1968 Bengal Charger R/T

[clair446]

Hi this is Clair. I was answering a guys question about Bengal Chargers and thought maybe I would just thread this in case anyone else wanted to read about it:
I own the 1968 Bengal R/T. In the picture that shows the two cars sitting side by side, mine is the one without the vinyl top. I found it just outside of Hazard Kentucky in 1993. It was made to look like a Dukes car; it had the Dukes wheels on it and thats why they took the top off. My brother-in-law told me about the car so when we went to look at it it had little football helmet stickers in the back window and had the Bengal Charger emblems still on the fenders. I told my brother-in-law I wonder what kid stuck these on there, but when I popped the hood and seen the 999 code, I knew there was something special about the car because the color was special ordered. I told the guy I'd be back in a little bit, went into Hazard, called Galon on the phone, and asked him whats a Bengal Charger? He said "is it an R/T?" I said yes. He said over twenty years now nobody knew what happened to them. I just found the only R/T that was known to exist. So I went back to the guy and bought it. It had the build sheet behind the back seat. It coded out as 440 with AC automatic with white interior and the sheet said SPEACIAL HANDLING JOB at the bottom of it. The other three documented Bengals all have black interior. I took it to the Nats right after I bought it and then tucked it away for thirteen years while raising kids and building a house. Then last year, I had the car disassembled and bead blasted. Its a rolling shell right now. I've been gathering NOS parts all along for rotisseri restoration. I'm still looking for the NOS right trunk extension and lower NOS cap at the bottom of the right quarter panel. If anybody has these parts, I'd really appreciate a call, 1-810-908-3812. Also, as for the other three documented cars, the 383 car was resently restored and is in Texas, the 318 car with the low miles was sold to a guy in Missouri, and the 318 car in Saskatchewan Canada was nicely redone into a R/T clone. That's the one next to the jet.

[70 Charger RT]

Nice find.  Where did your picture go?

[Charger74]

Awesome Claire, pictures would be nice.  Glad to hear more about this car and welcome to the Site.

[70 Charger RT]

Never mind.  I found the other post.

[Back N Black]

Awesome find! and welcome aboard.

[68 BENGAL R/T]

Well, it looks like it's time for some of the unknown '68 BENGAL Charger owners to finally come out!
    I too own a '68 Bengal Charger 440 R/T.  It is a 440 R/T auto/console with a black vinyl top and black
interior and it is about 95% original.  I have the same documentation that Clair discribed: 999 codes on
the fender tag and a build sheet from the interior that says SPEACIAL HANDLING JOB AND lists the options.
    Quite a few years ago I tried to get in contact with Jeff Warner, the guy who auctioned the car a few years
ago, to try to get a book he wrote about the information he collected about the cars and how he restored
his but I never was able to get it. I also believe I may have had a call from you to Clair.
    The first time I saw my Charger I was 11 years old and my cousin, who two houses away from me, came home
with his 17 year old new girlfriend in a beautiful Orange '68 Charger.  2 years later, her father got her a '72 Charger
and my cousin bought the '68.  I saw the car every day for the next 4 years.  When I turned 16 he let me drive it!
My cousin got a job on the east coast and he needed to sell the car.  I bought the car from him on my 17th
birhtday for $650. I have owned it for 31 years.
    I too have been busy wife, kids, house, job ...,  but now its finally about time to get serious about restoring my car.
I haven't really started anything yet, but I hope to start in the next year or so.   

[Brock Samson]

 Well welcome aboard!!  we take pics in exchange for info...

  beware though, this site is habit forming! 

I have a Bengal too,..
  only it's inside my Charger...   

[BMOTOXSTAR]

 

[69Coronet]

Whats a Bengal Charger?

[Ghoste]

Another Bengal owner in the same day?  Too cool.  Good to have you both here. 

[BMOTOXSTAR]

Question is, where are the pic's?

[2fast4u]

                                     

[69bronzeT5]

Whats a Bengal Charger?

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".

[SnoPro440]

I have never heard of a Bengal Charger before joining this site and I have been a member for a couple years, I just don't post a lot.  These kinds of finds are great.  Just like the Dick Landy 70 Charger.  I really want to see some pics of these cars.  Please post'em. 

[Brock Samson]

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php?action=search2
 


http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,32703.0.html     

[68charger383]

Looks like they make mini Bengals


http://cgi.ebay.com/ERTL-CAMPBELLS-68-BENGAL-CHARGER-R-Ts-2-CAR-SET-LE_W0QQitemZ110166582157QQihZ001QQcategoryZ47188QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Red Ram]

Had some Bengal Bites for lunch yesterday 

[Charger-Bodie]

Had some Bengal Bites for lunch yesterday 

[BMOTOXSTAR]

Seems like these new posts on the Charger are a bunch of poooop!