Plymouth Prowler

[08087]

What are your thoughts on the Plymouth Prowler? 11,702 of them made, 0-60 in leass then 6 seconds, 3.5L V6, top speed of 126 elec. limited, no trunk but optional trailer, Parts should be easy enough to locate, much of the car is aluminum, 20" rears 17" fronts (wheels).

[Ikeaboy1]

Very polarizing car. I bet most on this forum hate them.

I love them. My dad bought a 97 and had it for a few years. He wishes he kept it. It was a really fun cruising car. Of all the exotics I see driving some 500-750 miles per week in NOVA, I rarely see them.

[08087]

What's making me look at it (a little) is that it's modern as compared with a Delorean, is very distinctive looking, should be fairly easy to get parts, does get looks as not many were made, and they are priced about the same as a Delorean for something in good shape.

[jackb]

I really really liked it when it came out. I still like it now. Even before it came out, when I was in high school, I had a poster of one on my wall.
If I would have changed anything on the Prowler, I would remove the front bumpers. It's the least aesthetically pleasing part, but Plymouth did the best possible job making them blend in given the legal requirement for them

[Dracula]

I don't like the car. They're fast and the speed is fun, but visibility is terrible. You can't see the hood, the rear, the sides, or anything on the car. It feels like you're sitting in a chair with a steering wheel. I also find it claustrophobic with the top up and, for these reasons, would never even consider owning one. It was a blast to drive on the highway, but I felt nervous every time there was something nearby because I couldn't tell how close the car was to it.

[sean]

I don't like the car. They're fast and the speed is fun, but visibility is terrible.

+1

[Ikeaboy1]

I really really liked it when it came out. I still like it now. Even before it came out, when I was in high school, I had a poster of one on my wall.
If I would have changed anything on the Prowler, I would remove the front bumpers. It's the least aesthetically pleasing part, but Plymouth did the best possible job making them blend in given the legal requirement for them

Dad removed his front bumpers. Made it much better looking.

[08087]

I don't like the car. They're fast and the speed is fun, but visibility is terrible. You can't see the hood, the rear, the sides, or anything on the car. It feels like you're sitting in a chair with a steering wheel. I also find it claustrophobic with the top up and, for these reasons, would never even consider owning one. It was a blast to drive on the highway, but I felt nervous every time there was something nearby because I couldn't tell how close the car was to it.

Always something to consider.

[Chris Burns]

I've seen quite a few of those at car shows. I saw one that had a matching trailer. Good looking car!

[Kenny_Z]

I sat in one many years ago while I was buying my first new car. It belonged to the salesman. I really wasn't impressed. It was like sitting in an old T-Bucket, a very expensive T-Bucket. The gauges looked like an after thought and the car wasn't comfortable. I didn't get to drive it (obviously) so I can't tell you how they perform. I think if I had driven it I would have had a better impression.

[SoCalDMC12]

I was seriously considering one of these, but opted to defer big purchases for a while. Very interesting cars. My understanding is that Chrysler used the program as a test bed for aluminum construction techniques. They're fast (but not "supercar fast"), and very unique looking.

Owners that I have spoken to say that they are fairly reliable, though the transmissions are a sore spot. They also said that some parts are not easily found. I believe that NOS front bumpers are extinct, as are weather seals (you may want to research this for accuracy). Remember, unlike Delorean, which held inventory for a much larger production run than actually happened, Chrysler held a much smaller inventory that was more accurately matched to their anticipated production.

[TheDutchTexan]

Prowler, awesome... till I saw it had a 6 under the hood. That alone made it epic fail.

[Totally 80s]

Delorean, awesome... till I saw it had a 6 under the hood. That alone made it epic fail.


See what I did there?

[Mike C.]

Delorean, awesome... till I saw it had a 6 under the hood. That alone made it epic fail.


See what I did there?

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRkVRqsf6fdtD-k3UBBnsjDyDVHJAJbrfsieaSGZgjIufldwaYgh8qp7Qcc

[TheDutchTexan]

Delorean, awesome... till I saw it had a 6 under the hood. That alone made it epic fail.


See what I did there?

http://knowyourmeme.com/i/681/original/what-you-did-there-i-see-it.thumbnail.jpg
^most epic picture to that meme

I was expecting that reply actually. The DeLorean looks like it should have had a high strung 12 under the hood. Yet it had that "puny" 6. But from a cost standpoint, and JZD's vision, the 6 made sense. And from an 80's point of view, the DeLorean wasn't all that "quite a bit of slugs".

But Chrysler, a brand that had enough 8's to chose from, decided to put a 6 in a car that looks like a vintage street rod. That just breaks my brain. So, Epic Fail.

[Farrar]

Within the corporation, the Viper was a production technique testbed - to see if the corporation really could develop new methods of manufacturing and assembly to lower the cost of a vehicle. The Prowler was the next logical extension of this process. The corporation did not care if they made money on it - simply breaking even was considered unlikely. The Prowler was, along with the all-plastic Neon, an experimental vehicle testing out even more advanced methods of assembly (aluminum and composite bonding, for example) and simplified vehicle design, than Viper - it was to have been a replacement halo car.

Prowler's styling was "heritage-based" (Bob Eaton would not allow the word "retro-" anything to be applied) and was to be the start of a final attempt at revival of the Plymouth brand with its own styling cues to separate it from Dodge or Chrysler divisions. The money saved by dropping the Eagle was to be plowed back into the Plymouth brand. The PT (Plymouth Truck) was the next vehicle of the revived Plymouth with brand identity. Eventually, all the models under the Plymouth name would have been similar in appearance to the Prowler and PT. Unfortunately, executives decided the Plymouth plan was not viable, just before the PT Cruiser was unveiled to the public; funds for the revised Breeze and minivan were withdrawn, and the PT was converted to a Chrysler.

More than 900 pounds of the 2,780-pound roadster was aluminum - including body, frame, and suspension parts. The Prowler followed a "Neon Lite" project in the mid-1990s and an aluminum composite H-body in the late 1980s. The Neon Lite was expensive, but only three quarters the weight of a standard Neon.

The Prowler was made of a high-strength aluminum alloy (as used in airplanes and boats) to resist degradation, noise, and oxidation. A new joining process provided the same body stiffness as steel cars, and careful design allowed for similar safety. Cost was still a problem, since aluminum was four times as expensive as steel per pound, which was why the Prowler was made of aluminum and the mass-produced Neon was not.

Because welding aluminum was complicated and demanded a lot of energy, Chrysler chose to use rivet bonding, in which a shank of metal was driven into two sheets of aluminum and epoxy adhesive was applied for extra hold. The company estimated that body stiffness increased by 40 percent by using both adhesive and the rivet.

The magnesium instrument panel, which combined more than 20 stamping and plastic components in a single casting, was eight pounds lighter than a conventional instrument panel construction. An aluminum seat saved another seven pounds. Composite brake rotors took out another 15 pounds of weight. Several aluminum drive line components not only reduced weight but also vibration.

The control arms, rocker arms and knuckles (both front and rear) were made using aluminum that was pressurized into a die, similar to plastic injection molding. The process was called semi-solid forming, and it was stronger than traditional casting with less tendency to weaken over time.

The Prowler is very loud, hard shifting, and hard riding. However, with the full 250 hp version of the 3.5 V6 engine (it originally had only 214 hp), the Prowler feels fast. The transmission is tuned to let you feel the power of the engine, rather than to hide it, so each shift comes with an impossible-to-miss bump. The stiff suspension allows for very tight, quick turns, and it feels confident whipping around a curvy course.

The Prowler is not easy to drive, and it is not comfortable on broken pavement or city streets. But it is fun. How many Prowler owners bought it to be their daily driver? It was a cool second car, as well as a style and technical pioneer for Chrysler.

[Dracula]

That still doesn't make it a less scary car to drive.

[Farrar]

My mistake, Chad; I thought people might want information about the vehicle.

Farrar

[Dracula]

My mistake, Chad; I thought people might want information about the vehicle.

Farrar

I have no problem with that. The reason I replied with opinion and my experience is because the facts of the car are readily available and have little to no room for interpretation and zero bearing on how the car is when used as transportation and the original thread at hand was a request for our views on the car.

Much like how you can cite all the reasons and benefits of the DeLorean having the PRV, but it's still underpowered at the end of the day.

[08087]

The 3.5 V6 had more H.P. then any of the co. V8's of the time frame. So why stick a V8 in a car that weighs more and has less power?

[Dracula]

The 3.5 V6 had more H.P. then any of the co. V8's of the time frame. So why stick a V8 in a car that weighs more and has less power?

Because it's AMERICA!

[08087]

Because it's AMERICA!

That's it, because it's America? The V8 may be an icon but the V6 made more sense, easier on the front end, on fuel reg's for the company as a whole, cheaper to produce and sell.

I'd bet a good shop can make that V6 sound like anything you want.

[Dracula]

America has always had a love for the V8 and tends to mock things that are smaller; regardless of if its better suited for the application. When you sell a car in the US, you have to consider your target consumers; people who like the style and are reminded of hot rods they once built, raced, or owned. Most of these had 8s and a number of people would be turned away simply due to the fact that it has a 6.

So, yeah, if you're selling it in America, you want 8 cylinders and a high HP number.

[SoCalDMC12]

Personally, I think a high output (for its time) V6 is perfectly fine in a modern interpretation of a hot rod. But I do remember the various car magazines carping about the lack of a V8 when these were new, so I don't doubt that the engine turned off some buyers.

When I was shopping for one, a friend sent me this link (the fun begins at about 00:52):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xd_p5BWM1VY

[08087]

America has always had a love for the V8 and tends to mock things that are smaller; regardless of if its better suited for the application. When you sell a car in the US, you have to consider your target consumers; people who like the style and are reminded of hot rods they once built, raced, or owned. Most of these had 8s and a number of people would be turned away simply due to the fact that it has a 6.

So, yeah, if you're selling it in America, you want 8 cylinders and a high HP number.

You make valid points but being I could (not really) have a V8 with 250 HP (actual) or a lighter V6 w 253 HP (actual) I'd be pretty dumb to take the V8. Sure one could argue you can add/change/modify an V8 more than a V6 for power but were talking stock form here.

Lets see if we can get back to the focus of the thread or just wrap it up all together.

[TheDutchTexan]

Why go for a V8 instead of a V6? The soundtrack alone is enough justification.

But honestly, prowlers are like DeLoreans in one regard. Do not buy one if you don't want to get noticed all the time.