Fifth Gear puts two of television’s most famous cars through a real head to head, the Dukes of Hazzard’s General Lee against Starsky and Hutch’s Ford Gran Torino. Host Vicki Butler-Henderson gets behind the wheel of both to find out which screen legend actually handles better once the cameras stop editing for drama. The result says as much about decades of TV car myth as it does about either car.
Two of television’s most recognizable cars have never actually had to prove anything against each other, until Fifth Gear put them on the same stretch of track. The Dukes of Hazzard’s orange Dodge Charger and Starsky and Hutch’s red and white Ford Gran Torino built their fame on jumps, drifts, and chase scenes edited for maximum drama rather than lap times. Putting host Vicki Butler-Henderson behind the wheel of both, back to back, threatened to settle an argument television fans have had for decades. It also exposed something about both cars that neither show ever had to admit on air.
Two TV Legends, One Real Head-to-Head
Rather than a straight drag race, this segment puts each car through a proper handling test, something neither the Dukes of Hazzard nor Starsky and Hutch production ever needed to worry about, since both shows built their entire reputation on choreographed stunts and clever editing rather than anything resembling a genuine lap time.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
The General Lee’s Secret: It Was Never Just One Car
The General Lee’s real history is more complicated than the show ever let on. Dozens of Dodge Chargers were used and destroyed across the series’ run, and per longtime fans who have researched the production, the actual drivetrains varied from car to car, some fitted with a modest 318, others with the far more powerful 440 Magnum, meaning there is no single correct answer to how the General Lee was really built, only a question of which specific stunt car survived which specific jump.
A Torino Built for the Screen, Not the Corner
The Gran Torino used on Starsky and Hutch, by contrast, was built as a striking looking cruiser rather than a canyon carving performance machine, and Fifth Gear’s test exposes that gap directly. Noticeable understeer and body roll show up the moment the car gets pushed into a real corner rather than simply cruising down a straight highway during a scripted chase sequence.
What Vicki Butler-Henderson Actually Found Behind the Wheel
On track, host Vicki Butler-Henderson comments directly on the General Lee’s chassis behavior during the test, giving viewers a rare, genuinely unscripted read on how a Mopar B body actually handles under real cornering loads, compared to its screen reputation for effortlessly outrunning an entire county’s police force without ever once appearing to struggle.
Why the General Lee’s Reputation Still Runs on Myth
Longtime fans in the comments point out that the General Lee’s mythical reputation was built almost entirely on editing and stunt driving rather than any real inherent performance advantage. The show never actually needed the car to out handle anything else on the road, only to look unbeatable within the confines of a scripted, carefully choreographed chase scene.
The Comment Section Weighs In, Decades Later
The video continues to draw fresh comments years after it first aired, split between fans defending each car’s screen legacy and enthusiasts debating the real world engineering underneath both cars, proof that decades old television cars can still generate genuine gearhead arguments online long after the shows themselves stopped airing new episodes.
Two Cars That Were Never Meant to Be Compared
In the end, the test underlines that neither the General Lee nor the Gran Torino was ever built to win a real handling comparison, they were built to look unstoppable in an editing bay, which makes actually watching them pushed hard on a real track more revealing than either show ever intended or needed to be for its audience.
Fifth Gear built its reputation as a UK motoring show on exactly this kind of format, taking familiar cars, whether from film, television, or the showroom, and subjecting them to a genuine, repeatable test rather than simply repeating whatever reputation the car already carried into the segment, which is why pairing two scripted television legends against each other on a real track fits the show’s format so naturally.
The General Lee’s inconsistent drivetrain history is itself a well documented piece of television trivia among Dukes of Hazzard fans, who point out that production burned through dozens of Chargers over the course of the series, some sourced cheaply and fitted with whatever engine happened to be available rather than a specific factory spec, meaning any single General Lee test can really only speak to the particular car in front of the camera that day, not the character’s engine as a whole.
Starsky and Hutch’s Gran Torino, meanwhile, was chosen largely for its striped paint scheme and screen presence rather than for any specific performance credentials, a common approach for period television productions that needed a car to look distinctive in wide shots far more than it needed to actually handle well when pushed through a real corner at speed on a closed test track.
Comments on the video repeatedly circle back to a simple point that period television rarely had to reckon with on air: a car chosen for looks and stunt durability is not the same thing as a car built for genuine handling performance, and the gap between those two goals only becomes obvious once someone actually drives both cars hard on a real circuit rather than a closed studio backlot built for jumps and controlled skids.
Host Vicki Butler-Henderson’s own driving background, built largely around genuine motorsport experience rather than stunt work, gives her commentary during the test a level of credibility the original TV stunt drivers never needed and rarely had, since their job was to hit a mark and sell a jump for the camera, not to describe what a car’s chassis was actually doing underneath them at the limit. That distinction, between selling a stunt for the camera and actually describing a car’s real limits out loud, is exactly what turns a nostalgic pairing of two TV icons into a test worth taking seriously rather than just another clip trading on old reruns. Years later, it still gives fans of both shows something concrete to argue about beyond nostalgia alone. That is a rare feat for reruns this old.
Watch the full video and tell us what you think, comments are open below.
Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Related posts:
5 Fantastic Muscle Cars For Under $5,000
What Does “Mopar” Mean?
Rare Double COPO 1969 Camaro 427 V8 425 HP Muscle Car from Berger Chevrolet
1971 Dodge Challenger 383 – vintage road test
Dodge Charger Daytona vs. Stock Charger vs. Hellcat: Wind Tunnel
HEMI Engine – Explained
THIS TERRIFYING 70S CRASH SAFETY VIDEO SHOWS HOW FAR CARS HAVE COME
Massive Barn Find, Join us as We Take a Walk Through Classic Cars, Been Sitting For 25 Years
FOUND: 1985 IROC Z28 BRAND NEW!!!!!!
Sleepers! Muscle Cars That Are Faster Than They Look! Muscle Car of the Week Video Episode 215 V8TV
Torino
Mopar
The general
The General of course
The general ,ofc!
General. DoH was arguably my favorite show as a kid when it was on. S&H were a few years before my time.
the General
General Lee!!!!!!!!!!!
General Lee Mopar or no car
The charger of course, the uuuugglly Torino isn’t even in the same class, but if I had a orange general Lee very soon it would be painted, and not a general Lee, I’m strictly mopar, but you see so many general Lee’s they are like a clowns car !
General Lee.
Torino!!! Tired of seeing General Lee’s!!!
I agree
Interesting point. I was going to say Charger but I’m 50/50 now. Thanks a lot!
General
Mopar
The Gran Torino
Red Torino, with a 429 SUPER COBRA Jet.
Oh yes
they did not use 429 engine,they used 351 ,400 or 460 CU.
I should have said put a 429 in the Torino.
To hard so ill take both..
Good Answer!
Torino.
Charger
The general.
General Lee
The General Lee of course because it’s the General Lee and also because I love these old Chargers
They fucked up that charger
The general !!!
Starsky& Hutch! TorinoBaby! Love Chargers Too Though!
Ugliest year Torino ever made.
The General!
Starsky & Hutch. I’m so sick of the General Lee, you see that one all the time
What a dumb Friggen question.
fact: they used 1974-1976 torinos in the show with 351, 360,400,460 cubic inch motors,the 360 motor was beefed up to 435 hp. special rear axel for higher excelleration
360 was a truck engine
You’re partly right. The motion picture cars with Ben Stiller were beefed up. The TV show fords were sheep in wolfs clothing. They dubbed in the sound effects. Most likely stock 351 cars with 2 bbl
The main car had a 428 in it.
I need to drive them both before I can make a fair decision…lol
Torino all day long.
The torino
Of course the General Lee
The General Lee
fact:they did use 1968 chargers doctored up to look like 1969 chargers.
Vanishing point HEMI Challenger
Star sky &Hutch
Both
That’s some serious body role on that Torino, both cars are just to big, I like pony cars!!!!
Lee.
I
Like them both but my first car was a torino. I go with torino
Loved both shows but I loved the 69 Dodge Charger!
was great shows with great cars
Charger hands down. ..incredible style..probably one of the top 5 best designs ever!!
The General Lee of course…..
The General Lee the Charger.
Both were well like car shows okay but I’m a mopar fan okay.
General, but want both icons.
General Lee!!
Both are nice cars but leaning more for the Torino!
General lee…no comparison
Torino would get smoked. End of the story.
The General, of course!
The general……
Mopar……no contest.
Gran Torino
The Gran Torino all the way.
The General Lee all day long
the general lee looks meaner and more cultural
General Lee always.
That was kool
Ford Starsky and hutch
Charger.
General Lee!
One is cool, the other is a Ford. I would take the Dodge.
There is No comparison! The Charger was designed to be a fast car and the Torino was not!
No comparison anyway,
The reason why I would be picking the Ford Grand Torino as well!
The General all day long.
The General. Not even close!
Gen. Lee!
Love them both. Ford guy, but I’d take one of each!!
General Lee, every-time!
General Lee. no contest.
the general
The General
all answers besides the one in front are wrong
YEPPERS DA CHARGER :)
They should have matched the charger with a early model Torino instead of the mid 70s model it’s heavier, less horse power, and not ass streamline, as the 60s model.
Charger, But I like them both!
Charger I owned a 68 383
The charger
Charger!!!!!!
charger !
Missing the Steve McQueen Bullet Mustang. my Fav
all class
The General Lee could leap tall buildings…