Plymouth’s Prowler wasn’t just the brand’s most audacious offering at the time, it was also a testbed for new manufacturing techniques. Today’s Nice Price or No Dice Prowler is even more audacious owing to its wrap and undercarriage lights. Let’s see what we can make of its price.
As many of the comments regarding yesterday’s 1981 Toyota Celica GT pointed out, that coupe’s performance would be more akin to traversing the Oregon Trail on an Apple II than anything measured by any modern standard. Still, low miles and the sweet smell of nostalgia played in the tidy car’s favor. A $6,000 asking price didn’t hurt either and taken all together, the Celica earned a solid 70 percent Nice Price win.
Performance — or at the very least, the perception of how performance is made — affects today’s candidate as well. When this 2000 Plymouth Prowler was new, its outlandish retro hot rod styling was praised far and wide. The modern DOHC V6 engine and transaxle drivetrain, on the other hand, received boos from rodder traditionalists who claimed a V8 was the only way to go for a REAL hot rod. Of course, these were the same people who wouldn’t raise so much as an eyebrow over a fiberglass Deuce with a Chevy small block for power.
The traditionalists will probably get their panties in an extra-tight twist over this extremely low mileage Prowler for all the mods that have been added after it left the factory.
Before we get into that, however, let’s level set on the car itself. Chrysler introduced the Prowler as a show car in 1993. The production model arrived four years later as a ’97 model. Built on an aluminum frame that was assembled with both fasteners and glues, the car served as a testbed for such innovative materials and techniques.
A single drivetrain was offered in the Prowler, the SOHC 3.5 liter V6, and a four-speed automatic, with the latter mounted in the back for a nearly 50/50 weight distribution. In the early cars, this drivetrain managed only 214 horsepower at the crank. Our 2000 model has a more respectable 253 ponies.
Unlike Chrysler’s other wackadoodle model, the Viper, the Prowler offered almost all the amenities one might expect from a modern car. That means a full top and electric door windows along with remote locks, ABS, and A/C that works. Total production for the car was somewhere shy of 12,000 over the course of its five-year model run.
Ok, now that we’ve got that all out of the way, let’s have a gander at this one and discuss those mods. The first of those is the removal of the front bumperettes. I think we all can agree that tidies up the nose a great bit and lets the car’s Leno-esque chin stand out in the manner it deserves. Another update has come at the expense of the factory wheels. Those have been replaced with aftermarket rollers and as is always the case with such things, their appeal will depend on an individual’s personal taste.
Other updates are a little more polarizing. One of those is an iridescent wrap over the factory black paint that lets the car be whatever color you want it to be simply based on how the sun hits it. Since the sun has to go down at the end of every day, this Prowler has LED undercarriage lights in a rainbow hue so the car may engender heated debate at night as well. A custom air intake is also noted in the ad, but we don’t get to see whether that lights up too.
The ad describes the car as being in excellent condition but is a bit confusing regarding the mileage. It’s listed as 34,000 in the quick facts, but the body copy calls it out as 10K less. Either way, it’s appreciably low. The title is clean and per the seller, the car comes with a spare top, the original wheels, and a set of new tires.
The asking price is $35,000 and that is prefaced in the ad by the admonition of “NO LOWBALLERS!!!” Since we’re just judging the price rather than seeking to negotiate it, I guess you could call us “no ballers.” Wait, that didn’t come out right.
At any rate, what’s your take on this audacious Prowler and that $35,000 price? Does that have it sitting pretty? Or, does that price just not light up your life?
You decide!
Los Angeles, California, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
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