1968 "Bengal" Dodge Charger

[iangilly]

A bit of a long read but, I figured this be a good post with football starting back up. In 1968 the Cincinnati bengals were a new NLF team and local Cincinnati dodge dealer Tom Kneer was very excited to celebrate his city's new team. So he decided to order 50 of the newly redesigned dodge chargers in a special "bengal orange" Chrysler said they'd throw 50 rump stripes on the cars for free since it was a non standard color and he bought so many. It also featured  a special emblem on the fenders. They came with mostly 318s and 383s and couple were R/Ts. These were the only 68' charger ever in orange from the factory that year and only 3 are known to survive today. I've lived in Cincinnati my who life and when I got into cars and found out about these rare chargers I knew I'd have to build one for myself. A few  Years ago I built a "Dirty Mary, crazy Larry" charger and needed decals and ordered from Keith Marks.  When the decals arrived I was surprised to learn they had the bengals fender decals! I took it as a sign and set about building my own. I used the revell 1969 charger body since it has a vinyl roof. The rest is pretty stock kit build. The paint is a Tamiya PS orange with 2k clear, molotow chrome details. Hubcaps are from a 68 dart. This car has a special place in my heart and turned out gorgeous. 

[michelle]

very nice work 

[Rattlecan Dan]

Interesting story. Very nice-looking build.

[bondo bill]

very cool build-Go Lions

[Bainford]

Beautiful Charger. A fitting tribute to a rare model, and to your home town. The '68 looks great in orange. Very nice work. 

[Hard_2_Handle_454]

Looks great

[rrb124@sbcglobal.net]

Great looking model in a great color!

Like the story. 

[catpack68]

Very nice work!?

[ncbuckeye67]

That's a great story for an excellent build! I'm originally from Ohio (Sandusky) myself, and never knew of this.

[Nicholas]

very nice build!

[Jim B]

Great looking Charger.  That's a nice story. too.  Always interesting to learn about unique vehicles.  Wonder how much these cars are worth today?

[ChrisR]

Very nice!

[MeatMan]

Beautiful build Ian!

Browns fan myself but I got folks in Cincy so I root for them when I'm not rooting for the Brownies ?.

[spencer1984]

Excellent work on this! I had never heard of the Bengal Chargers before, thanks for sharing that bit of history.

[XYHARRY]

Really nice 'Bengal Charger' there Ian, your panel line work is perfect. Chrysler Australia had a special edition 1976 Valiant Charger (200 made) called 'White knight Special', very rare and valuable as would be the Bengal Charger. Really well done and thanks for sharing. 

Cheers, 

David. ??

1976 Chrysler Valiant Charger 'White Knight Special'

[lordairgtar]

I love these regional specials. I think every major city had some dealer ordering or converting a car to local character. I know Milwaukee had some Chevy Impalas decked out with white pearl paint, gold striping and vinyl padded half tops.  Amc had some regional Rebel Station wagons out there.

[espo]

Beautiful looking color and finish. The background information makes this just that much more interesting. In addition to the body trim, your engine and chassis detailing looks very realistic for a new car. 

[karbuildr]

Very well done build. I think you really did the car and your hometown justice with this build. I'm actually old enough to remember a lot of these regional specials from back in the day. Yours looks great in orange with black vinyl. I especially like the 68 Dart hubcaps, nice touch.

[Supernurd]

Superb!  ?

[Gustavo Reis]

Beautiful. 

[slusher]

Beautiful Charger!

[ea0863]

Fantastic story, and a beautiful build! Thanks for sharing both with us.

[charger74]

Very well done

[PappyD340]

Outstanding Charger, very well done!

[NYLIBUD]

One of the coolest Chargers ever built..Great job.