Here's Why the Plymouth Prowler Is the Weirdest Car of the 1990s

this is a 1999 Plymouth Prowler it is the single strangest production car to come out of the 1990s and today I'm going to show you exactly why I'm going to start this with a little discussion of the 1990s cars in the 1990s were bland the bmw m3 had only 240 horsepower the top-line Toyota Camry had only 190 horsepower cars looked like this and this and this and this and then Chrysler whose bland cars are possibly the blandest of them all says oh by the way we're going to build this and it's going to be purple this particular Prowler comes to me from Reiko euro-spec a dealership here in Pennsylvania with an awesome inventory of weird and exciting cars and this one is one of the weirdest and most exciting since it's a one owner car with only ninety four hundred original miles so first I'm going to show you around and explain why it was so weird and then I'm going to take it for a spin first a little overview the Prowler is a rear-wheel drive two-seater and it was sold from 1997 to 2002 every Prowler used a 4-speed automatic transmission mated to a 3.5 liter v6 early models had 214 horsepower but in 1999 it bumped to 253 horses so this one can do 0 to 16 around 6 seconds back in 1999 the starting price was $40,000 and prowlers have held their value well this one is offered for thirty one thousand nine hundred dollars well let's go back to that 3.5 liter v6 because the most unusual quirk about the Prowler is just how much it shares with other Chrysler products you see it would have been too expensive for cash-strapped Chrysler to engineer everything on this car from scratch and so the prowlers v6 comes from the Chrysler 300m so does the 4-speed automatic transmission although the gear lever itself is out of the Dodge Intrepid the Prowler steering wheel comes from the Jeep Grand Cherokee the prowlers center climate vents you'll find them in Chrysler's minivans the prowlers stereo is straight out of a few 90s Chrysler's including the Dodge Durango the prowlers interior door handle came from the Dodge Viper the prowlers key fob came from a few 90s Chrysler's like the Dodge Ram Pickup and the window switches mirror controls and turn signal stock are all out of basically every 90s Chrysler so a lot of the Prowler came from the Chrysler parts bin but that's not necessarily a bad thing because it had to if they wanted to make it look like this they had to keep costs down somewhere and now here are the other quirks of the Plymouth Prowler now we'll start with one of the strangest quirks about the car which is the entire trunk situation to open the trunk you don't push a button on the key fob or pull a lever inside the car instead you push a little yellow unlabeled button behind the driver and once you've pushed that yellow button in order to open the trunk it's not hinged like a normal trunk instead the hinges are near the bumper so to open the trunk this is it this is the only way to get into the trunk and a Plymouth Prowler now once you're inside the trunk you'll find that there's really not all that much room here although it could be worse the convertible top for example doesn't really take up any space at all up front you'll find the single craziest thing about the Prowler and that is these front fenders tires and wheels when you turn the steering wheel the front fenders which are separate from the vehicle actually turn with it so when you turn the car you're also turning bodywork even stranger when you're sitting in the driver's seat you can see the bodywork turn on this side of the car while you're making a turn you can't however see it on the passenger side it's blocked rear view so when you drive down the road you know exactly where this corner of the car is and you just kind of have to hope that the other corner of the car is where you think of it the other weird thing about the prowlers wheels being detached is that it leaves a lot of important stuff exposed if people want to mess with you now another weird quirk is the packaging under the hood because of this car is strange front end v-shape fullness just had to kind of fit stuff where it fit and so the hood prop is actually on the hood itself the hood latch is located in the middle of the hood and then there's a pull tab that reaches out to the front and then my personal favorite is the battery which is located ahead of everything at the very front tip of the Prowler you also can't talk about the Prowler without mentioning the front bumpers which sort of protrude from the front of the car it's one of the prowlers most distinctive design characteristics my favorite thing about the prowlers front bumper you can stick your hand through it I'm not really sure why but I like it also mounted on the front bumper the turn signals and just in case that wasn't enough indicating power for you there's also a set of turn signals mounted on the front fenders now in back the turn signals and brake lights are located here on the rear fender but the giant protruding rear bumpers do contain the reverse lights one of the other things I love about this car is the placement of the fuel door now there's so much crazy wild body work in this thing that Plymouth could really only put the fuel door in one spot and so that's where it is another weird touch is this strange prowling cat logo which appears on the steering wheel on the seats under the hood and nowhere else on the car now there's more obvious badging around back although there's nothing on the trunk that indicates what this car is to curious onlookers the proof shooting bumpers say Plymouth Prowler and a fancy script now one of the things I really like about this car is the gauges they're located in the centre but the thing that I really like is that the area surrounding them is color match to the exterior color Porsche would charge you two ran for that something about the Prowler that you probably could have guessed but I'm going to tell you anyway there is absolutely no Headroom in this car with the top of I'm six foot three and watch this fortunately you don't have to drive around in this car with the top up you can always put it down pretty easy process just unlatch it from the windshield like in a normal car then unlatch it from the back using a latch right below the glass then find that yellow button to open the trunk push the top away close the trunk and you're driving around in top-down style so that's a comprehensive tour of the Prowler and now it's time to take it on the street which is something I've always wanted to do you see car enthusiasts have something of mixed opinions about the Prowler because it was only an automatic and it only has 250 horsepower but for me this car was always a little bit of a guilty pleasure I always thought it was really cool and really crazy looking and I've always wanted to drive one and now I'm going to and for more of my thoughts click the link below to check out my column on autotrader.com slash oversteer all right that down the prowl is 22 degrees to them which is perfect top down whether it's not really but you can't drive a prowler and not be taught down I can't see that fender so I have no in the primates that's the end of the car so I can see where the hood ends but I don't know where that side of the car heads and the mirrors are so small they're so small you catch the car in like the reflection and it's like I can't believe we're driving this thing I mean I've driven a lot of weird cars but this is just so bizarre looking it just looks like nothing else on the road alright the ride quality is horrid it floats around like crazy alright I'm going in power but the forest could use four gears virginity is rough the windshield shakes if it bumps going over bumps for sure even though only has 9,000 miles on it at the end of the day it's a 1997 automobile so rigidity isn't going to be along the lines of a modern NYADA or something like that toy ride claudius it just plugs his hugs and bump but that's part of the charm when you put up with stuff like that to drive weird cars you know Lamborghinis are loud and they're hard to get into this thing is bad ride felony but if you want a cool weird car and you got a deal that kind of stuff you want a Camry by Cameron I actually have about as much room in this as I do it my Viper which is to say not that much but I it's not intolerable I'm 6 foot 3 with the top up I think we'd be doing one of these but with the top down actually I seriously it's really not all that bad it looks smaller I think inside than it really is handling is actually fairly direct the time vague which is kind of surprising today after all we are at a 20 year old Chrysler with an infant from the 300m there's no body I guess that's the benefit of having feed that ride quality it doesn't follow this cover it feels how you kinda would want it to feel but clearly the weak link just no doubt about it is the automatic transmission not only is only four speeds it's just not as quick as is I mean we've just moved on everybody now has dual clutches and all that stuff so you drive this and you wish it was a stick sticks don't really go out of style but a four-speed automatic and 20 years later and it's it's kind of weak I really think if it had like a 6-speed auto we'd probably take another half second off the 0 to 6 god it's so funny to see that wheel bump as we go the bumps I'm literally watching the front wheel hop in front as the Gilberts bugs it's melting like a basketball that will add some funny the truth is of course in a normal car that's what the wheel does you just don't see it but it's so weird to see it and not only seeing it when I see the fender going - even if I lean forward I can't see that wheel so you just got to kind of hope and dream I'm sure Prowler owners get to know beside the car boy with that with the visor visor literally blocks the entirety of the windshield I would kill for the speedometer to be right in front of me instead I'm looking at the tack but I'm driving around four speed Auto I don't care what the parent says and the funny thing is the speedometer because of my angle this half this phenomena is kind of out of view like I can see the part that says 150 a lot better 9 same part says 40 which isn't really what I'm looking for it is funny how open it feels as you look to the side to turn and stuff it's amazing there's just there's just nothing around you it's just open car and the rear unlike a lot of modern convertibles the rear slopes off very dramatically a lot of them modern convertibles that deck actually gets higher and this thing is just like see you later so you look back there and there is nothing it's a very interesting feeling it's kind of cool a lot of times I Drive these cars and I'm not only surprised driver Lamborghini you know to be like this car I'm surprised at how well it handles and how bad the ride is the ride is so rough but the handling is like I thought it'd be switching it all over the place I thought this car was only just a harmless style play that's not really true it actually kind of feels fun it's almost like they were trying to build an actual sports car so here's the thing about the Prowler it's crazy-looking I love that it handles pretty well and I like that a lot too and while a lot of people say this car is underpowered that's not really true no it doesn't have a v8 but the Prowler has 250 horsepower and it only weighs 2800 pounds that's a better power-to-weight ratio than a BMW 340 I and it should be enough unfortunately performance is depressingly dulled by the prowlers 4-speed automatic transmission but I really think that a stick shift or even a newer automatic would completely change the character of this car either way that's the Plymouth Prowler and for those of you who lived through the automotive lea drab 1990's and always wondered about this thing well now you know a little bit more about it in order to keep costs down but you probably can't even see my forehead right now 50 horsepower but I have always thought this is one of the I don't remember what I thought

Channel: Doug DeMuro

Views: 3,112,865

Rating: 4.7589478 out of 5

Keywords: plymouth prowler, chrysler prowler, prowler, pt cruiser, retro cars, retro sports cars, 1990s cars, rare cars, weird cars, strange cars

Id: 7gYC0w28uxA

Length: 12min 22sec (742 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 11 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/Justavian]

I don't remember the last time i saw one of these cars. Is it just because of how limited the production numbers were, or did we collectively decide that they're hideous or something?

[u/mrbojenglz]

The prowler logo only in 3 spots?? How weird?!

[u/think_with_portals]

One time I walked out of a church and there was one in the parking lot. I still don't know why it was there.

bonus

[u/ELI_10]

I wish I liked Doug DeMuro. He generally has cool ideas for bits and drives some interesting cars, but for some reason he just grinds on me. It's like he's just constantly trying too hard. He's grown on me as I've come to accept that as his schtick, but nevertheless every time I see one of his videos, I'm like "awesome!" followed immediately by "oh... it's Doug."

Maybe I'm just jealous I don't get to drive all those cars. :)

[u/Mc6arnagle]

He mentions the parts from other cars and talks about "cash strapped Chrysler." At the time this was released Chrysler had the highest profit per vehicle in the world. Chrysler was making crazy amounts of money in the late 90's.

Source: Was an engineer at Chrysler in the late 90's. Profit sharing checks were massive.

[u/HughGnu]

My mom drove a 92 Mercury Topaz and my dad had a 93 model... and I drove a '92 Buick Skylark. Basic 90s cars. My friend's dad had a Prowler. I thought it looked really cool on the outside, but when my friend showed off his dad's car, I just laughed at the interior. It was just so plain and cheap looking. I thought my Skylark looked better on the inside than did the Prowler.

[u/[deleted]]

Oh man the front bumper(s) make it look very hideous.

[u/saurkor]

Plymouth Prowler was my favorite Hot Wheels ever. I had a purple one, played with it every day and thought it was the most amazing car in the world. Turns out I was a loser 7yo.

[u/G0PACKGO]

this was and still is my dream car... I know it is low performance but it was the first car I had pictures of on my wall