Hazzard County License Plates - CNH 320 - FCH 630 - Bo Duke And More!

Did you know that I love Dukes of Hazzard memorabilia?  Of course you did, but did you know that I have a special place in my heart for items that appear to be from the fictional Hazzard County?  Items like Boars Nest t-shirts and Cooter's Garage hats?  Things that would make good souvenirs from a trip through Hazzard, assuming your car makes it out in one piece.  These Hazzard County license plates fit right into that category of Dukes memorabilia, and most of them are available at each Cooter's Place location and on their website.  Let's take a look.

If you ever host Dukes of Hazzard trivia competitions, like I have been known to do, one of the old faithful questions has to be "what is the General Lee's license plate number?"  It's an easy one.  CNH 320 is as much a part of the the General Lee's uniform as the 01s and rebel flag.  There were a few variations of this plate used throughout the series.  There was one that just said Hazzard and later seasons used green instead of red.  This is the most widely known version and the version that is used on the products that include the plates like the 1/18 diecast models.  This plate is available at Cooter's Place.

On my most recent trip to Cooter's in Nashville, I saw this version on the shelf and had to get it.  Buying this new weathered CNH 320 plate probably inspired this blog post.  Michael and the crew at Cooter's come up with some cool designs and this is no exception.  Though we never saw the plate like this on the show, you could imagine seeing this plate hanging on the wall in the Boars Nest after Bo and Luke installed the green plate on the General.  I'm sure Boss Hogg required everyone to get new plates every couple of years just so he could squeeze as much money as possible from the citizens of Hazzard.

Obviously actual license plates have states on them, not just counties.  Though it became rather evident that Hazzard was in Georgia, it was never explicitly stated and early on Waylon said Hazzard was located where three southern states came together.  The states had a war and the loser got Hazzard.  Not being specific to any state meant the producers had to design their own plates.  My guess is that there is no reason behind CNH 320 and FCH 630.  There is no hidden meaning or backstory.  They just needed three letters and three numbers.  The Gen'ral got CNH 320 and Daisy's Roadrunner got FCH 630.  I loved the continuity where the plate followed Daisy from the Roadrunner to the Jeep.  FCH 630 makes another good trivia question.

The third Hazzard County plate that is rather memorable belongs on Boss Hogg's Cadillac.  Jefferson Davis Hogg had a vanity plate that read BOSS-1, and it fit his personality perfectly.  I'm not saying anything bad about vanity plates, it just takes a certain kind of person to have one.  Boss's choice of plate always reminded me of the presidential limousine known as Limo 1.  It's probably because Limo 1 was on an early episode called "Limo 1 Is Missing" where Cooter stole it.  Boss thought himself to be as important as the commander in chief, at least in Hazzard, so the plate fits him well.

So standard cars in Hazzard have three letters and three numbers.  There are also vanity plates available.  Then you have the government plates.  And the government in Hazzard is run by Boss Hogg.  83522 was the plate on every car Rosco P. Coltrane flipped, drove into the pond, smashed, or cut in half.  Boss probably found a way to charge the citizens for all the plates that needed to be replaced each time Rosco destroyed a car.  The little details like making sure the correct plate was on the correct car is appreciated by us fans, especially now that we can watch the show in glorious HD on Amazon Prime and really pick up those details.  Great job WB!

Hazzard County patrol cars usually came in twos.  Basically the only difference between Rosco's car and the one driven by Enos or Cletus, or briefly Enos and Cletus in season 5, was the license plate.  83502 only had one different digit than Rosco's.  It seems the deputies wrecked more often than Rosco so I'm sure Boss was making money off the production of these plates.

Now we're are getting into lesser known territory.  I could stump most everyone at a Dukes trivia event if I asked what Uncle Jesse's license plate read.  Sure, Will Rogers, Milton Dacus Jr, or JR Garrett might know the answer, but most fans might not come up with CL 7634.  Trucks in Hazzard had a different format, two letters and four numbers.  CL 7634 just doesn't roll off the tongue like CNH 320.  You didn't see Uncle Jesse's plate as often, but eagle eyed fans can spot it.

The final original Hazzard County license plate belongs to the person who probably installed all the above plates, Cooter Davenport.  Like Jesse's plate his is two letters and four numbers, FU 0265.  During the original run most people probably didn't see FU and think anything vulgar, or maybe they did.  But, also like Jesse's plate, it was rarely seen.  If the final Dukes Jeopardy question was "The license plate on Cooter's Hazzard County Tow Truck reads this," my guess is the three contestants would be hoping their wager was small enough to keep them in the lead.  "What is FU 0265" probably wouldn't be on the answer screen.  All eight of the above plates are available at Cooter's Place both at the three stores and online.

And now I'm envisioning how I can make Dukes of Hazzard Jeopardy a thing.

Moving on to some of the more obscure Hazzard County plates.  My favorite part about the 2005 Dukes of Hazzard movie, besides me being in it, was how original they kept the General Lee.  They only made minor changes like the General Lee text, the passenger side mirror, and the white letters on the tires.  Another tiny detail change was the updated license plate.  And I love that they kept it CNH 320!  In the movie it was more evident that Hazzard was in Georgia.  The Gen'ral didn't wear a Hazzard specific plate this time, but an actual Georgia plate.  Georgia ...on my mind and the peach are present along with the classic combo of three letters and three numbers.  I picked this replica up back in 2005 online.  You could probably find one if you looked hard enough.

Over 15 years ago, Bo Duke himself, John Schneider made four General Lees and sold three of them to fans.  They were perfect replicas except one little detail.  They each said Bo's General Lee above the door.  The fourth one was his personal car for years until it went to ebay and was bid up to a ridiculous number and didn't sell.  It was later sold to a fan on Barrett Jackson.  One of the other three recently sold on Mechum Auto Auctions.  I have a fondness for Bo's General Lees.   John offers this version of the classic CNH 320 plate on his online store.  I had to add one to my collection.  Everything matches the classic plate except the text on top.  I sure would like to have one of the Bo's General Lees one day.

Speaking of Bo Duke.  The story on this plate is that John Schneider drove a Porsche in Hollywood during production of the Dukes and he had a vanity plate that read BO DUKE.  I just love that.  John loved being Bo and wanted the world to know.  I bought a replica of the plate from John about eleven years ago.

It takes a certain kind of person to have a vanity plate.  I am that kind of person.  John loves being Bo Duke and so do I.  My family has called me Bo Duke my whole life.  I have had this plate on my car for about eleven years.  This is actually a newer version that the state sent me to replace the one currently on my car.  I haven't made the switch yet but will be adding my original to the collection when this one goes on my car.  I love having this plate.  People notice it all the time and I often times catch them taking pictures of it.  Sure, it's not on a General Lee, or a Porsche like John's, but people see it and it reminds them of the Dukes and that's what I'm all about.  If you ever see this BO DUKE plate in Pennsylvania, or at a Dukes event, I'm not too far away, come find me and talk Dukes!

And finally I had to include an 01 front plate.  Cooter's Place has all kinds of different designs for front plates.  In Pennsylvania, we are lucky that we are not required to have plates on the front of our cars.  We have the option to leave it empty or put anything we want on there.  Why not throw an orange 01 plate on the front?!