The Bandit Trans Am Vs The Duke Boys General Lee, Which one would win?

[humanearth]

The worlds two most famous cars from TV and Movies. Smokey & The Bandit Trans Am The Duke of Hazard's General Lee, Which one would win?

Smokey & The Bandit Trans Am

Dukes Of Hazard General Lee

Updates

+1 y

I used to own both cars (Not the General Lee) but a rusted out 1969 Charger. It had the 440 and manual transmission.

The Trans Am was fun to, it was in better shape then the Charger, but nowhere had the power that the Charger did.

My pick is the General Lee

Updates

+1 y

Hey look at this, I found a race between both cars

You watch and tell me who wins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kW7OBXsXck

[WindAtMyBack]

The Charger would easily win. That Charger was late 60s during the peak of the muscle car era. The Trans Am was mid 70s when cars didn't have anywhere near the horsepower as they did in the late 60s.

I don't know how stock those cars were. I don't know if what the cars were supposed to be in the show were what was actually used. The General E Lee they actually used in filming the early shows had a 383. They switched to the 440 later.

Stock Pontiac engines from that period were pretty gutless.

[SnowedIn]

The Trans Am is going to kick that Charger's ass.

[SnowedIn]

Regarding your update: you're not wrong in your case but a lot comes down to engine and transmission and tires. Certain configurations could push this either way.

[Valso]

Hehe, you wish!
Charger: 400 hp/660 Nm torque.
Pontiac: 185 hp/434 Nm.

Bottom line: bye-bye, Pontiac! Or, as Toretto would put it:

[Daniela1982]

@Valso Where did you get this info? Are you talking 6 cylinder Trans Am? Stock the 68-70 Charger R/T had 375 HP. The Trans Am had 300.

[Valso]

@Daniela1982 The 1977 had 185 hp. Starting from 1979 they made it more powerful. "The Bandit" Trans Am is from 1977. The info came from wikipedia as well as a few other informational sites about cars. Not to mention that the Charger is famous bc of its 440 ci engine. All 5 sites can't be wrong on the same data.

[Daniela1982]

@Valso Yet you hear different things. When I looked at Smokey and the Bandit site it said the Bandit car had only 200 HP. I was thinking it had to have more than that. Also, all 6 cars used in the movie were wrecked during shooting. They went through Trans Ams like rubber gloves at a hospital.

[humanearth]

@Daniela1982 Dukes Of Hazard killed semi trailer loads of Charger's every season of shows run

[Daniela1982]

@Valso But his car was blown and souped up some.

[Valso]

@Daniela1982 The original General had 440 engine, despite the tradition to paint all 426 powered cars in "street hemi orange", thus indicating it's special. Only for the 2005 movie the engine was replaced with a 426 Hemi. The rest (before 2005) were all 440 or lower ci.
I've always wondered if a Hemi engine can be supercharged and how will that change its performance.

[Daniela1982]

@Valso You've never have seen a Top Fuel Dragster or Funny Car? Most ran blown hemis.

[Valso]

@Daniela1982 Not in person. I don't think we have that brave pilots to drive those things, thus nobody ever imported these cars here.

[Daniela1982]

The Charger was a lot heavier than the Firebird Trans Am. My grand dad had a '68 Plymouth GTX with a 440 and he said the best he ever did at Orange County International Raceway in the quarter mile was 13.96. Both the GTX and the Charger, if it was the R/T, had the same engine making 375 HP. The Trans Am made around 300 HP. Since it was lighter it would win.

[TinaLeeDawn]

Have to go with the Trans - Am. Just cause I like the design better.

[Guardian45]

I actually had a friend who owned a 1981 Pontiac Turbo Trans Am! Other than a Corvette, I had the pleasure of riding alongside as a passenger and felt like I was strapped into a rocket. The cockpit wrapped around me. I'm not a small guy, but I felt like a child inside it. It had a large transmission shaft running down the center. The front windshield was high and small like a jet aircraft overlooking a GIGANTIC hood with a large air scoop partially blocking your view.

When you touched the accelerator it felt like you were pulling 9Gs as your head got slammed back into the seat! The whole car rumbled and growled from the ENORMOUS engine. Front engine heavy, Rearwheel drive light! What a tricky BEAST in winter!

[Guardian45]

And a STUNNING Muscle Car!

[TheorionMage]

Much depends upon the course.
Straight and flat... the General Lee for flat out HP and acceleration.
On a road course like the 'Gumball Rally' one lap of America... the Trans Am where road hugging and curves are factored in as well as 'all weather' the Firebird has the edge.

I used to autocross a '71 240-Z and owned a 71 340cui Road Runner. : )

[Curmudgeon]

I have to go with the Dodge Charger in the Dodge (Chrysler) Charger vs. Pontiac (GM) TransAm (Firebird) (vs. Ford Mustang?) debate. Sadly, the TransAm is no longer produced. But at least it became a metaphor for a good song:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/_oTsKscMYnE

[Chazmatazz269]

Depends on the race. The ‘69 Charger is one of the greatest muscle cars of all time and the Trans Am was built more for style than raw power. That’s always been true. A smartly driven T/A would likely take a Charger in the Trans-American races for which it was designed. However, the Charger has all of the advantages on a short, straight track. I’ll take the Firebird, if you’re giving them away. Ell oh ell!

[AviatorTom]

The General would win... easily... for a couple reasons:

1. Charger has more horsepower than a Trans Am

2. The Dukes drive like madmen while Burt Reynolds drives like an old lady, especially with Sally Fields in the seat beside him.

[Jewishbabygirl1]

The General Lee in the movie version has an automatic transmission, right? I don't recall Seann William Scott doing any major gear-shifting in that movie. Bandit's Trans Am is a manual transmission. I'd go for Trans Am over Lee, but in the end, it's the driver not the car, right?

[humanearth]

Actually, manuals and automatics were both used for both cars. The stunt cars, were basically look alike junk

[Jewishbabygirl1]

Cool! Thanks for the info! ❤

[Valso]

I bet on the racist general. Not because I'm a racist (I'm far from that) but because the Charger back then was powered by a 440 ci Magnum with about 400 hp engine and with 660 Nm torque which compared to the low powered Pontiac (185 hp/434 Nm) means the "death" of the Pontiac. The Trans Am was built for show off whereas the Charger was built for pure power and I'd say also for racing, given its engine specs.

[hypojoe]

My cousin had a 1977 special edition with the factory hurst shifter and hurst t tops that car would run 140 mph no problem and i knew a guy that had the general lee both were something from my child hood but im a bandit guy

[coachTanthony]

https://www.youtube.com/embed/1S47tM6Pe0Y

Only thing I could find. I thought the charger had it beat but nope.

[Rogue_Agent]

The Trans Am had a 400 V8 in it and that Charger on the show had multiple different engines. Most likely just a 318 usually.

The Trans Am would probably win.

[magiusX26]

sorry but thats not "the 2 most famous" cars seeing as there are many just as famous. some such just as famous would be the ghostbusters ambulance, delorian from back to tge future, kitt from knight rider, (though a cartoon) the mach 5 from speed racer, herby the love bug, christine. there are more too.

[Sparkie460]

The general Lee would win. It was a 440ci motor putting out 375 horse. The trans am had a 400 ci motor putting out only 200 hp. The trans am was just a cruiser

[exitseven]

yes I heard the Trans Am was kind of a dog. In fact they had a few of them in case one got crashed. I don't know anything about the Charger but evidently it had the big hemi in it.

[Sparkie460]

On the TV show fast and loud with Richard Rawlings, they totally rebuilt the trans am. Everything had to be exactly how it was on the show. They had a hard time building a motor with just 200 hp.

[Anemone978]

I picked the General Lee because isn't the Trans am a heavier car i feel it would lag a little Hahaha I have no idea but that is my guess xD

[Msputiton]

I don't know what this is. If ya take that flag off and change the name of the car. I like it.

It's pretty

[exitseven]

there used to be a TV show called the Dules of Hazard in the 70s.. It was a really stupid show but people did watch it. I think there was a movie a few years ago too.

[humanearth]

What wrong with the flag and name they are both part of history

[DJB72]

@Msputiton the car was a part of the character of the show. Current "woke" culture refuses to accept it had NOTHING to do with white supremacist promotion and was just something that was part of the family's history. The Dukes (who owned the car in the show) would help literally anyone who was being pursued by the highly corrupt cops in their County, Hazzard, regardless of their background. It wasn't a thing back then.

@humanearth current "woke" culture wants to erase the part of history it represents and so tends not to give the concept of "it's just how they painted it" a chance.

If you both watch a few episodes with an open mind - ie not judging it by the current lens of cultural bollocks but try to see it from the perspective of the 1970s when people remembered that Lee was a very inspiring leader, not just the politics of the civil war itself, then you'd see there were no political motivations behind the paint scheme, it was just something relevant to the TV family's background.

There was way more tolerance for other people's viewpoints 45 years ago than there is today. I was "blocked and reported" for saying something similar a few days ago by some oversensitive idiot suffering from white guilt (or condemnation) about a different era. Times change. You can't condemn thinking from four decades ago unless you understand what it was like to live then.

[humanearth]

@DJB72 I grown up watching the Duke Boys and all them old CB radio movies. Like Smokey & The Bandit, Convoy and so many more.

Them old shows and movies will always have a special place in my heart.

See I was born in the late 1960s, and I was part of that CB radio craze, fast cars, custom vans, 8 track tape decks, spend hours listening to Wolf Man Jack and Dr. Demento on the radio, and enjoying life before the world turned into a major shit hole by politicians and lobbyist

[exitseven]

@DJB72 Yes, the world was a different place back then. The show was not about white supremacy or rednecks.

[Msputiton]

@humanearth i don't believe in prompting by repping a flag on my car that people rocked that was used by people who wanted to leave America because they weren't allowed to keep people of my skin color as slaves.
I have no problem with keeping it in history books but the flag isn't something i really would be cool wit on my car.
And also the general lee not someone i would be cool wit celebrating as a hero.

Ya think about it they literally tried to leave America and become their own country🤷🏾‍♀️
Sorry i probably ruined your fun question.

[Msputiton]

@DJB72 it's not about erasing it. It's about not celebrating it as if it was good.

I mean it's weird we frown on people rocking nazi flags, because they murdered and imprisoned jewish people but accept this flag that represents a group of people who murdered and imprisoned black people.

If you want to historically represent it do it right. It is a dark part of American history not something to proudly support

[DJB72]

@Msputiton the 13 colonies literally fought a war to leave Great Britain and become their own country. The difference is they won. History tends to be written by the winners in that country. The War of Independence has a very different spin when taught in England.

Context matters. The show was about family. The car was a part of the family. It wasn't about trying to "historically represent" anything. I watched the show, loved it and never became a redneck slaver as a result of the paint scheme of the car. In fact it was decades later before I found out who Lee was.

It had zero, zip, nilch, and even fuck all to do with supporting the confederacy.

[Msputiton]

@DJB72 it has the flag on it. I never once talked about the show.
I said i am not driving a car that has a flag that represents a slavery. And y'all talk about hiding history but history is hidden. You proved that by saying you didn't even know what that flag means.
Because when it comes to slavery and the American history that happened after it is so watered down people have barely any clue of the impacts.
But your statement makes no sense.
If the nazis won. Germany would see them differently too. But that would not make what nazis did less evil. Nor would if the south won and history pretended they are heros make killing beating and imprisoning humans less evil.
Evil is evil. No matter what history writes.
So again. Because people lie and down play atrocities does not make it less.
Ask the old man in my town that him being lynched and having his penis removed because he helped a white woman who had car troubles would make what happened to him less evil if the south won.
I guess his life would be less painful if the south won.

[DJB72]

Firstly, I'm not defending the Confederate cause. My family were abolishonists and supported Wilberforce in England in the anti-slavery movement. If the colonies hadn't rebelled against British rule slavery would have ended decades before it did in America - just for context.

The difference between the Nazi flag and the Confederate flag is time. I doubt there are any survivors of the American Civil War left, while there are still Holocaust survivors around the world.

Right now you and I have a different perspective about the car because we're different generations. I'm over twice your age and grew up in a time when - especially in England - thoughts about the flags were based on decorative issues and nothing more.

Now I live in South Africa and I've been told point blank in job interviews I'm not being offered the job based on the colour of my skin: White. No consideration that my wife is not White. No consideration that as an immigrant here 20 years ago I never benefitted from Apartheid.

You're right though. Evil is evil. But consider who's writing your generation's history. How will Millennials be remembered?

[Msputiton]

@DJB72 my knowledge of history comes from life experiences. Stories told by people who experienced it. Not from news or or social media.
That's why i know we were still considered by many people especially in the south as cattle that got taken from them up until the 1970's.
I have not been shy discussing the direct racism i faced in my very racist southern town.
But i also know most racist tensions in America is there are 2 verisons of American history being told.
The one where slavery wasn't that bad. Once it ended we were free to walk around as if we were equal.

And the true one. Where we attacked beaten lynched. Had towns we ran burnt to the ground for being successful. Laws in place not allowing black people to not allows us equal jobs. Told where we could live eat or ride on a bus next to white people
These 2 verisons of history makes people angry. Many white believe everything was fine and get mad because they think black people are trying to make them look bad
Black people get mad because they are offended at white people that think we made it up.
Why because school and history books hide it.
Hiding history hurts America far more than it helps it.
Because most racially driven arguements are full of misinformation based off of lies they been told. And are so stubborn they refuse to think maybe what they were taught might not be the whole story

But as for what is happening to you is very sad, and wrong.

It doesn't matter if you are married to a black woman or not.

Nobody should ever be mistreated because of race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation.

[Curmudgeon]

@Mspuition I get your feelings, but do understand that "the Rebel Flag" (note it is NOT proudly touted as "the Slavery Flag") does have deeper meanings than just the tragedy of slavery.

[Msputiton]

@Curmudgeon it is really weird so many people are very interested in convincing me to support/approve the use of this flag.

Just ignore the part of the flag that represented the support of enslaving and oppression of your ancestors.

y'all can support the flag all ya want but I'm not going to support something that is the representation of horrible atrocities.

Again we can make the same claim about the nazi flag. The imprisonment and murder of jewish people wasn't it's only representation, but that doesn't mean it's not disturbing to see someone having it up, or supporting it.

There is 0 difference between the 2 flags yet we treat them very differently.

It's amazing to me we are more outraged by the hideous murder and imprisonment of people for choice of religion.

But not so outraged by the hideous murder enslavement, rape, castration beatings of people being born a certain race. (And lasted for a far longer period of time) neither flag should be something to wave proudly because of what they represented.

If ya want to show pride where come from, get your state flag.

No instead let's choose the one that were traitors, that supported slavery.

But it's weird how Americans see things.
We find something we like, and eventhough there is atrocities involved with that thing pretend like it didn't exist so we can still feel good about it.

[Titanic1912]

The Trans-Am! I saw Smokey and the Bandit before I saw The Dukes Of Hazzard.


“I’m going! I’m going! I got the metal to the pedal and the thing to the floor!”

[DizzyDesii]

The dukes always had a sexy ride. I never saw anything sexy about “A”

[BJP21]

The General Lee would being that there are no emissions equipment on it to drag down the power.

The Trans Am is a little heavier than the General Lee.

[Anonymous]

Anybody else for a challenge?

[humanearth]

Me, I would pick the Charger hands down, but I'm kinda Bias, I'm a fan of Morpar Muscle

[humanearth]

By the way That is KITT from Knight Rider TV show

[humanearth]

A newer Trans Am. I think KITT was a 1986

[Pete671]

Prefer a Mini from The Italian Job, the original one with Michael Caine in it, which is one of the best films ever made imho,,,

[vetociw626]

List the performance specs to help us. This question is undecidable due to lack of information.

[Anonymous]

I've ironically owned both a firebird and a charger. While I loved the firebird, I found the charger to be superior in almost every aspect.

[maximumpower]

Trans Am was a far better vehicle.
Love a '68 Charger but not with the gawdy paint scheme.

[NathanDavis]

bird is the word...

[ChillaxingLove]

Smokey who? General Lee hands down

[MysticDevice]

On tarmac, Bandit.

Cross Country, Lee.

[Andres77]

Burt could take Bo and Luke any day

[LiamJHayden]

The General Lee.

[Likes2drive]

Trans am might have more top speed

[peedy]

Depends on the driver

[DJB72]

The Charger has the edge for me

[gorydetails]

K. I. T. T. Would beat both of them.

[Rogue_Agent]

Magnum PI's Ferrari would probably out accelerate all three of them.

[BobbieBoy666]

Trans am

[Hellraiser1984]

KITT