the comedy was lowest-common-denominator, featuring two rascally good-ol'-boys (cousins in the Duke family) and The General Lee, their customized 1969 Dodge Charger ~ a vehicle which, like KITT in Knight Rider, seemed capable of feats which defied the laws of physics.

Unlike my son, I'm not a fan of super-charged cars or car racing.  But I can understand the attraction for a young rural boy in those times.  When I still lived in Tucson, Arizona, we had the chance to see KITT at an auto show there.  Years later, when I was living in northeastern Tennessee near Bristol Motor Speedway (the Mecca of stock car racing), I happened to see The General Lee, much to my son's envy.  Too bad I didn't get a picture of either vehicle.

But all is not lost, though it appears to be shrinking.  Below you can see an image of The General Lee, back in the day.  And below that is an image of a Smart Car tricked out in TGL's livery ~ The General Wee?  I had no idea that the troubled economy was actually shrinking cars.  My son is now grown, and father to my 10-year-old grandson.  Enjoy, Ian and Ryan.