CarBrandLogos archive · Plymouth · 1997

PlymouthProwler

A factory-built hot rod, engineered brilliantly and powered by a V6.

Photo: Elise240SX · CC BY-SA 4.0

The story

A defining chapter in Plymouth history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Plymouth Prowler, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

The Prowler began as a design-studio argument. Tom Gale, Chrysler's design chief and a hot rod enthusiast himself, wanted to prove the company could still surprise people, and the result was a production car shaped like a 1930s roadster: exposed front wheels on cantilevered arms, a pointed nose, an open two-seat body.

Plymouth Prowler black in FL · CZmarlin — Christopher Ziemnowicz, releases all rights but a photo credit would be nice if this image is used anywhere other than Wikipedia. · Public domain

Design and engineering

The engineering was serious, and more advanced than the retro shape suggested. The Prowler used an aluminium-intensive structure and body at a time when that was rare outside exotica, with a front mid-engine layout and the transmission mounted at the rear for balance. It went on sale in 1997 and was built at Detroit.

Plymouth Prowler · sv1ambo · CC BY 2.0

In production

The problem was under the bonnet. Chrysler had no suitable V8 that would fit the packaging, so the car got a 3.5-litre V6 driving through a four-speed automatic, with no manual option. It sounded wrong and it was slower than it looked, which for a car whose entire premise was hot rod theatre was a difficult flaw to argue away. Reviewers admired the chassis and complained about everything else.

1999 Plymouth Prowler · Greg Gjerdingen from Willmar, USA · CC BY 2.0

Legacy

Production ran to 2002 and totalled 11,702, the last of them badged as Chryslers after Plymouth was shut down. It is remembered as a car that was almost exactly right.

At a glance