Cooter's Exclusive 1/18 1969 Chevrolet C-30 Dually Wrecker - Cooter's Tow Truck from Greenlight

The most anticipated Dukes of Hazzard collectible in a long time is here!  This is the 1/18 Cooter's Tow Truck officially named the 1969 Chevrolet C-30 Dually Wrecker, and it's a thing of beauty!

If awards were given away for toy box art, this diecast would take home the top prize.  The front of the box has a picture of the truck along with the gas pump, more on that later.  

The reverse side has ol' Crazy Cooter himself along with the Cooter's logo.  We all know what Cooter's is saying on the C.B.

"Breaker one, breaker one, might be crazy but I ain't dumb. Crazy Cooter comin' at ya!"  Each side of the box has the logo in front of the diamond plate design that shares it theme with the 1/64 version of the tow truck that was released last year.  

The top of the box might be my favorite though.  Such a clean design that really illustrates the Cooter's Garage theme.  

 

The bottom of the box has the legal info we expect from Greenlight. 

The diecast is securely packaged within a styrofoam housing inside the box.  All of Greenlight's Hazzardous 1/18s are packaged like this with the exception Uncle Jesse's Pickup. 

Taped to the outside of the stryofoam housing is a special treat.  The Exclusive version that you can only get from Cooter's comes with a bonus.

This is the Cooter's Exclusive Cooter's Garage Hoggoco Gasoline pump.  This is a great bonus.  It's a very heavy, solid pump that's 1/18 in scale.

The top has Cooter's logo on the globe.

And Hoggoco Gasoline on the bottom. 

 

The design is very similar to the pump Daisy is leaning on in this famous picture.  There is also a full sized pump with the same topper at Cooter's in Luray.  

The details on this gas pump are great and it makes a great collectible on it's own.  I would highly recommend the Cooter's exclusive version of this truck so you can have the added bonus gas pump in your collection.

Now to the main event of the post.  The truck is incredible!  We have come to expect great things from Greenlight's Hazzardous collection and they did not disappoint with this latest release.  

Like the 1/64 version of this truck, it wouldn't exist without Cooter's Place.  Greenlight has made a number of different police cars because they are the same cars and use the same tooling.  Tooling is the raw parts used to make a diecast.  You can release a police car from every neighboring county of Hazzard because all you have to do is repaint it.  The tooling exists.  The tow truck was almost all new tooling.  Michael Smith, CEO of Cooter's and Mark Bradley, chief designer, spearheaded this project, along with Ben and Alma, of course, and succeeded in creating a perfect diecast.  I'm honored that I got to add a little input as well.

The decals are spot on.  I would expect nothing less when Mark Bradley is in charge.  Mark created the garage set reproduction at Cooter's in Luray and did it again, along with the work-in-progress Boars Nest in Pigeon Forge.  Mark knows his way around the Hazzard County Garage.  

Everything about this truck is great.  It just looks awesome. 

The tow box is complicated.  There's a pulley system that I can honestly say I haven't figured out yet.  There has to be a way to loosen the ropes and unlatch the hooks, but I haven't been able to do it yet.  I'll keep trying.  It all looks really good.  Just like the 1/64 version, the truck has Cooter's SU 0265 license plate attached. 

The interior is detailed with a tiny dash and gearshift.  Again, Greenlight didn't disappoint.  

Here's a shot of the top and bottom of the truck.  The lights on the top and mufflers on the bottom add to the detail of the diecast. 

There is a 2021 year stamped on the bottom.  This truck was planned to come out last year, but we are patient and happy to get it in any year.  

The gas pump and tow truck were made to be displayed together, literally.  They look perfect beside each other. 

These two sides of the box are so great I can't decide which one I like better.  Which one is your favorite?

The 1/18 Tow Truck isn't the only big deal 1/18 diecast released by Cooter's in 2022.  Earlier this year Cooter's made the General Lee available once again by releasing the Cooter's Exclusive version of the beloved Auto World General Lee.  We all know Warner Bros won't let anyone release the Gen'ral right now, but Cooter's partnered with Auto World to release an orange '69 Charger with vector wheels and a push bar that comes in an awesome Cooter's designed box that happens to come with a decal sheet that includes 01s and the rebel flag.  Somehow I didn't blog about this amazing diecast when Cooter's released it in the Spring, but you know I added it to my collection.  Mark and Michael designed an amazing package for this car as well.  

Even though one is Auto World and one is Greenlight, they are both Dukes of Hazzard toys and they look great together.

These might be my favorite sides of both packages.  The General in Cooter's garage is such a great piece of artwork.  It should be a poster or metal sign or something.  It's outstanding.  Great job Mark!

The bottom of the Gen'ral and the back of the Tow Truck box share the same image of Crazy Cooter coming at ya.  The design cohesion is flawless.  

They did everything right.  The Auto World General Lee sold out immediately earlier this year.  Michael has more coming because the demand is high for it.  The Tow Truck will probably sell out too.  Everyone loves Dukes diecasts!  

It wouldn't be a proper DukesCollector diecast post if I didn't bring out some other diecasts for some cool comparison shots.  Cooter's tow truck is without question a main Dukes of Hazzard car.  Greenlight has released quite a few 1/18s since the start of the Hazzardours collection, but the Finchburg, Osage and Chickasaw Counties Sheriff cars aren't main Dukes vehicles.  I got out Uncle Jesse's Pickup, Daisy's Dixie Jeep, Rosco's Plymouth Fury Patrol Car, and Enos's Dodge Coronet Patrol Car. These are the main Dukes of Hazzard vehicles that are a part of Greenlight's Hazzardous Collection.

To think, when I posted all the Ertl, Johnny Lightning, and Auto World 1/18s cars, just five short years ago, I was pretty sure we wouldn't be seeing any new Dukes 1/18s for a long time.  And now we have near perfect versions of just about the entire cast's main cars.  Incredible.  Ever notice that all the main cars on the Dukes, besides that orange one, are all white?  Strange.

Here's a comparison shot of the two most famous trucks in Hazzard County.  

The diecast versions of both of these cars are spotless and I can't remember once on the show when these two cars weren't dirty.  But that's ok.  They look great.

We all know Cooter Davenport was an honorary Duke.  Here's his truck between Daisy's Jeep and Uncle Jesse's pickup.   

Ok, enough group shots without the General Lee!  Greenlight be not make a General, but that doesn't mean we don't have one.  This is the Auto World General Lee from 2012.  It is the best representation of our favorite car in diecast form.  It was plentiful for a while but now has become an expensive collectible.  Cooter's new Auto World is the same car; it just doesn't come with the decals installed.  If you missed out on the release earlier this year, get on the pre-order list for the second wave.  Look at these great Dukes vehicles!

Everyone in Hazzard must be together because all of their cars are parked outside.  

The gas pump just looks so good with all these cars.  We got nearly all the main cars from the Dukes of Hazzard.  There's only one missing.  We haven't had Boss Hogg's Cadillac in diecast form since the 1997 Racing Champion 1/144 version and all of the rereleases of the 1/64 version were the same as the original 1981 release.  Wouldn't a 1/18 Boss Hogg Caddy be great?  Let's all cross our fingers and keep our little fat buddy on our minds because there are rumblings that Greenlight might be bringing us that one before long.  I sure hope so!

Admittedly, I wasn't able to actually tow the Gen'ral because I can't figure out the pulley system on the truck's boom.  I still managed to set up a cool picture of Cooter's bailing out the Duke Boys, again.  This is a familiar scene on the dirt roads of Hazzard County. 

Imagine what cool shots the stunt men and camera operators could have come up with if they had drones when the show was in production.  I'm sure we would have seen this once or twice.  

I think I'm ready to crown these two diecasts as the top 1/18s in Hazzard.  I love the Jeep, and all the other ones, but the Tow Truck is on par with the AW General Lee.  It's that special!  

Here's a shot of all the Hazzard vehicles' tail ends.  It almost looks like they're parked some where.  But where?

Ok, I don't have a 1/18 Boars Nest diorama, but I do have an awesome wooden sign from Cooter's.  I think I got the point across.  I love it!

Here're the six cars in their boxes.  I am fond of window boxes like the General and Uncle Jesse's pickup, but with all the tiny details on the tow truck and the Jeep, I understand why GL uses the styrofoam packages.  

I can't give enough praise to the 1/18 Cooter's Tow Truck.  It's a masterpiece.  Ben, Alma, Michael, Mark, everyone at Cooter's, and everyone at Greenlight made a perfect collectible and it belongs in everyone's Dukes collection.  I love this truck so much!