Cruisin' for a cause

A member of the team behind the famous car stunts in the celebrated US TV series 'The Dukes of Hazzard' will be present at this weekend's Vintage and Veteran Car Rally in Trim. Tom Sarmento has a long career behind him as a stunt driver, mechanic and stunt organiser for major TV shows and films. He worked in Universal Studios as a mechanic and stunt driver and stunt organiser for such well-known TV shows as 'Quincy' and 'The Rockford Files' before joining Warner Brothers in 1979 and, from then until 1985, he was lead mechanic for 'The Dukes of Hazzard'. It was his job to keep the famous car that was central to the movie, the General Lee, running for all those spectacular car stunts. "We went through 317 General Lee cars and over 1,000 Roscoe Sheriff and bad guy cars in 'The Dukes of Hazzard'," he said. Sarmento has also lent his stunt talents to such shows as 'The Fall Guy' and 'The Highwayman', as well as a number of movies like 'Forced to Kill', 'No Man's Land' and 'Payback'. He is now the producer and creator of the Hazzard County Stunt Team and has organised the stunts for Dukes of Hazzard stuntmen reunions throughout the United States. The annual rally has been running in Trim since 1985, initially in a small yard in Loman Street with just 23 cars. Founder Norman Pratt was determined to expand the show, however, and approached the Roundtree family, who very kindly gave over the Porchfields to use on the day. It has grown each year since then and now sees in excess of 500 cars and motorcycles on show each year. It has become a renowned family day out with a lot of different sideshows to keep everyone happy. The proceeds are donated to local charities each year.