Jerry Elijah Rushing (September 1, 1937 – July 23, 2017) was an American best known for his years as a bootlegger or "moonrunner" (moonshine runner, "running" being a form of smuggling).
The car was eventually abandoned when it ran out of fuel during a chase, was sold from a police impound into the private collector's market, and has since been restored by Lawrence Wolfel.
Waldron would later use these interviews, along with his own experiences growing up in Kentucky, as material for the 1975 B-movie Moonrunners, which would go on to be reworked as the basis for the TV series The Dukes of Hazzard (1979–1985).
Rushing was not credited for the biographical details he claims were recreated in both works, and sued for royalties, receiving an undisclosed settlement.
Rushing had understood the performance to be the start of a recurring role, return in part for his supplying creative material from his experiences, but it was the only time the character was ever seen or mentioned.