Coming Soon: Plymouth Prowler with Chip Foose - "Shocked" - Jay Leno's Garage 

Yes The Prowler needed a V8

Not having a V8 killed that car .

I'd happily watch a series with these two in it

have the V6 but a manual transmisson would have been nice

I loved the vibe of this episode, loved the trunk space joke with the prowler playlist taking up too much space!

I remember when the prowler first came out... My dad and I went to go look at one... We both were so upset with what was inside because the outside was so gorgeous. What a shame

I believe when the PT cruiser came out Chrysler was still obliged to not put v8s in cars. That's why we got a V10 viper

Ha ha ! My dad had a friend that owned a tire shop in Birmingham years ago and when raised white letter tires became popular had had his own line of tires made with the words “the prowler “ on them, he also registered the name for$ 234.00. So…. When they announced dodge was making the car he waited until they had advertised and started to gear up production. He called Chrysler and said to change name he had the rights to it. They checked and realized he was right so said what can we do. He said I’ll take a new viper. They said what color and where to deliver. Then he told them he wants the 01 serial first prowler. They said oh no that always goes to executives. He said we’ll just change name. He got both !

I got to drive one a buddy owned. It wasn't slow, but that v6 sound track just didn't fit the image. I had to look over the header in some areas, and while resting my hand on the top of the windshield and elbow on the door, it had more cowl shake than my 68 barracuda convertible.

Same thing about the Crossfire. My opinion, cool looking car, no power, automatic. However, i think you could get one, that was manual.

My dad had one . Why they didnt put a hemi in it is mind-boggling. Or a viper motor .

I arrived on the OverHaulin set with a purple prowler and chip ripped me and my bro out of it and stole it from us hahah!! Him and Chris Jacob’s went cruising for a couple hours 🤘🏻😎🤘🏻

Blame the accountants. And if anything Mopar learned that the Hellcat and derivatives have more of a draw.

Needs a hellcat engine 😂. Foose always seemed like a good person.

oh man a prowler haven't seen one in a wile now thanks J

Committee decision ruined the drivetrain. The hot rod community has already shown a 3rd gen hemi fits just fine. That being sold at all was a miracle. We got lucky.

TBF, a lot people build a thirties coupe with the V8, I never see any of them really hot rodding them around. They are usually just cruising up and down the freeways babying them all the time. They are all about looking cool and nothing more.

Old heads love those

I saw one that a guy swapped a Cadillac Northstar motor into it. Kinda went from bad to worse. 😂

The prowler was the Plymouth version of a modern model T.

The 2.4T found in the neon SRT-4 would have been great in this car.

The Prowler should have been a V8, 5 spd.

I towed a guy that had a pro charger on his (he had a fuel leak). He said that it was making 550 to the wheel. Pretty cool!!

That and the interior is the same as a neon. One day I'll build one with a engine from a 2016 benz cla45

What ever happened to the straight 8 they were working on

imagine the prowler with a one off straight 8

I had one; trust me, the V6 chosen had more hp than the V8 Chrysler had at the time. Had Daimler allowed the use of one of their MB V8s, well, you know where we would be heading.

I remember it was supposed to be priced at 30,000.when it came out it was 50k,Chrysler missed the boat,it could have been the kcar of hotrods.

Some make an episode on hot swaping a v8 into the Prowler with jay and chip as lead builders..

I mean yes it needed a V8. Chrysler at the time just didn't have a good hipo v8. The 4.7 wasn't anymore horse than that 3.5 and the 5.9 was the same too. Torque would have been nice.

5.7 Hemi and 6 speed would be perfect for the Prowler

I couldn't get my clubs in the trunk the salesman said you have room for a hot blonde and your American Express lol

If a car ever said I need a V10 Viper motor it's the Prowler!!

There is a guy I personally know that has one of every color in his garage.

V8 would be nice but asking an awful lot. Engineers prob didnt have a V8 that would fit at the time, then youve gotta develop a transmission for it, yoive gotta spend more money on beefier suspension to support a heavier motor, theres emission regs, the list goes on... Better option wouldve been to use the supercharged 3.2L MB motor they used the crossfire SRT6 a couple years later. Unfortunately i dont think that motor exisited when the prowler debuted.

I would have just skipped the prowler and bought a hot rod instead and i believe, thats what most gear heads did!

4.7 V8 would have rocked that little car, and i bet it would have met milage standards...

The thing is, its not like Chrysler didnt have plenty of v8's to use.

Basically what the mustang and Camero are now.

Just put the demon drive train in it!

It does have a nice stance and fluid lines. Now, give me back my K cars!

Outdid was hot rod, inside was Neon

I drove one. With the top up you just kind of guess at what's around you.

Considering what they had for V8’s at the time, no way was that front end coming with a factory 8Cyl 😂

Black with chrome wheels was cool, V8 or not

Yes! Finally someone that agrees with me! Here's what I would have done if I were CEO. I would fire anyone that thought this was a good idea. Why? Incompetence! Not a car person!

i'd prefer a v10 1999 viper motor for a 1999 plymouth prowler. match the engine year with the car year and it should fit smoother and make good power.

The 3.5 had more power than most anything at the time. 350 chevy of the time had 200 hp.

Hideous looking car, but that's what makes it look so good. I'd love to drive one.

well this WAS a car made with mainly off the shelf parts lol i can understand an auto transmission, they have them in supercars, but this could have done better with an inline six and a manual, even added something like a turbo or supercharger to give it that hot rod feel instead of a bodyswapped low end Jeep.

Sooooo, I'm the only one who noticed the phallic pattern of the gear lever?

Foose is the man

When I see this I think PT cruiser convertible 😂

The prowler would’ve sold and probably would’ve been made for a few decades if they put the right motor in it.

idk doug fam.,.... look around.....

"...but what I really want to do is give it a two-color paint scheme of grey and some other color and then add a neon stripe at the paint break. I'll finish it off with some cheesy, oversized custom wheels I designed."

It was for grandpa's. It could have 400hp and that thing wasn't going above 65 either way.

Its a slammed, drop top PT cruiser....

I mean Plymouth knew there market it was an old man cruiser and thats what they put in it an old man cruiser engine

They screwed the pouch on the Prowler had they put a healthy V8 in it and a 6 speed they would have sold a lot of them.

This was a car was a horrible calamity of great styling, federal regulation, and economic restraint.

6 cylinder with an automatic! And then they had the nerve to sell them at a 100% dealer markup! So they sold $35,000 cars for $70,000! 😆

Na. Its gor the right amount of power to push you thru and take u for a good afternoon beach ride

Yup. Chip is right. It is a grandma's car. Chrysler has never been very good at making a manual that really worked properly, so they gave up and made them all automatic. Great for girls, and incompetent men.

I remember going to every dealership that had them. I refused to believe that Plymouth would be so stupid as to not have stick shift available... They were, in fact, that stupid. I didn't even care that it wasn't a v8. Automatic transmission...may as well be a go cart.

Put a Coyote 5.0 supercharged… they would have sold millions

And it's a timing belt interference motor also

V6 supercharged 6 speed. Lighter tuan a v8 and almost as powerful

Ive owned 3, all were dogs.

The prowler hahah , the largest disappointment 😂

Pt cruiser chopped and cropped. Yours for 70k. 😅

I'm sure that auto wasn't great but I had an Audi that shifted quicker and smoother than humans could.

Two great guys together right there. Chip Foose has his own style for sure. He has made some excellent looking vehicles come to life throughout his career.

Nobody be mean to my prowler

3.5 is for grandma, the current 3.6 Pentastar would have made a better performance.

Should've been a manual V8!! Stupid corporate financial people, not knowing how these things work! 😔Smh

I want to like this thing sooo badly. I really really do. But i don't and part of that is its too new for me to get all that interested, but the other part is that its all show and no go. You can have your 1971 spec american muscle car look like it goes a million miles per hour and still only scream at 65 (double nickels back then, its basically 100 by today's speed limits) but this is like painting a 4 cyl NA volvo like its ripping daytona a new one. Cool car, but needs some tweaking to get where it wants to be. And much like my formerly 4cyl NA Volvo 740, it needs a V8. The prowler could get by on a smooth V8 rather than a power V8 because of the era, but that V8 in whatever form (preferably both depending on trim) is what sells that car to who you'd think would want to buy it. Of course a manual too, but remember those muscle cars again, in reality most of the time they were automatics. Anyways Jay have you checked out a Rickenbacker yet? I sure wish they made more of those through the 1970s at least. They might have been able to be AMC's Cadillac/Lincoln/Imperial since they were fancy in their day, pioneering 4-wheel brakes!

He said stunned not "shocked".

But i tell you that thing has 3.5 L that will smoke the tires

LS swap it

They used it as an excuse to roll out, another junk Mitsubishi engine. And barely made it around the bases. When they could have used, some of their V8 technology. And hit a home run.

Those bumpers are hideous.

Chip is cartoon cars

And the 17/20” wheels made it drive terrible

Looks like 35 ford screwed a Hyundai excel Yuk

Looked crazy but was neutered; it was monumentally stupid.

That thing was such a disappointment. For everyone. So much potential....

Prowler, a huge disappointment

That car is an abomination to get in and out of...super high rockers and door hinges that are a joke.

It would be better with a 440 Hemi.

It was designed by a woman is why.

V8 wouldn't fit...

It needs an LS