Filed under: Convertibles, Etc., Chrysler, LLC.
Prowlers come home to celebrate their tenth birthday
Click Bob Nardelli's Prowler to see a selection of the others at the party
When Robert Nardelli was named the new CEO of the new Chrysler Group a couple of weeks ago, his apparent lack of car credentials had a lot of people concerned. However, earlier this week there was a faint ray of hope as Chrysler played host to the tenth birthday party for the late Plymouth Prowler. Among the 175 Prowler owners on hand was Nardelli with the 2001 Black Tie Edition that he bought new. Maybe the critics were mistaken, but time will surely tell.
[Source: Chrysler]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
bmw122487 8:11PM (8/17/2007)
I think its sad that this car's bark was always worst than its bite, all we sold as automatics and it only could run high 14's in the 1/4, like the early SSR's it should have been quicker and had a stick, i still think its a good looking car though.
Reply
Jon 10:16PM (8/17/2007)
What the heck are you trying to say?
bmw122487 10:19PM (8/17/2007)
i'm trying to say it was a great idea with so so execution, a great looking car with not so great performance.
MikeW 2:51PM (8/18/2007)
4 speed automatics sucked a decade ago.
JATCO & MB had 5 speed autos in 1989, ZF in 1990.
Over a half decade of 6 speed autos, almost there with the MB 7 speed, and the Aisin 8 speed works fine in the LS460.
Bob-omb 8:21PM (8/17/2007)
I think they should crash test one of these things. Just for s's and g's. It looks ridiculously unsafe. Certainly unique, though.
Reply
psarhjinian 8:23PM (8/17/2007)
You know, sometimes Chrysler can hit one out of the park. The Prowler and PT may look ho-hum now, but when they were introduced the retro regurgitation wasn't in full swing.
Of course, then they sank back into mediocrity for a few years, then came out with the 300 and Magnum. Before the Prowler and PT it was the LH cars (say what you will, the Intrepid was stunning for it's time). Before the, Viper. Before that, the first minivan.
Chrysler has a dubious recent history of pulling themselves out of the fire in style, then getting either arrogant or lazy and resting on their laurels, only to pull something brilliant out of their hat at the last minute. I'd like to see what they could come out with next.
Reply
Ironbutt 11:23PM (8/17/2007)
I know it goes against all of the Mopar faithful when I say this, but despite what the ads say, Chrysler didn't invent the minivan.
VW did.
They just didn't know how to market it.
JerryB 10:54AM (8/18/2007)
Unfortunately, the Intrepid wasn't originally a Chrysler design. When it hit the streets, my first impression was that it looked like the next generation of the Ford Taurus (which was, at the time the avantgarde of American automotive styling). My impressions were confirmed by author Mary Walton who revealed in her book Car, that the Intrepid was based on designs purloined from Ford.
Before you Chrysler fans get indignant, and start crowing about what great looking cars Chrysler puts out, you might also want to compare the 1995 Honda Accord and the 1996 Chrysler Cirrus/Dodge Stratus. The Chrysler is a direct rip-off of the Accord, especially the rear. Chrysler has a tendency to rip off other people's ideas and take credit for them. The buff books which depend on their ad revenue, rarely call them on it.
To be fair, I do really like some of their designs, especially the Dodge Stealth RT/Turbo. They consistently have the some of the most interesting tail-light teatments on the market. but overall, they tend to steal too much for my tastes. It's one thing to borrow an idea. It's quite another to do so and then try to boast about what an innovative concept it is without credting the source of the innovation.
I know most buyers don't care about such niggles, but I have a truth hang-up, so when I see corporations getting away with stealing and lying, (cough--microsoft--cough) it pisses me off.
But back to the topic at hand. The Prowler was a beatiful design. But it was a failure because they cheaped out on it and put the standard issue corporate V-6 in it instead of a proper v-8. Most likely, if they broght it back today, in the midst of the moder horsepower wars, it would be the tire-shredding hot rod it should have been in the first place.
Harry Ariola 12:31PM (8/18/2007)
Jerry B,
Seeing as the Taurus / Sable design was originally a GM design stolen by Ford moles, you should be rather pissed off at Ford as well. The theft of those designs caused GM to start from scratch on their new intermediates and the result was the GM-10's. Speaking of stolen design cues, the light bar on the front of the Sable was taken directly from the 1963 Studebaker Scepter protoype designed by Brooks Stevens.
The LH cars were not based on the Taurus, but rather the Renault platform that underpinned the Eagle Premier (& Dodge Monaco) that Chrysler inherited (and abandoned) from its purchase of AMC. Pictures of the original LH test mules featured Premier bodies, indicating their roots. That's why the LH cars had longitudinal drivetrains as opposed to the Taurus' transeverse arrangement, as well as the Renault based suspension design.
The Taurs / Sable were the basis for some of the features / designs incorporated into the LH's due to the fact that they were the benchmark for their class at that time. With the exception of their styling, though, the Taurus / Sable didn't being a whole lot of new ideas to the table. You'd be hard pressed to list the engineering elements pilfered specifically from the Taurus and implemented on the LH's. They certainly weren't 'cab forward' like the LH's, a design theme, by the way, Brooks Stevens first brought to vehicles in 1938.
As far as the '05 Accord / '06 Stratus, production / design lead times are so long that the tailight configurations are completed well before the preceding model year, so there is going to be some unintended similarity between vehicles amongst all of the blatantly stolen styling cues.
dakota 1:36PM (8/18/2007)
I find it funny that Jerry B says things about "ripping off" ideas but fails to toss in Toyota, Ford, GM, Honda and every other automaker that makes a mini-van. Dual sliding doors? Chrysler was first. Power Lift Gate? Chrysler. Sorry though the LH cars were not a rip off of the Ford Taurus, the "cab forward" theme came from the Lamborghini Portofino concept (which Chrysler owned Lambo at the time), and the rear wing made it onto the Dodge Stealth.
Chris 8:35PM (8/17/2007)
Wouldn't him paying $50,000 for that thing definitely mean that he was, in fact, not a car guy? In 2000 that thing was like the epitome of bandwagonmobile and they were selling for way over MSRP.
Reply
AlexP 8:42PM (8/17/2007)
Is it Chrysler day or something?
Reply
nosmas 4:47AM (8/18/2007)
hey can't bite the hand that feeds you - look at the the fat chrysler banner on the right.
Preston M 8:47PM (8/17/2007)
The only 175 people in the country that aren't afraid to admit that rallied up in one part of the country.
Bleed them from the gene pool please.
Reply
Viv 8:53PM (8/17/2007)
My neighbor two doors down has one and i want to crash it everyday
Reality Check 8:50PM (8/17/2007)
Now he must be a car guy. Everyone who is owns at least owns Prowler. Just because I own a Mustang makes me an expert, just ask my wife she says I am full of cAR crap!
Reply
David 9:10PM (8/17/2007)
Which one is true?
A. Robert Nardelli is white trash because he bought a Prowler.
B. Chrysler is doomed.
C. All of the above.
Answer: C
Reply
That One People 9:11PM (8/17/2007)
So sad so many people have to bash this vehicle. Ever drive one? If you could get past the auto trans, it was a great car. God forbid the domestics produce a car that was unique at the time.
Anyways, a line of about 10-15 Prowlers pulled up next to me in Dearborn. Very stunning vehicles in person. And they sounded pretty good, too.
Reply
Shoaib 9:38PM (8/17/2007)
I still like my crossfire better...
Reply
Juan 10:09PM (8/17/2007)
A lot of haters in these parts, recently.
It doesn't have to be fast to be interesting. Chrysler deserves the props for taking a risk and building something radically different that what we usually see on the road, and not having it turn out looking like an Aztek.
Reply