The Plymouth Prowler exists for one reason and one reason only: Boomers were reaching the pinnacle of their careers at the start of the millennium, and they had money to spend. Chrysler cashed in on this by appealing to Boomers’ seemingly genetic affinity for hotrods, debuting the PT Cruiser in 1999 (that car would go on to inspire the Chevy HHR), but before that, for the well-heeled Boomer, there was the Plymouth Prowler.
You won’t hear any anti-Boomerism here at The Autopian. The Boomer generation loves cars, and many of its members are here in our ranks. Many Boomers love hotrods/street rods — we’re talkin’ Model-A based rods with big crate motors, wacky George Barris Kustoms, Muncie 4-speed-equipped Chevy Novas, and on and on. Having lived in Detroit when retired Boomers ruled the car shows, I grew to love these cars, even if I never had much interest in owning them myself. They’re wild, often absurd, and the community around them is tight.
Anyway, at a certain point, older Boomers had to put up the keys to their ‘rods and replace them with something that doesn’t require regular tinkering. Welcome the Plymouth Prowler:
OK, the one I drove was technically a Chrysler Prowler, since it was built after Plymouth’s 2001 demise. But it’s the same thing — the same insanely odd, modern streetrod-inspired Chrysler product.
Look at the chassis below; this was an all-aluminum, body-on-frame design with a rear-mounted transaxle. The brochure makes sure to start by leaning into a bit of patriotism, saying “PROWLER SALUTES A GREAT AMERICAN TRADITION,” before going on to say that rear transaxle’s location is “LIKE SOME FERRARIS.”
Lest you think that the transmission, a four-speed slushbox, make you a wuss, fear not, as you can “CONTROL ALL GEAR SELECTION. The brochure continues by saying that the front suspension — an inboard-mounted coilover with a pushrod-rocker mechanism — is like that of an INDY CAR, before noting that the European steering “in the grand hot-rodding tradition, was refined from a minivan unit.”
There’s lots of hot-rod mention in here. The brochure says the car has “the rear wheel-drive motivation so clearly demanded by classical hot rod high-boy protocol,” and notes that the Prowler is a “luxury car by hot-rodding standards.”
“Probably NO OTHER HOT ROD ANYWHERE combines the contemporary engineering and commodious creature comfort that Prowler does. For sure, no other rodney complies with federal passenger car safety standards,” the brochure concludes, leading me to wonder what the heck a “rodney” is….
The most interesting part of the brochure, to me, is where Plymouth specifically calls out custom-built hotrods as this car’s competition:
It is priced multiples of tens of thousands of dollars less than similarly equipped street rods custom-built by big names. It can be conveniently purchased through Chrysler Financial Company L.L.C.It is insurable. It can be serviced at any Chrysler-Plymouth dealership.
Yes, Chrysler literally engineered an entire car for custom car-loving Boomers. And I’m all for it.
The Prowler is simply fantastic. Not to drive, to be clear, but in general.
To drive, it’s lukewarm. In fact, I’d call the Prowler a warm-rod if I’m being entirely accurate. The 3.5-liter naturally aspirated V6, which you might find in the Dodge Stratus Coupe, among others, may make 250 horsepower, propelling the sub-3,000 car from zero to 60 mph in under 6 seconds, but it’s not a particularly soulful motor. The Prowler is quick, but that cow-sounding exhaust note, along with the somewhat jerky four-speed automatic transmission, mean the Prowler lacks a lot of the heat you’d expect from a real street rod.
There’s also a lot of cowl shake, which is a bit strange given this is a body-on-frame car. Maybe it usb;t cowl shake, but rather just “shake” in general, with the cowl being along for the ride. Hitting bumps just made everything around me feel jittery.
The Prowler is more evocative of old show rods in that it’s really all about styling, with driving clearly secondary. It’s odd, given how much engineering was put into this chassis, but the car is just not particularly great as a driver. There foot room is tight, there’s basically no luggage space (see above), the engine is ho-hum, the automatic is disappointing, and everything shakes.
But I’m OK with all of that, because the Prowler is just epic in its boldness. It has what looks like an Autozone tachometer on the steering column, because that’s what you’d put in your home-made hotrod. It’s got lots of white gauges. It has chrome wheels and a chrome shifter bezel, it has a wild dual-exhaust system, and it has custom Prowler badges on the key and seats.
The view out the windshield is unlike anything you’ve ever seen — a sharp beak, two “fang” bumpers, and fairings bolted to each wheel’s knuckle:
The Prowler turns heads in a way that aligns with Chrysler’s original intent. People still gawk and wonder: Is that a custom?
No, dear pedestrian, it is not. An actual car company built a life-sized toy for Boomers, and they did so unabashedly, even using a Jeep Wrangler YJ as a test car (leading to the coining of the word “Prangler“). We all should thank Chrysler for their insanity.
I have a 1/18 scale model of the Howler!! Supposedly a concept to correct the main flaw of the Prowler. It had a V8! And a small pickup bed instead of a trunk. Somebody was thinking about the next big thing?!
David, in the Lotus/Caterham world they are called Cycle Fenders – they stay on the tires like motorcycles.
The other option on Sevens were clamshell fenders, the long traditional body mounted fenders.
I love cycle fenders on a car. Double extra points if they are front AND rear!
Prowlers, PT cruisers, it was a strange time
Now I want somebody to mount their front Jeep fenders like this.
I already have too many cars, but if I ever ran across one of these at a good price I would be sorely tempted.
I always loved the story of chip foose in an automotive design class sketching hot rods basically the prowler and then Chrysler guys came in went yes him good idea let’s build it.
The sheep in the class must of been so confused and mad. Would be interesting to see what they designed typical melted jelly bean vehicles of the day?
I think they missed an opertunity with Plymouth they had the prowler the pt cruiser came out that should have been a Plymouth. They should have turned Plymouth in to a retro boomer / fossil brand. They could have made the Plymouth van retro looking with elements from the pt. Anything you do to a gen 3 ram would improve on it could have been an interesting retro looking thing.
I’m surprised there’s cowl shake as it used a bespoke aluminum chassis, but I guess there’s only so much you can accomplish with a perimeter frame with no pretty much no vertical components. I always felt they were unfairly maligned, but they stand out as a big misstep in understanding the market. It missed the emotional point of “needing” a V8 and tried to argue the choice with logic that the V6 made more power and weighed less, but this whole exercise was entirely selling feeling and those points didn’t matter.
I wanted those somewhat aero control arms for a build of my own.
I always thought the front bumpers were sorta designed to be removed by the first owner. I wish more companies would put a big dumb bumper in front, that you could unbolt to turn it into a stunner. 🙂
Had no idea this was body on frame. That’s hilarious.
History will be (and already has been) kind to Prowlers. They’re extremely unique, and that makes them cool, despite the mid driving experience.
Now when do we get to hear your thoughts on an SSR?
it still looks eye-catching after all these years, you don’t have to be a boomer to appreciate that
“The Prowler is simply fantastic. Not to drive, to be clear, but in general.”
I’m willing to bet it drives way better than most actual classic hot rods… and in most of cases, faster in a straight line too.
For example… have a look at this road test of a classic hotrod the Prowler was modelled after
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL6Wxibo4Tk
The classic hotrod is absolutely dreadful in a lot of ways… particularly the driving position. And just look at how the thing shakes at idle when standing still.
The only thing it has over the Prowler is the engine sound.
I’ve had my eye out for these lately. I’ve driven a few back when they were new and thought it was fun enough. But yes, needed better noise. It sure drove and handled better than the Hemi T-bucket I had years before.
A old friend of my father bought a Prowler when they first came out and had it mounted on his living room wall (owned a construction company, apparently did well). He passed away a couple years ago. As far as I know, the car is still on the wall.
Chevy saw this and then made the much uglier SSR. They eventually did offer that with a manual.
funny enough, my brother unironically loves the SSR. I don’t get it, but every time we see one, he wants one. none of his other cars he’s wanted or owned would make you think he’d like the SSR as much as he seems to. lol
I never got either of these cars..Prowler or SSR. Guess I, GenX, wasn’t the ‘target audience’ as they say. The Prowler looked like something Tim the Toolman would drive, if he didn’t have his street rod version.
I’m firmly in the millennial-age camp, but I also non ironically want an SSR, and wouldn’t mind a Prowler. If I won the lottery, I’d open a Lane Motor Museum type establishment but only for weird late 90s and early aughts “retro” cars. I’d have a pristine PT cruiser, one of those Thunderbirds built on the Lincoln LS platform, an SSR, etc..
I think the SSR is equally cool in a bonkers way.
I personally always thought this was more directed at the GoodGuys Car Club folks specifically. Basically a daily for a a car guy retiree. the best v8 Chrysler had at the time was still a few ponies off from the 3.5, so I get that they thought they could slide it by, but after the meh reception, you would have hoped they would have remembered this when they went cold turkey on EV Chargers. I honestly think they would have sold far more v6 models if only a special edition V8 version was at least available to use as bait to switch.
Corvette manual transaxles were available when the prowler came out, so I cannot let the transgression of not offering a manual for these to slide. 250 HP, 6 speed manual transaxle and all of it under 3000 lbs. it really should have been a hit with the Miata crowd as well.
If my poor memory serves me correctly, the “transaxle” in these is really the same transmission they used in the FWD LH cars that had this same engine mounted longitudinally. They separated them with a driveshaft and some connecting bits for the Prowler. So designing an entirely new trans, or outsourcing to BW was probably out of the budget.
Millennial not a Boomer here, but genuinely I miss this era of automotive styling, where car companies would occasionally release something weird and wacky like the Prowler. When’s the last time you were out driving and saw a car that made you go “oh wow look, it’s a ____”? (Might be the Cybertruck for me, but that one’s less “oh wow” and more “oh god”.)
I thought the New Charger EV was kind of oh wow, but that quickly wore off.
the only car I kind of swoon over is really boring on the outside though. I still lust for a CT5 Blackwing V8 Manual. though the slightly less HP 2 door CTS V upside down bathtub still strangely draws me in, especially in that steel blue color.
Sorry, too much risk for the shareholders.
Right? My oldest 2 kids are getting old enough to be interested in cars and both want a pt cruiser, hhr, early new beetle, r53 mini, fortwo, or soul as their first cars. They’ve circled back to cool because everything now is just so boring
Wasn’t part of the deal with these that they were a low-volume test bed to practice with aluminum frame/body manufacturing? So they could figure it out before they had to make like a million of something.
I think the GM Solstice / Sky were similar for hydroforming, but that may be the other way around where they made them that way because they were low volume and so didn’t have to build as much tooling.
It’s sad that such a cool-looking backend emits such an uninspiring exhaust note. There must be after-market solutions to fix that, right? Actually, I just watched your video, and it seems more restrained than bovine. You said it doesn’t ride as firmly as you expected. Imagine how much quivering there would be if it did.
It’s remarkable this was ever built. They’ve grown on me (a boomer) as I age. I was never a “rodney,” but the exposed suspension and the whole thing in general is fun to look at.
In the same vein, Chrysler surprised me when they built and sold the Crossfire.
It is an old car that has barely been driven. It probably has flat-spotted tires. You might want to consider that THIS car shakes but you have no idea of that is a flaw with all Prowlers.
You look at this car and you can just see the battles between marketing, engineering, design, and accounting. Engineering got the chassis, suspension, and transaxle but not the engine. Marketing and design got the shape but not the interior. Accounting got the borrowed V6, AutoZone gauges, and the parts-bin switchgear. We got the adult Hot Wheels and I am glad we did.
Kudos to Galpin for letting you trash talk their inventory.
That last picture really highlights an issue with the Prowler.
The top of the door is almost at chin level. This is a car to see and be seen in. That door should end mid-ribcage, no higher. You should have an arm out and a smile on. But no, not in this.
Chrysler has a strong predilection for very high beltlines, and narrow gunslit windows. Normally this would result in abysmal sightlines (Charger/Challenger/300), it has the effect making shorter people (like David) look absolutely tiny in these cars.
Vin Diesel too
This is a great candidate for yesterday’s question about cars you respect but would never own.
Random Chrysler V6
4-speed Chrysler Slushbox
Any respect should go to the concept designers & chassis/body designers being able to get this past management and into production.
It’s the styling, the oddball transaxle orientation, and the irrationality of green-lighting such a bizarre car that garner the respect. The milquetoast V6 and slushbox are why it isn’t worth owning.
Not a boomer, still dream of a prowler. I had the same purple prowler poster that every other kid got from the scholastic book fair and I think that, coupled with my friend’s big brother’s purple Dakota, is why I love purple cars so much.
I’d happily daily one, 3.5 automatic and all. I’d bet a supercharger on that bad boy would wake it up well along with some good adjustable shocks and progressive rate springs.
Scholastic book fair!! Thanks for that random memory. Do kids still know how to operate books?
Mine do, but I think they are generally an exception. We homeschool but my oldest 2 remember going to the book fair when they were in kindergarten pre-covid
I was happily surprised to recently learn that my 5- and 8-year-old nephews both like to read. I had gotten them both books in the past, but more so because I thought they’d be interested in the pictures.
I was also enamored with these when I was younger. I still can’t believe Chrysler went through with building them. And it’s made frustrating how close they were to nailing it. All that work into the chassis and styling, and give it that mediocre powertrain.
I don’t mean to be pedantic but the 3.5 was never in any flavor of Stratus.
My 300M had this exact drivetrain. It was competitive for the time.
Yeah I loved it in my aunt’s Intrepid ES. Even in that huge car it would get up and GO and it sounded excellent to my 16 year old ears.
I was about to be just as pedantic
I’ve always loved these because they captured my imagination as a kid in a way no other modern car did. I understand that they’re not great to drive and lack the soul that something that looks like this is supposed to have, but I’d imagine that I could still have a little fun with a sub 6 second 0-60 even if it’s weighed down by a commodity car engine and slushbox.
That being said I never really understood whey they didn’t go all out with these and find a way to cram a V8 in there. It’s such an absurd car in the first place and had already sucked up so many resources that I can’t imagine it would’ve been THAT outlandish of an ask to shoehorn a hemi and a stick into one.
But alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Anyway I think these are currently worth more than they should be. I could see the appeal of one as a $20,000 or less cruiser/cars and coffee conversation starter but they tend to sell for around the price of a new Miata…and I simply could never choose one over that for moral and ethical reasons.
Also, for the same price you can get a Chevy SSR that at least has an LS….and there are a few manuals out there if you’re willing to be patient. As absurd as that car is, you can do light truck stuff with it, which makes it exponentially more sensible than a Prowler.
Given that its body-on-frame, hotrod inspired, and that you’d think a V8 would be a requirement… couldn’t you cut holes in the side panels aft of the rear wheels for the wider 90 degree V8, allowing everyone to count the 4 exhaust runners per side before they merged? Seems like the same level of “F-it, lets go nuts” that this car already embodies
Within the last five years a boomer friend of mine bought one of these off its original owner. It came with all the dealership service records and the matching trailer. He was so excited to have it and I was very happy for him – he was the target market for this car. He bought it in the fall, but unfortunately died the following spring. He never got to enjoy it, but he sure loved that car.
Man, that’s depressing as hell.
Jeez, way to tell a great story that leaves you wishing you never read it.
For sale: Boomer car, never driven.
Hemmingway thanks you for your service