‘General Lee’ Auctioned for $10M, But Buyer Won’t Pay Up

Last week the Internet was abuzz with stories about the incredible winning bid for the orange 1969 Charger owned by actor John Schneider. The car, which was called the "General Lee" on Schneider’s television series "The Dukes of Hazzard," was recently a main character in a limited-release film produced by, directed by, distributed by, and starring the actor. Schneider, who played "Bo Duke" in the television series and the movie, decided to auction off the car to raise money to finance the production of a sequel to that film.

During the bidding last week, eBay officials disqualified several bids that were found to be bogus, and officials even contacted several of the highest bidders in order to ensure that their bids were valid. The auction ended with a final whopping bid of nearly $10 million from a bidder named William Fisher.

But Fisher missed the deadline for payment on his winning bid, so the auction may have to be repeated. Fisher says that someone else placed the bids on eBay in his name after hacking into his eBay account. Someone claiming to be Fisher wrote an e-mail Thursday to CNNMoney.com saying, ‘Of course I have no plans to pay, because I didn’t place the bid. I just want this to all blow over, which I’m sure it will."

Schneider told CNNMoney.com that he knew about Fisher’s claim that someone else did his bidding. But an eBay spokeswoman told CNNMoney.com that she had no knowledge of Fisher’s account having been accessed without his permission, and she said the site was planning to investigate his claims. Anyone who places a winning bid on eBay is considered to have entered into a legally binding contract. However, an eBay spokesperson said that eBay’s policies do allow Schneider to contact the second-highest bidder to see if he or she wants to purchase the "General Lee."

The car was already modified from the original when it was a character on the TV show, and has been modified even further since then. Nowadays it has a 725 HP Hemi motor, Dodge Viper brakes, and a roll cage, and it can be driven at up to 200 mph. According to McKeel Hagerty, president of a collector car insurance company, about 20 of the "General Lee" cars used in the television show are known to exist in good condition, and a car bought directly from "Bo Duke" himself would obviously be worth a little more. But, he said, not millions of dollars. Ordinarily one of the cars would be worth about $150,000 to $200,000.

In an e-mail written after he first found out that his wildly successful auction wasn’t going to play out as planned, Schneider said, "Guess I’ll have to have a bake sale to fund the movie now!"