Bengal Charger info, pics and ad

[bull]

http://automotive.press-world.com/v/33778/auction-of-rare-bengal-to-benefit-endangered-tigers.html

I guess they auctioned off one of these cars in 2001. By the way, has anyone ever seen one of these in person at any car show?

[bull]

(FYI, the bengalcharger.com link listed over and over below no longer works)

Auction of Rare Bengal to Benefit Endangered Tigers

COLUMBUS, OH - March 27, 2001 - The Internet Website BENGALCharger.com
www.BENGALCharger.com will be auctioning its namesake, with a portion of the
proceeds being donated to a foundation for the protection of endangered
tigers. The auction will be held on eBay's automotive Website eBay Motors
www.ebaymotors.com. It will begin Thursday, April 5th and end Sunday, April
15th. Once the sale has successfully concluded, BENGALCharger.com will
donate up to $2500 to a foundation dedicated to the protection and
preservation of all tiger species world-wide.

If you don't know what a BENGAL Charger is, you're not alone. Early in
1968, a Cincinnati Dodge dealer commissioned 50 uniquely styled Dodge
Chargers to commemorate the formation of the Cincinnati Bengals' American
Football League franchise. The new Charger's body was both modern in
appearance and exotic. You could even say it appeared feline in nature with
its low-slung, big-shouldered stance. Making a limited production BENGAL
edition was "a natural". BENGALCharger.com was created last year to
document this forgotten rare classic with pictures, exhibits, contemporary
articles and ads, a BENGAL registry, and other subjects of interest.

The BENGAL Chargers were painted in a unique color that came to be known as
"Tiger Orange". They were optioned with black vinyl tops, black "Bengal
Stripes" across the back, and chrome fender badges that declared them to be
"BENGAL Chargers". All 50 were sold before the team ever played its first
game! These unique cars then slipped into the closet of history and were
all but forgotten. Only two of these Special Order muscle cars survive
today! By the time Jeff Warner, a Central Ohio native, discovered the first
one in 1992, even the most "in-the-know" Mopar enthusiasts had almost no
knowledge of the BENGAL whatsoever!

Jeff's surviving example of the BENGAL Charger species is a highly
significant piece of Mopar history. Adding to its uniqueness, this
particular BENGAL is also uncommonly loaded with options. Galen Govier -
nationally recognized Mopar guru - stated; "This is one of, if not the
highest optioned '68 Charger I have ever seen! Whoever ordered this car
must have said, order everything on the list!". Jeff's BENGAL has been
featured in many popular automotive magazines and has won numerous show
awards. It has been featured in parades and at Cincinnati Bengals players'
benefits.

Researching content for BENGALCharger.com opened Jeff's eyes to the fight
for survival of other, more important, tiger species. He believes that by
publicizing his BENGAL's auction on eBay Motors he might help to bring some
focus to the plight of tigers world-wide. Although Jeff hasn't yet decided
which foundation to help financially, he hopes that the press coverage from
this auction will indirectly benefit many of these foundations and
ultimately the tigers, by raising awareness. Some of the foundations being
considered are: The Tiger Foundation www.tigers.ca; the Tiger Missing Link
Foundation www.tigerlink.com; and the Save The Tiger Fund www.5tigers.org.

If you're interested in learning more about the BENGAL and efforts to save
tigers from extinction, check out BENGALCharger.com and the foundation sites
mentioned above.

[THE CHARGER PUNK]

Below is a brief history of how the Bengal Charger came to be...

Fifty "Bengal" Chargers were special ordered by Cincinnati Dodge dealer Tom Kneer to commemorate the Cincinnati Bengals' first year in the American Football League (AFL). All of the cars were painted "Tiger" orange and had black "Bengal" Stripes, black vinyl tops and black interiors. The cars were optioned with a variety of equipment.

As a devoted football fan, Tom Kneer was very excited to learn that his city would have an AFL expansion team beginning with the 1968 season. He decided to build a special car to celebrate the event. He envisioned mating the sleek new form of the '68 Charger with badgethe feline "Bengal" name and team colors - a match that couldn't miss.

Tom found out from Barry Buse (one of the team owners and a close friend) that the team's primary colors would be orange and black. In 1968, Orange paint was not available as an option on Chrysler Corporation passenger cars, so Tom selected an orange paint currently being used as a fleet color for Dodge trucks. The color he chose was originally developed for use on Michigan State Highway vehicles.

Tom contacted Chrysler with his request for orange cars. Chrysler told him that in order for them to build any cars with a special color, he would have to order a minimum of 50. He eventually agreed to special order 50 orange cars with an assortment of options. Most of the cars were equipped with a 318 or 383 engine. He had a few 6 cylinder cars built for marketing purposes and an estimated 10 - 12 R/Ts. Tom's dealership was having a hard time selling the Hemi option because of its high markup. For this reason, there are no Hemi Bengals.

Because Tom was purchasing so many cars, Chrysler agreed to throw in the black Sport Stripes for free. In 1968, Chrysler put Sport Stripes on the Charger R/T only. Since most of the Bengals were not R/Ts, obviously, an exception was made. For this reason and because they were free, the stripe does not appear on the broadcast sheet but instead was part of the special order processing along with the orange paint.

The chrome "BENGAL Charger" fender badges were made in Cincinnati and were mounted on the cars when they arrived at the dealership.

The Bengals were all built at the Hamtramck, Michigan assembly plant.

[Ghoste]

I have seen one at a show somewhere Bull.  The Nats the last time that were at Indy maybe?  I forget now, but I have pics someplace.

[Silver68RT]

A friend of mine has a '68 Bengal Charger R/T - I don't think too many people know about it.  He's had it a long time, and I keep bugging him to get it back on the road.  I think his makes it 4 known examples.

Doug

[41husk]

did they have a third gen model?

[Nacho-RT74]

there was sometime ago somebody acclaiming about a 72 bengal, but simply doesn't look to be true. There is a thread about on board

[bull]

They were optioned with black vinyl tops, black "Bengal
Stripes" across the back...

Hey, I just thought of something. When someone at a car show someday asks me why I put R/T stripes on my non-R/T '68 Charger I'll say, 'Those aren't R/T stripes they're black "Bengal Charger" stripes.' That'll really mess them up.

[8WHEELER]

A friend of mine has a '68 Bengal Charger R/T - I don't think too many people know about it.  He's had it a long time, and I keep bugging him to get it back on the road.  I think his makes it 4 known examples.

Doug

''IF'' its a real Begal Charger, its not an R/T it just has the stripes. They were loaded with every option on a 383 car.

Dan

[70 Charger RT]

See the "Canada" on the jet in the background.  Makes you wonder where the photo was taken

[bull]

Other than the paint scheme, stripes and fender badge is there any way to really prove through documentation that these cars are legit? What did the dealer and/or factory do to legitimize these cars?

[Troy]

A friend of mine has a '68 Bengal Charger R/T - I don't think too many people know about it.  He's had it a long time, and I keep bugging him to get it back on the road.  I think his makes it 4 known examples.

Doug

''IF'' its a real Begal Charger, its not an R/T it just has the stripes. They were loaded with every option on a 383 car.

Dan

Are you sure about that? From all the research I've done there's nothing I've found that says there weren't any R/Ts. It's just that they had a hard time selling the more expensive cars so they ordered fewer of them. Most were 318 cars I believe (possible 383 2bbl). The excerpt from the article above states 10-12 R/Ts and even a few slant six cars. I think I may actually have a picture of an R/T at home but I'll have to dig it up. When that auction came about claiming only two "known" cars I already knew of three - besides that one.

Troy

[Troy]

Other than the paint scheme, stripes and fender badge is there any way to really prove through documentation that these cars are legit? What did the dealer and/or factory do to legitimize these cars?

They have a 999 paint code.

Troy

[8WHEELER]

A friend of mine has a '68 Bengal Charger R/T - I don't think too many people know about it.  He's had it a long time, and I keep bugging him to get it back on the road.  I think his makes it 4 known examples.

Doug

''IF'' its a real Begal Charger, its not an R/T it just has the stripes. They were loaded with every option on a 383 car.

Dan

Are you sure about that? From all the research I've done there's nothing I've found that says there weren't any R/Ts. It's just that they had a hard time selling the more expensive cars so they ordered fewer of them. Most were 318 cars I believe (possible 383 2bbl). The excerpt from the article above states 10-12 R/Ts and even a few slant six cars. I think I may actually have a picture of an R/T at home but I'll have to dig it up. When that auction came about claiming only two "known" cars I already knew of three - besides that one.

Troy

Seven or eight years ago when Bev started thinking about getting a Bengal Charger, we were talking back and fourth,
and at the time, the only documented cars we came across were 3 or 4 383 2v loaded with every option 68.
I read an article in a car magazine about 8yrs ago, that is where I read that these car were made for the team,
and were fully optioned 383 cars with an added stripe as a dress up type package.
I have seen no other proof or documentation to this point to convince me they made them with a /6 or a Hemi that
somebody had stated in the other large thread on this same subject a year or two ago. If you have documentation
I would be very interested to see it, I would love to have one of these cars, but my pockets are not that deep   

Dan

[hemi-hampton]

Heres what the Emblem looks like on my 1972 3rd Generation Bengal. Unrestored original & the 1972 Emblem looks nothing like the 68 version. LEON.

[Troy]

Here's some pictures I swiped off the internet documenting a few of the cars:



And a close up is attached. The car in front of the jet is this R/T.

Troy

[8WHEELER]

That's interesting for sure, I have never seen any of these pictures before, with the exception of the bottom one
with the big block. Interesting that one of them does not have the nameplate's anymore, to bad try finding them   
Do you know who put this paper trail together? was it somebody that owns one of them? I would think
this information would be very hard to come by.

Dan

[UFO]

Jeff Warner did a lot of the work putting the stuff together.He did up a book(magazine size)a few years back.

[Nacho-RT74]

Heres what the Emblem looks like on my 1972 3rd Generation Bengal. Unrestored original & the 1972 Emblem looks nothing like the 68 version. LEON.

yeah that's it!!!

well still doubts about that but is true that emblem doesn't look like the 68 one. Have you found some info about ?

[Troy]

That was part of the car's show display. That one is in Canada I believe. I think I have a cover shot of the magazine somewhere around here.

Troy