without a couple of iconic cars? “Starsky and Hutch” would be quite bland indeed without their Ford Gran Torino, and a “Magnum P.I.” without a Ferrari 308 GTB just wouldn’t do.

“The Dukes of Hazzard,” too, would be lost without their orange 1969 Dodge Charger, which was famous for its stunts. The so-called “General Lee” also had a horn that played a very particular song, one that has some unfortunate associations.

Jerry

, the

trustworthy insurance comparison app

, looks at one theory about the origin of “The Dukes of Hazzard” car horn.

A quick primer of ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’

“The Dukes of Hazzard” ran from 1979 to 1985 and was made into a movie in 2005. Cousins Bo and Luke Duke, who live in fictional Hazzard County, Georgia, have ongoing beef with various town leaders, much of which could be resolved by taking their car on giant jumps throughout the backcountry.

Though sending a car flying into the air looked pretty darn cool, it was quite an expensive way to problem-solve. According to

History.com

, the show ran through over 300 Dodge Chargers in the course of the show’s run, and later had to resort to tried-and-true Hollywood optical illusions (using mini versions of the cars.)

All those jumps were typically accompanied by a singular sound: the unique car horn of General Lee.

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The legend of ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’ car horn

The car horn’s sound is the beginning bars of “I Wish I Was in Dixie,” which was composed by Ohio native Daniel Decatur Emmett in 1859 for a New York minstrel show. Though apparently a tune enjoyed by both Union and Confederate listeners at its inception, the song quickly found its home in the Confederacy.

Here in 2022, the song is polarizing at best. Some claim it as an important piece of Southern heritage, and others cite its co-optation by the Confederate army as grounds for criticism or even cancellation.

Whatever the current feeling is about the song, two directors of the pilot episode of “The Dukes of Hazzard” felt that it was right for their show. Popular legend, reports

Outsider.com

, holds that they were having breakfast at a local diner when they heard a car playing this tune as it drove by. They chased the car down and reportedly bought its horn for $300. It was installed on an orange 1969 Dodge Charger, and the rest was history.

MORE: Jeep Snazzberry: High Fashion, But Is It Available?

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