I recently came into possesion of a 9’6" Challenger Long Board. Serial number is .67 1157. So I’m thinking 1967? Any help identifying the shaper would be apprciated. The red racing stripes were added later and appear to be hiding some damage on the bottom.
(I will be selling it as I have too many boards)
Thanks in advance
There are people on the site who know more about Challenger that I do and I’m sure they will chime in. I think the guys name was Bobby Challenger, San Diego?? Someone posted up a history on the brand here at Sways at one time. 67 is probably the year and the other number is probably number of boards made. I think Challenger was short lived, so that number could be all the boards they made. That is a sweet board. Nice find. In good shape and definitely a rider. That would pop a few eyeballs at a longboard collectors meet. Or surf it at the Big Stick in Santa Cruz. Pretty refined shape… You’re right about the Comp Stripe covering something up on the bottom. But, they did a nice job on it and it is in keeping with the “Era”.
‘‘Bobby Challenger’’ was the legal name change, of BOBBY THOMAS. who owned Challenger at that time. That board was likely shaped by either Billy Caster, or Jim Phillips, both of whom did a stint of shaping for Challenger Surfboards in that era. 1967 is good as a likely year of construction. Your board is an excellent example of the state of the art, at that time. A ‘‘snapshot’’ taken right before the launch of the ‘‘shortboard revolution.’’
1967 is spot on. The fin is a 1st gen Fins Unlimited and fits the year as well.
Shaper could be Bobby Thomas or Carl “Tinker” West. The brand was founded by Bill Bahne and Frank McCleary in 1960. Thomas took over in 1966. I do not believe that Jim Phillips shaped any of the west coast Challengers. He was invvolved with Challenger Eastern along with West. That was an offshoot of the SD label and later became totally separate.
Bobby Thomas was in business continuously up to 1985, then resurrected the label in 1999 and kept it going until his death in 2012.
