Anybody can design cars if they are GIVEN money to do so. Especially a heap of dung like this. What a waste of space. Gas guzzling, polluting, unnecessary shitbox. ANYTHING with a lot of power will sell. This didn't even have that. There is a reason it failed.
@@JaredMorris-ep1qf Most people are nice. Just saying that if people pay you insane amounts of cash, then you generally are "nice". Personally I drive a van because I need the space. No hard feelings, but I really don't understand the whole "car" scene ... No idea why I ended up here. But certainly no loose cash to spend on four wheeled motorbikes for old men.
Right on! Yeah..this must be an excellent summer fun/sports car. I have the poor mans option: a '93 LeBaron convertible with a 3.0L Mitsu..I'd love the 3.5L at 100 more hp and the same mpg, aha. 170k mi and going strong & no rust..in Wisc yet! Paid $2,500 7 yrs ago. ..yeah, I'd rather a Prowler, but..next time, aha.
This was my father's first sports car he bought brand new in 2001 after surviving khmer rouge, escaping from Vietnam, without any adolescent education and graduating from Baylor college of dentistry. He sadly passed away 3 years after purchasing one of his dream cars but luckily the Orange prowler is still in the family and will always be a special car to us. Because of this, after building numerous cars, including one that was showcased in SEMA 2022 inside the Toyo Tires Treadpass exhibit, I must give this vehicle justice one day and swap the motor with something proper. For now the plans will be to try and stuff a viper gen 4 motor! Thanks Jay for sharing this incredible interview and shedding some new light on a forgotten vehicle.
Good luck! Honestly the trans is more the issue to me - given the stock engine size it'd be cool to do a turbo V6 like a VR GTR swap lol. But then doing a manual would be an issue, tho some other turbo 3.5L V6 could work or a Z trans I guess.
Keep your father's car the way it was when he bought it you will regret altering it buy another one and tear it up instead sounds like you have the money to do that
@@hi_tech_reptiles It is already a transaxle setup, so the TR-6070 manual from the C6/7 Corvette would be a suitable swap. A LS or Ford Godzilla would fit easy enough, unless it was pushed back under the dash, all the OHC V8's would be almost impossible.
Chip is one of the inspirations for me going to school for Industrial Design. He is way beyond just a figure in the automotive world, he has always had an amazing sense of vision, and a wonderful sense of blending greatness from the past with modern possibilities. Thank you Chip!
My grandad designed the suspension blue prints for this car. I have a photo in my wallet that my dad used to carry before he pressed away of him holding the blueprints up for a photo. He’s even got his name on several of the patents for suspension components. I have always had such a soft spot for this car, and this color specifically. It’s just such a cool machine!
Create a channel just to do a video/ photo slide show of the blue prints while you talk about the history of ur grandpa while talking about how he got involved in the project... Even if it's ur only video. Folks deserve to know the knowledge and history of ur grandpa. God bless and bless us with that information
So awesome to see Chip finally get some recognition for this car. Years passed without many knowing he was the spiritual designer. And this car, despite not having a V8, was a test bed for Chrysler, including building with aluminum (the v6 was aluminum and later on made 255hp, as much as their 5.9 v8) 😎
V6 had 100 less torque than the V8 and the 5.9 makes loads of down low torque.. They would have hopped up the 5.9 if it was going in the prowler..The 5.9 was seriously de tuned..
@mypronouniswtf5559 know how much more a 360 weighs? Not to mention all the work they’d have to do to the front end to get it to comfortably support that weight and not nose dive in a corner…yeah it wasn’t worth it. This was an experiment in aluminum and weight savings. And btw if you threw every single bolt on and computer trick available at the time for the Magnum 5.9, it still only made about 300hp and wouldn’t meet emissions in all areas. So they weren’t seriously detuned. I’m a Mopar guy…trust me, I know 😉
@@jonmopar7917 Those old Chrysler powertrains were junk compared to GM of the time. My dad was a mopar guy from the 50s, and I was a mopar kid " until I got an old Gm and noticed how much better they were. But I still love many classic mopar body styles ❤.. But the only mopar engine I would trust is the slant 6. But man old mopars ran rich. If you bumped the timing where it ran as lean as a chevy, you'd get pingning under acceleration. And ya gotta love the free play in the steering. Plus many other annoying things.. But I still say the 68/9 charger is the coolest looking muscle car body style ever. I love the shorty windowless 71/77 tradesman vans.. the A100 trucks and vans., the 61-68 d100 pickups, before the changed to the flat hoods.. Many 55-58 model cars.. I have a soft spot for the 64 sports fury.. I love the 60s and 70s boxy cab over semis, and old 40s mopar COEs
I must be in some rare air... Because I always knew Foose designed the car. But today this car could be reborn as a manual with paddle shifters and a turbo V6 or I-4.
Amazing design and brave to actually be produced by a regular car company. Before Chrysler was destroyed by Daimler and their cars were turned into second rate cars with the worst/cheapest interiors in the industry.
Used to work with a guy, a higher up, who had one of these. He looked like a cross between Ned Flanders and Mr. Belvedere. Gave out big creepy 6’3” nice guy hugs that included a strong pull in and musty moist BO. Back slapping bad joke teller to boot. Car fit him perfectly!
I helped build this car. It started out in the Norwalk, Ohio Mayflower Plant that made truck cabs for Mack and Freightliner. Old biker guys hand jigged them up. My company Henkel supplied the structural foam that made it crash test worthy. Terracore.
Jay actually said the bumpers worked aesthetically. That's pretty flattering. That car in it's non-street legal form would look so much better with cleaner lines. @@kozak65 e
Those fins were awesome!...I owned a 59 Savoy...sadly, that car was the basic model, and had, believe it or not, the last flathead six that Chrysler ever used!...very smooth, but not the right engine for such a heavy car.
@@curbozerboomer1773 I have no idea what engine my dads car had but I’m sure it was the very basic model. It was a standard three speed manual with no air conditioning or anything. It was my dads first new car. He would have been close to 40 at that time.
Ive always wanted one of these, growing up in the 2000s there sure was a lot of great super cars and what not that kids were raging over, but there was something about this I just couldn't get over.
This was one of the more interesting vehicles I worked on back in the day. I worked on the airbag crash sensor calibrations while working for TRW. It was quite exciting when we received the drawings of the chassis and had to figure out the best placement for those crash sensors.
I agree with Jay & Chip 100%. The car really is a pleasure to drive and is surprisingly nimble. I was a Senior Manager at JTE (Jeep and Truck Engineering) at that time and it was the old AMC/Jeep Engineering team working for Francois Castaing plus Tom Gale and his design team. Everyone had their own project car or Jeep or race car at home in their garage. So working on cars like the Viper and Prowler was a labor of love. Everyone wanted to put a Hemi in the car but the financials didn’t work out creating a whole new power train for the car. So we used the power train out of the Chrysler 300 which meant we could piggyback on that cars expensive EPA government certification.
To this day I have an awful memory of seeing one of these in public for the first time. I was with my dad, I brought him over to show that it had an automatic and looked like a minivan on the inside. I was pointing at it and said something like "it's for people who don't know anything about hot rods but like the look" and when I turned around the owner was standing right there with her groceries, the meanest look on her face too. I felt terrible.
I'd heard somewhere that one of Chrysler's V8s (4.6L I'm guessing) was considered, but actually had less horsepower than their new V6. Of course the V8 had considerably more torque, but as the old adage goes, "torque wins races, but horsepower sells cars." The Prowler might be one of just a few cars in which that consideration was ill-advised, since everyone agreed a V8 was more in the spirit of the car. The 3.5L SOHC was actually a great engine, though. I had a 300M with the same powertrain and it was an excellent balance of good low end/midrange torque, but still kept pulling strong all the way to a fairly high redline (back then you usually had to pick one or the other). Sounded pretty good (again, for a V6), ran smooth, and was very reliable. I'd forgive the use of the (good) V6 in the Prowler if you could have at least had a manual. The auto used in these was also reliable and smooth, but they sapped tons of power, as most automatics did back in the day. Of course, the desirable V8 sound would still be absent, but the car would otherwise have been a pretty strong performer with the lower power loss and an extra ratio or two. At any rate, gotta at least give Chrysler credit for having the balls to produce vehicles like this. Can you think of a vehicle produced by a mainstream brand in the last 20 years that's even half as bold? I can't.
Chrysler only had the Magnum V8 engines that came in pickup trucks at the time of the prowler which was the iron block/heads 318 & 360 in lower HP outputs at much higher weights than the 3.5l V6. They came out with the 4.7l in Jeeps for 99, but that engine was largely designed by Mercedes during the years Chrysler was partnered with Daimler. It was many years later before Chrysler came out with there own V8 again which was the Hemi. The 3.5l is a great engine, but they should have supercharged it for the prowler.
None of the engines were designed by Daimler. Daimler owned them, but all the engineering was done in Auburn Hills. They did use some of Daimler designs as a base for different models, but not engines.
@@garyszewc3339 thats funny, when I went to a Chrysler training course when I worked at a Chrysler dealer, the instructor outright said the 4.7l was a Merc design.
Even the sound of a V8 would have elevated this car. Even if it wasn't putting out corvette numbers, i think it would have given it a lot more credibility.
My last day of high school in 2008, we got out of class and made a b-line to the nearest smoke shop. While driving over there, we saw Chip Foose driving a Prowler (possibly this one) and we waved and ended up going into the same shopping center. We said hi to him briefly and he was of course super cool even though he was about to get a steak at Mortons steakhouse. Great memory, he is a legend
Chip is a true legend. He's so good a creativity and so good at art. I also love Leno for his love of all sorts of rare cars and that Leno actually drives his cars all the time. I appreciate people who actually drive thwre nice cars hard to enjoy them. Why would anyone want to get a dream car to just stare at. If u don't drive your car things start to break like rubber and plastic oil seals ans things get caroted and things start to leak and fail in the engine . It's always good to drive a car atleast 5k miles a year to keep the parts from rotting away
I've always thought how cool it is the way Chip speaks so professionally about Boyd. The same Boyd who had nothing good to say about Chip until the day he died.
Boyd was a has been. He had some cars during the "billet" days that got some attention, but his designs never evolved with the times. He was also very arrogant.
@@life_of_riley88 Watching him on his show I recall he was always so paranoid that someone was always out to get him? Not sure where that all came from but he seemed to be a bitter ole man in a lot of ways? And boy he had a serious hate for Chip? Sad to have lived his last days this way BUT life is what you choose to make it!
Love the chemistry between you two and how you bounce jokes and exaggerations off each other, this was a delight to watch! I was 10-14 years old during the era of the Copperhead, Prowler, GT90, and other concept cars were in magazines. I didn't care what engines or powertrains they had, they were just plain cool. Fast forward 25 years and I still think they're just as cool lol
one of the most impressionable silhouettes of my childhood, surely. i think whatever your stance on this car, the reaction to spotting one in the wild is universal; that is, you simply stop and gawk. the epitome of "road presence". about a year and a half ago, passing through niagara falls, we ran into a small party of prowler's stopped at a nearby park- chatted for a bit, all super cool and passionate folk, eager to chat about the car, it was a prowler meet-up/drive. very cool. would never own one.
Id imagine you would have to be a real people person to own a car like that because I'm sure anytime you stop you are going to have to answer 100 questions
What many miss and they did in this video, was that even though it was an automatic. It was a four speed that you can shift into manual mode. I am very surprised when Jay shifted into D . I have an 8 speed transmission and it is a game changer when using manual mode. JMO ✌️🫶
@@ossanyberg it has them only because US regulations. If would build this car an european car maker, it would be from factory without those bumpers....the best european examples would be cars like the classic Lotus Super 7, and the numerous variations inspired by Lotus, like the modern Donkervoorts...
I was 12 when that came out and it was instantly my favorite car. It actually is what got me interested in cars, my school bus had a stop right by a chrysler dealership with one of these in the front showroom. 2850 lbs, 255 hp and the looks of a 30s chopped hot rod, I still think they're pretty amazing cars.
Saw Chip Foose on the 55 freeway in Orange County CA years ago, gave him a thumbs up he smiled and waived. He was in a Ford F150 Harley Davidson Edition.
Got to drive one of these when I was 16 and it was an awesome experience, had no idea Foose designed it. If this would’ve had a good power plant it would’ve been a legendary car.
There were plenty of 6 cylinder performance cars before the Prowler came out, so I'm not sure why it was ok for them and heresy for the Prowler. Some of these cars include the Grand National, '89 Turbo T/A, Stealth R/T, Taurus SHO, NSX, M3, 300ZX, Supra and plenty more. The Prowler V6 was every bit a Hot Rod engine too. It featured 10.4:1 compression ratio, aluminum SOHC heads with 4 valves per cylinder, a long ram intake manifold with sequential multi port fuel injection and distributorless ignition. The power was underpinned by a stout bottom end that included forged crank, forged rods, full floating pistons and 6 bolt main caps, that's right 6. It had 4 bolts coming in from the bottom and 2 more cross bolted in through the side of the block(just like the old 427 Cobra Demand blocks). No turbo, no supercharger, no vvt and it still put out a hair less than 1 NET hp per cubic inch. That was the first year Prowler. After the initial year, they added an aluminum block, and a sophisticated valved intake manifold with twin throttle bodies. Was it quick? The first year did 0-60 in 7 seconds flat and the 1/4 mile in 15.4. The refreshed 2nd gen engine was good for 5.7 0-60 and 14.3 1/4 mjle. How does this compare to the competition? '96 Mustang GT 0-60 6.7, 1/4 15.1, 1999 Z28 conv. 0-60 5.5, 1/4 14.0, 1999 SVT Cobra 0-60 5.4, 1/4 14.0, 1999 M3 0-60 5.6, 1/4 14.3, 1996 Porsche 911 0-60 6.3, 1/4 14.3, 1993 Ferrari 348TS O-60 5.5, 1/4 13.9 1996 Acura NSX(auto) 0-60 5.8, 1/4 14.3. Obviously the performance was plenty competitive. The biggest mistake that Chrysler made with the Prowler was overestimating the intelligence of the car community at large. The press and the public got hung up on the lack of V8, and failed to see the substance and competence that was actually there. Unfortunately, judging by most of the current reviews and comments, nothing has changed to this day.
This is the first time I've cringed at Jay Leno's comments during one of his videos. So much time spent bagging out the car when there is so much to appreciate. It sounds like my younger self in my mind looking back at a youth criticising things before I got over myself as I aged, cringy teenager bagging when there's a cool-looking fun machine just sitting there ready to be enjoyed if you'd just let it go. Chip was a great spirit in this video. I've wanted one of these cars for so long, I just love those lines and the boldness of the company to build something that was lucky to make it out of the design-area. I would own it any day and when people bag it out telling me why it should have been better, I'd be the one enjoying it with a smile on my face driving every day.
@@stryfe2000turbothey were basically Plum Crazy. Same paint, with a different name. The Plum Crazy name was only used on Dodges, and Plymouth called it In Violet. All of the high impact colors used different names for Dodge and Plymouth.
I've always felt the Prowler was under appreciated, though I'm one of the people that think a manual trans should have been an option and it should have had a V8. That isn't me saying the car didn't have it's niche, and I felt it served it quite well. Very awesome seeing Chip Foose on the show. Thanks Jayu!!!
Even a manual option would have made this more interesting and exciting to drive. And for what it's worth, the Prowler has almost 200HP more than the 1932 flathead Ford V-8 it was inspired by.
I always hated the fake retro 90's craze - they were all ugly caricatures & under-powered in my opinion & the Prowler was one of the worst culprits. Still interesting history though - and I do like the colour.
Thank you Mr. Leno for taking the time to give to the lowly Prowler! I was working for Chrysler in between jobs for a 2-year h life change rite when the towers fell in New York and had some strong Prowler exposure at the time. Thank you both Mr. Leno and Mr. Foose i have 40 yrs of autobody experience that i could fill your reply space up with, but I wont.Thank you both!
I remember seeing these cars driving around when I was younger, then in high school... Just mind-blowing, never saw anything like it and I haven't seen anything like it since.
I had a picture of a car carrier w/ 5-6 pink prowlers on back. Wish I could find the picture. When the Prowler came out many heads turned cuz there was “nothing” even close except the “Viper”. Love it.
Great to see Chip again. What a team Jay and Chip would make. Almost too much talent in the room! It takes big balls to push the envelope in a big corporate environment. Chip rules
Hi Jay . Really good to see Chip . I was aware of Chip being the designer . Such a talented and respectful man . And his artwork is sensational . Thanks Jay
Oh how I miss Chip's show. I still remember falling in love with his Imposter which won the Riddler award. I could watch him draw all day. So much talent in one small package lol.
In 1999 I was a car salesman at you guessed it, a Chrysler/Plymouth dealership. We were all blown away when we first learned of the prowler coming to our showroom floor. I will never forget the day it showed up in our parking lot on the car hauler and after the manager got his first test drive around the block, we all got to take it for a spin but just inside the dealership grounds, lol. The car was an instant hit but as chip and jay pointed out, it was under powered and no trunk space. That first Prowler we got my Buddy sold just a day later for 42,000. The MSRP was like 32 and some change and we had added a dealer mark up of 10 grand. Needless to say after the dealership closed that night, my buddy that made the sale, to a Lawyer I might add, took us all out for a night of drinking and a few other things 😂 and the Lawyer that bought the car joined us.
ikr? a V8 and a manual would've put the car over $40,000 (a remote shift manual..lol..big bucks and the iron V8's of the time weighed a lot and had less hp than the all aluminum (300M) V6 and..they had the Viper, so there was no point in making it a monster..it was a sports/niche/throwback design car and excelled at the intended role.
This car looks so good for a car that was made in the 90's. Especially coming off the boxy era of 80's car designs. I grew up in the 90's and I don't recall ever seeing one, but they were probably not very common in Canada. I think it would be fun to own one of these if you are someone of my generation. A few tweaks to the engine, maybe do a supercharger mod and improve the injection system (as Jay alluded to), it would be tons of fun to drive.
I used to watch Chip’s show and was amazed at some of the custom details. One in particular were tread designs cut into the tires. I didn’t know such a thing existed.
This and the PT Cruiser are both brilliant designs in their revival of some of the most beautiful design language in automotive history. If you don't love the 30s cars, you may just not get it. Us street rod lovers get it.
My old man is a 40 year chrysler tech and he has a 2001 Intrepid R/T with the same 3.5 V6, even in its stock form its surprisingly quick and smooth, and there's a few mods that can be done to them that make them substantially better, mainly put the different geared gearbox from a 2.7L, air intake, exhaust, injectors, cam, etc. Some of the stuff my dad has done to his over the years.
They weren’t looking to sell a lot. It was more of an experiment for use of aluminum. At the time the v6 made more horsepower than even the 5.9 v8 . I love them . The story behind the car alone makes this a top collector car in my opinion.
You are exactly right. It would have been a complete disaster to have put the Cast Iron Magnum in a Prowler. It was all about pushing the envelope in the use of space age materials and future engine tech. They never mentioned how hard and quick they shift!
0-60 mph time to 5.7 seconds and quarter-mile performance to 14.3 seconds at 95.4 mph. Quick enough to embarrass a lot on the V8 'Musclecars' of the 60's. & double their mpg, ahaha.
Kudo's to Jay Leno's Garage for bringing in Chip Foose to walk through and educate the car enthusiast about the history of the Prowler. This was a very cool episode and loved watching it.
One of the coolest cars to ever come out in the 90s. I can still remember the first time I saw one brand new and in 1999 you couldn't help but stare at it!
I always thought those cars were so neat. I am sure that this car sparked the retro looking cars for decades to follow, like the PT Cruiser, SSR, 5th gen Mustang, and many more. Great to see Chip still doing good.
I can tell Jay has every reason to not be excited about the Prowler, it's a lot of things that people find "plastic" about modern cars, but showing it with Chip and the story behind it sets this show apart from just a showcase "cars that Jay likes". Which is nice, but it adds more to show something that you're undecided on. Always appreciate these
That 3.5L motor sounded great. I had a 2002 Chrysler 300M Special with the same engine and it had an awesome exhaust note as well. Little growl at idle, would burble and pop when you revved it. Very nice.
You mentioned the "Blackwood" Lincoln Truck... I was working as a Salesperson At "Plano Lincoln-Mercury" {Plano, TX on the north of Dallas] and our General Manager decided to create a Unique Line of "Trim-Levels" of various Lincolns that you could ONLY GET at Our Dealership... He started, in about 1997-98, with basically a custom '3-tone Paint' that was sort of a champagne color of the "Signature Series" that he labeled the "Limited" ... and our Body Shop did a Great Job with the paint, and a thin red pinstripe, and "Limited" stitched into the seats... it was about $3500 OVER Sticker, and we had a waiting line to buy them! Since Lincoln did not have a line of Trucks -- in TEXAS with NO Pickup Truck!!?? So he bought several Ford Trucks, and installed the tail-lights and front grill of a Navigator... with all the top of the line Leather interior... and called it a "Lincoln Towne Truck" ... like the Lincoln Towne Car... FMC Finance would not include them in their Loans and Rebates and such, because they classified them as "USED VEHICLES" because our Dealer had to buy them from Ford, then convert them, and resell them... making them "Pre-Owned vehicles"... In less than 6-months, the Blackwood appeared!! Same thing happened with the little Mercury Cougar... he created a Special Edition of the little sports car, with mostly cosmetic trim parts... a wing spoiler, wheels and tires, and a few other things ... and it became over half of all our sales for those cars... we took it to the Dallas Car Show... and Ford Reps saw it, and soon they had a Factory Option that was an exact copy...
Jay and Chip- they could be driving a turtle shell on steroids and I'd still watch every second. The Automotive knowledge and experience in that Prowler is beyond anything anyone could have imagined!
This was the car I had plastered on my bedroom walls when I was a kid. Someone ordered one through my local Chrysler dealer and my dad took me to the showroom to see it in person.
As a kid the prowler and the PT cruiser were my favorite cars not because of the engines but because of the classic look they brought into the modern world
I remember as a kid they had this car inside of Paradise valley mall in North Phoenix Arizona. They where showing it off.I remember walking around it thinking "cool car". Paradise valley mall got torn down and replaced with condominiums recently. sucks all those memories gone...
As a retired Chrysler designer, I appreciate Chip's modesty in giving credit to the design and engineering staffs of Chrysler for their work. There's a tremendous amount of work in taking a concept to production. Much credit goes to Bob Hubbach for his design input. Bob passed away about two years ago. Chip certainly provided the inspiration for it, and Tom Gale, a hotrodder at heart, recognized a great idea. At one point Chrysler engineers did fit a Mopar V8 in one, but they were unable to secure the funding to get it in production.
There is also no gas tank. I worked for a rental agency and got to take our prowler home a few times. I still love it. Fun car, fun to drive and stylish.
I think that the add for Cartier coming along right after Chip says something like "you can't go grocery shopping" with this car is great. It seems to be telling us viewers that we could go shopping at Cartier because their products are usually very small.
I was about 13 when this car came out. I thought it was awesome, and still love it. It's not a performance car, but it just looks so cool. I imagine it would be a fun car to own and cruise on the weekends.
100% True story. The company I worked for in the late 80's actually helped build the Chrysler Tech Ctr in Auburn Hills MI. I worked afternoons from 4 until midnight as a commercial carpenter assembling new office furniture for the employees that would eventually be working there. Chrysler had security 24 / 7. On afternoons after 9pm the place was a ghost town with only security and the construction team assembling the furniture. We became good friends with security over the 12 years working there. One night, security came and took a few of us into a room that had the Prowler as a concept fully built in the color here on this video. I sat in it 2 yrs prior to it being released to the public. At the same time, they had the Viper in the concept room, too. I sat in that 2 yrs prior to its release. This was all prior to cameras in cell phones of course. Working in the Detroit area and working for the big 3, I was always seeing models of vehicles way before their releases.
Chip Foose is such a cool and humble guy, my favorite car designer since I was young. Truly inspiring.
Anybody can design cars if they are GIVEN money to do so. Especially a heap of dung like this.
What a waste of space. Gas guzzling, polluting, unnecessary shitbox.
ANYTHING with a lot of power will sell. This didn't even have that.
There is a reason it failed.
Seems like the nicest guy in car building and design
@@JaredMorris-ep1qf Most people are nice.
Just saying that if people pay you insane amounts of cash, then you generally are "nice".
Personally I drive a van because I need the space. No hard feelings, but I really don't understand the whole "car" scene ... No idea why I ended up here. But certainly no loose cash to spend on four wheeled motorbikes for old men.
Chip foose is a has been
@@danielknepper6884 did he piss in your corn flakes??
I bought my Prowler in July, 1998. It is a yellow 99. I still enjoy the car and get it out during the Summer.
Right on! Yeah..this must be an excellent summer fun/sports car. I have the poor mans option:
a '93 LeBaron convertible with a 3.0L Mitsu..I'd love the 3.5L at 100 more hp and the same mpg, aha.
170k mi and going strong & no rust..in Wisc yet! Paid $2,500 7 yrs ago.
..yeah, I'd rather a Prowler, but..next time, aha.
It's a good looking car. And it will always be good looking
Yellow would match my yellow Harley Sportster just right.
I got the lime green one.
I always liked them
This was my father's first sports car he bought brand new in 2001 after surviving khmer rouge, escaping from Vietnam, without any adolescent education and graduating from Baylor college of dentistry. He sadly passed away 3 years after purchasing one of his dream cars but luckily the Orange prowler is still in the family and will always be a special car to us. Because of this, after building numerous cars, including one that was showcased in SEMA 2022 inside the Toyo Tires Treadpass exhibit, I must give this vehicle justice one day and swap the motor with something proper. For now the plans will be to try and stuff a viper gen 4 motor! Thanks Jay for sharing this incredible interview and shedding some new light on a forgotten vehicle.
Good luck! Honestly the trans is more the issue to me - given the stock engine size it'd be cool to do a turbo V6 like a VR GTR swap lol. But then doing a manual would be an issue, tho some other turbo 3.5L V6 could work or a Z trans I guess.
Agreed. Joining you, for your journey.
Keep your father's car the way it was when he bought it you will regret altering it buy another one and tear it up instead sounds like you have the money to do that
@@hi_tech_reptiles someone a while back did a 2jz swap with a v160. They had to completely cut out the trans tunnel area. I think it's a sick build.
@@hi_tech_reptiles It is already a transaxle setup, so the TR-6070 manual from the C6/7 Corvette would be a suitable swap. A LS or Ford Godzilla would fit easy enough, unless it was pushed back under the dash, all the OHC V8's would be almost impossible.
Chip is one of the inspirations for me going to school for Industrial Design. He is way beyond just a figure in the automotive world, he has always had an amazing sense of vision, and a wonderful sense of blending greatness from the past with modern possibilities. Thank you Chip!
Thanks to Jay and Chip for all theyve done for the car community.
My grandad designed the suspension blue prints for this car. I have a photo in my wallet that my dad used to carry before he pressed away of him holding the blueprints up for a photo. He’s even got his name on several of the patents for suspension components. I have always had such a soft spot for this car, and this color specifically. It’s just such a cool machine!
Create a channel just to do a video/ photo slide show of the blue prints while you talk about the history of ur grandpa while talking about how he got involved in the project... Even if it's ur only video. Folks deserve to know the knowledge and history of ur grandpa.
God bless and bless us with that information
@@sircoolbox Why are you being a cockhead?
Oh wow…. Put a video together. Their’s a lot of fans of these that would appreciate that content…
Yes! make a video about your grandfather's involvment.
100% Do a video. It's your Grandpa's legacy so give the man some digital respect. Us car guys get a kick outta these kinds of things.
So awesome to see Chip finally get some recognition for this car. Years passed without many knowing he was the spiritual designer. And this car, despite not having a V8, was a test bed for Chrysler, including building with aluminum (the v6 was aluminum and later on made 255hp, as much as their 5.9 v8) 😎
V6 had 100 less torque than the V8 and the 5.9 makes loads of down low torque..
They would have hopped up the 5.9 if it was going in the prowler..The 5.9 was seriously de tuned..
@mypronouniswtf5559 know how much more a 360 weighs? Not to mention all the work they’d have to do to the front end to get it to comfortably support that weight and not nose dive in a corner…yeah it wasn’t worth it. This was an experiment in aluminum and weight savings. And btw if you threw every single bolt on and computer trick available at the time for the Magnum 5.9, it still only made about 300hp and wouldn’t meet emissions in all areas. So they weren’t seriously detuned. I’m a Mopar guy…trust me, I know 😉
@@jonmopar7917
Those old Chrysler powertrains were junk compared to GM of the time.
My dad was a mopar guy from the 50s, and I was a mopar kid " until I got an old Gm and noticed how much better they were.
But I still love many classic mopar body styles ❤..
But the only mopar engine I would trust is the slant 6.
But man old mopars ran rich.
If you bumped the timing where it ran as lean as a chevy, you'd get pingning under acceleration.
And ya gotta love the free play in the steering.
Plus many other annoying things..
But I still say the 68/9 charger is the coolest looking muscle car body style ever.
I love the shorty windowless 71/77 tradesman vans.. the A100 trucks and vans., the 61-68 d100 pickups, before the changed to the flat hoods..
Many 55-58 model cars..
I have a soft spot for the 64 sports fury..
I love the 60s and 70s boxy cab over semis, and old 40s mopar COEs
@@privateprivate1865I’m not the biggest car guy at all but I always loved that Charger body. I really love the 442 body style from back in the day.
I must be in some rare air... Because I always knew Foose designed the car.
But today this car could be reborn as a manual with paddle shifters and a turbo V6 or I-4.
So happy to finally catch an episode live. Love Chip Foose, we haul a lot of his stuff. Nice to see him on the show!
This was uploaded yesterday, idk why they reuploaded it again now
@@Grandpuba1069Technically, officially, Jays stuff is scheduled release for all new episodes on mondays.
Amazing design and brave to actually be produced by a regular car company. Before Chrysler was destroyed by Daimler and their cars were turned into second rate cars with the worst/cheapest interiors in the industry.
do you guys also haul DN?
Used to work with a guy, a higher up, who had one of these. He looked like a cross between Ned Flanders and Mr. Belvedere. Gave out big creepy 6’3” nice guy hugs that included a strong pull in and musty moist BO. Back slapping bad joke teller to boot. Car fit him perfectly!
I met Chip briefly through a WD40 promotion when I worked at NAPA Auto Parts. Boyd Coddington was a very talented man and Mr Leno is amazing too.
I helped build this car. It started out in the Norwalk, Ohio Mayflower Plant that made truck cabs for Mack and Freightliner. Old biker guys hand jigged them up. My company Henkel supplied the structural foam that made it crash test worthy. Terracore.
Chip is so beyond the gimmicky show Overhaulin.....so nice to see and hear him speak on this episode. He has so much car knowledge to share.
Too bad Jay had to humiliate him the way he kept criticizing the car. Bad taste, Jay.
Chip was criticizing the actual production car as much or more than Jay. @@kozak65
Jay actually said the bumpers worked aesthetically. That's pretty flattering. That car in it's non-street legal form would look so much better with cleaner lines. @@kozak65 e
@@kozak65Idk, it seems all the criticisms he gave were pointed at the bean counters, and Chip knew that.
My dad was a Plymouth guy. When I was a little kid his pride and joy was a 1959 Plymouth Savoy. It had really, really big fins in the back!
Those fins were awesome!...I owned a 59 Savoy...sadly, that car was the basic model, and had, believe it or not, the last flathead six that Chrysler ever used!...very smooth, but not the right engine for such a heavy car.
@@curbozerboomer1773 I have no idea what engine my dads car had but I’m sure it was the very basic model. It was a standard three speed manual with no air conditioning or anything. It was my dads first new car. He would have been close to 40 at that time.
Ive always wanted one of these, growing up in the 2000s there sure was a lot of great super cars and what not that kids were raging over, but there was something about this I just couldn't get over.
Two of my absolute favorite car guru’s and enthusiasts! The King of Art & Design Chip and the King of Art & Design Appreciation Jay!
Still a beautiful car to this day. Classic design.
The most beautiful minivan I've ever seen
@@User0000000000000004a rwd town and country would be wild lol
This was one of the more interesting vehicles I worked on back in the day. I worked on the airbag crash sensor calibrations while working for TRW. It was quite exciting when we received the drawings of the chassis and had to figure out the best placement for those crash sensors.
Having Chip make a car for you would definitely be a Bucket List item. Absolute legend.
I agree with Jay & Chip 100%. The car really is a pleasure to drive and is surprisingly nimble. I was a Senior Manager at JTE (Jeep and Truck Engineering) at that time and it was the old AMC/Jeep Engineering team working for Francois Castaing plus Tom Gale and his design team. Everyone had their own project car or Jeep or race car at home in their garage. So working on cars like the Viper and Prowler was a labor of love. Everyone wanted to put a Hemi in the car but the financials didn’t work out creating a whole new power train for the car. So we used the power train out of the Chrysler 300 which meant we could piggyback on that cars expensive EPA government certification.
Wow amazing experience must have been. Thanks for sharing
To this day I have an awful memory of seeing one of these in public for the first time. I was with my dad, I brought him over to show that it had an automatic and looked like a minivan on the inside. I was pointing at it and said something like "it's for people who don't know anything about hot rods but like the look" and when I turned around the owner was standing right there with her groceries, the meanest look on her face too. I felt terrible.
Where did she put the groceries?
The truth hurts, not your fault.
Hahaha 😂
😂😂😂@@mraudio
@@mraudiowhy do you think there’s a trailer hitch lol
I'd heard somewhere that one of Chrysler's V8s (4.6L I'm guessing) was considered, but actually had less horsepower than their new V6. Of course the V8 had considerably more torque, but as the old adage goes, "torque wins races, but horsepower sells cars." The Prowler might be one of just a few cars in which that consideration was ill-advised, since everyone agreed a V8 was more in the spirit of the car.
The 3.5L SOHC was actually a great engine, though. I had a 300M with the same powertrain and it was an excellent balance of good low end/midrange torque, but still kept pulling strong all the way to a fairly high redline (back then you usually had to pick one or the other). Sounded pretty good (again, for a V6), ran smooth, and was very reliable. I'd forgive the use of the (good) V6 in the Prowler if you could have at least had a manual. The auto used in these was also reliable and smooth, but they sapped tons of power, as most automatics did back in the day. Of course, the desirable V8 sound would still be absent, but the car would otherwise have been a pretty strong performer with the lower power loss and an extra ratio or two.
At any rate, gotta at least give Chrysler credit for having the balls to produce vehicles like this. Can you think of a vehicle produced by a mainstream brand in the last 20 years that's even half as bold? I can't.
Chrysler only had the Magnum V8 engines that came in pickup trucks at the time of the prowler which was the iron block/heads 318 & 360 in lower HP outputs at much higher weights than the 3.5l V6. They came out with the 4.7l in Jeeps for 99, but that engine was largely designed by Mercedes during the years Chrysler was partnered with Daimler. It was many years later before Chrysler came out with there own V8 again which was the Hemi. The 3.5l is a great engine, but they should have supercharged it for the prowler.
@@THEFERMANATOR the Hemi was also a Daimler (Mercedes designed engine) while Dsimler still owned Chrysler.
None of the engines were designed by Daimler. Daimler owned them, but all the engineering was done in Auburn Hills. They did use some of Daimler designs as a base for different models, but not engines.
@@garyszewc3339 thats funny, when I went to a Chrysler training course when I worked at a Chrysler dealer, the instructor outright said the 4.7l was a Merc design.
Even the sound of a V8 would have elevated this car. Even if it wasn't putting out corvette numbers, i think it would have given it a lot more credibility.
My last day of high school in 2008, we got out of class and made a b-line to the nearest smoke shop. While driving over there, we saw Chip Foose driving a Prowler (possibly this one) and we waved and ended up going into the same shopping center. We said hi to him briefly and he was of course super cool even though he was about to get a steak at Mortons steakhouse. Great memory, he is a legend
hmmm...
Chip is a true legend. He's so good a creativity and so good at art. I also love Leno for his love of all sorts of rare cars and that Leno actually drives his cars all the time. I appreciate people who actually drive thwre nice cars hard to enjoy them. Why would anyone want to get a dream car to just stare at. If u don't drive your car things start to break like rubber and plastic oil seals ans things get caroted and things start to leak and fail in the engine . It's always good to drive a car atleast 5k miles a year to keep the parts from rotting away
I've always thought how cool it is the way Chip speaks so professionally about Boyd. The same Boyd who had nothing good to say about Chip until the day he died.
Boyd was a has been. He had some cars during the "billet" days that got some attention, but his designs never evolved with the times. He was also very arrogant.
@@life_of_riley88 Watching him on his show I recall he was always so paranoid that someone was always out to get him? Not sure where that all came from but he seemed to be a bitter ole man in a lot of ways? And boy he had a serious hate for Chip? Sad to have lived his last days this way BUT life is what you choose to make it!
@@goleafsgo8496 Yeah, you're 100% correct, unfortunately. He disliked Chip., and treated his employees with contempt, which I could never understand.
@@goleafsgo8496listen to the Oil and Whiskey podcast with Duane Mayer. Gives good insight into Boyd
2 legends, 1 car. 😁
But it's so cool to learn that Chip actually had a hand in the design of the Prowler. And that it started his career. 😎🤟
3 legends counting the car!
Love the chemistry between you two and how you bounce jokes and exaggerations off each other, this was a delight to watch! I was 10-14 years old during the era of the Copperhead, Prowler, GT90, and other concept cars were in magazines. I didn't care what engines or powertrains they had, they were just plain cool. Fast forward 25 years and I still think they're just as cool lol
one of the most impressionable silhouettes of my childhood, surely. i think whatever your stance on this car, the reaction to spotting one in the wild is universal; that is, you simply stop and gawk. the epitome of "road presence". about a year and a half ago, passing through niagara falls, we ran into a small party of prowler's stopped at a nearby park- chatted for a bit, all super cool and passionate folk, eager to chat about the car, it was a prowler meet-up/drive. very cool. would never own one.
Id imagine you would have to be a real people person to own a car like that because I'm sure anytime you stop you are going to have to answer 100 questions
First years was 1998 and it had 214 horse power... Fun cars and always gets people to smile!
I think the Prowler has aged so well !!
It looks better today than it did in the 90's . A true collectors car that will only go up in price 😊
It absolutely looks better today. Totally agree.
What many miss and they did in this video, was that even though it was an automatic. It was a four speed that you can shift into manual mode. I am very surprised when Jay shifted into D . I have an 8 speed transmission and it is a game changer when using manual mode. JMO ✌️🫶
@rayRay-pw6gz your modern 8 speed is way different than a 4 speed slushbox from the 90s
Those bumpers...without its a beautiful car.
@@ossanyberg it has them only because US regulations. If would build this car an european car maker, it would be from factory without those bumpers....the best european examples would be cars like the classic Lotus Super 7, and the numerous variations inspired by Lotus, like the modern Donkervoorts...
I was 12 when that came out and it was instantly my favorite car. It actually is what got me interested in cars, my school bus had a stop right by a chrysler dealership with one of these in the front showroom. 2850 lbs, 255 hp and the looks of a 30s chopped hot rod, I still think they're pretty amazing cars.
right on! & they're not underpowered: 0-60 mph time to 5.7 seconds and
quarter-mile performance to 14.3 seconds at 95.4 mph
And really, ic you did certain mods to that engine, you could easily extract well over 300hp...no need for a V8.
Saw Chip Foose on the 55 freeway in Orange County CA years ago, gave him a thumbs up he smiled and waived. He was in a Ford F150 Harley Davidson Edition.
Drive through LA enough and you'll see every celebrity 😂. David Beckham, Will Smith, ice Cube, Richard Simmons from what I can remember
I’ve always loved the look of the Prowler
Got to drive one of these when I was 16 and it was an awesome experience, had no idea Foose designed it. If this would’ve had a good power plant it would’ve been a legendary car.
There were plenty of 6 cylinder performance cars before the Prowler came out, so I'm not sure why it was ok for them and heresy for the Prowler. Some of these cars include the Grand National, '89 Turbo T/A, Stealth R/T, Taurus SHO, NSX, M3, 300ZX, Supra and plenty more. The Prowler V6 was every bit a Hot Rod engine too. It featured 10.4:1 compression ratio, aluminum SOHC heads with 4 valves per cylinder, a long ram intake manifold with sequential multi port fuel injection and distributorless ignition. The power was underpinned by a stout bottom end that included forged crank, forged rods, full floating pistons and 6 bolt main caps, that's right 6. It had 4 bolts coming in from the bottom and 2 more cross bolted in through the side of the block(just like the old 427 Cobra Demand blocks). No turbo, no supercharger, no vvt and it still put out a hair less than 1 NET hp per cubic inch. That was the first year Prowler. After the initial year, they added an aluminum block, and a sophisticated valved intake manifold with twin throttle bodies.
Was it quick? The first year did 0-60 in 7 seconds flat and the 1/4 mile in 15.4. The refreshed 2nd gen engine was good for 5.7 0-60 and 14.3 1/4 mjle. How does this compare to the competition? '96 Mustang GT 0-60 6.7, 1/4 15.1, 1999 Z28 conv. 0-60 5.5, 1/4 14.0, 1999 SVT Cobra 0-60 5.4, 1/4 14.0, 1999 M3 0-60 5.6, 1/4 14.3, 1996 Porsche 911 0-60 6.3, 1/4 14.3, 1993 Ferrari 348TS O-60 5.5, 1/4 13.9 1996 Acura NSX(auto) 0-60 5.8, 1/4 14.3. Obviously the performance was plenty competitive.
The biggest mistake that Chrysler made with the Prowler was overestimating the intelligence of the car community at large. The press and the public got hung up on the lack of V8, and failed to see the substance and competence that was actually there.
Unfortunately, judging by most of the current reviews and comments, nothing has changed to this day.
This is the first time I've cringed at Jay Leno's comments during one of his videos. So much time spent bagging out the car when there is so much to appreciate. It sounds like my younger self in my mind looking back at a youth criticising things before I got over myself as I aged, cringy teenager bagging when there's a cool-looking fun machine just sitting there ready to be enjoyed if you'd just let it go. Chip was a great spirit in this video. I've wanted one of these cars for so long, I just love those lines and the boldness of the company to build something that was lucky to make it out of the design-area. I would own it any day and when people bag it out telling me why it should have been better, I'd be the one enjoying it with a smile on my face driving every day.
Always loved the Plum-Crazy Purple!!!
Too bad that's not a color that was available on the Prowler
@@stryfe2000turbothey were basically Plum Crazy. Same paint, with a different name. The Plum Crazy name was only used on Dodges, and Plymouth called it In Violet. All of the high impact colors used different names for Dodge and Plymouth.
@@garyszewc3339 Look up some pictures of Plum Crazy Dodges, this is pretty clearly not the same paint
I've always felt the Prowler was under appreciated, though I'm one of the people that think a manual trans should have been an option and it should have had a V8. That isn't me saying the car didn't have it's niche, and I felt it served it quite well. Very awesome seeing Chip Foose on the show. Thanks Jayu!!!
Even a manual option would have made this more interesting and exciting to drive. And for what it's worth, the Prowler has almost 200HP more than the 1932 flathead Ford V-8 it was inspired by.
I always hated the fake retro 90's craze - they were all ugly caricatures & under-powered in my opinion & the Prowler was one of the worst culprits. Still interesting history though - and I do like the colour.
Thank you Mr. Leno for taking the time to give to the lowly Prowler! I was working for Chrysler in between jobs for a 2-year h life change rite when the towers fell in New York and had some strong Prowler exposure at the time. Thank you both Mr. Leno and Mr. Foose i have 40 yrs of autobody experience that i could fill your reply space up with, but I wont.Thank you both!
Since I saw Prowler in 1999 I feel in love with it's classic timeless design!
I want that car in that specific colour!
I remember seeing these cars driving around when I was younger, then in high school... Just mind-blowing, never saw anything like it and I haven't seen anything like it since.
Chip you are very humble. I love the fact that you did the drawings for the prowler. Its nice
The great Chip Foose. Thanks for everything you've done over the years.🥶
I had a picture of a car carrier w/ 5-6 pink prowlers on back. Wish I could find the picture. When the Prowler came out many heads turned cuz there was “nothing” even close except the “Viper”. Love it.
I remember having an rc model of the Prowler. So cool to hear the story of its genesis.
omg it's Chip! Hes an awesome guy, very very humble. Good to see Jay and Chip together
Looks like he put a few... pounds on.
Great to see Chip again. What a team Jay and Chip would make. Almost too much talent in the room! It takes big balls to push the envelope in a big corporate environment. Chip rules
Hi Jay . Really good to see Chip . I was aware of Chip being the designer . Such a talented and respectful man . And his artwork is sensational . Thanks Jay
Wow, I remember how weird it was back then but today looks so beautiful, fresh and cool !!
Great to see you Chip. Your dad would be so proud. ❤
I visited the usa in the 90s, and the most striking car I found was this one... nice episode!
Oh how I miss Chip's show. I still remember falling in love with his Imposter which won the Riddler award. I could watch him draw all day. So much talent in one small package lol.
I never knew Chip was behind this design but it makes perfect sense. Love his work.
That car is beautiful. It looks absolutely stunning.
Hey Jay! I used to see Prince driving his around Chanhassen/Lake Minnetonka in Minnesota during the Summer Time, he seemed happy with his.
Tell me his was purple!
In 1999 I was a car salesman at you guessed it, a Chrysler/Plymouth dealership. We were all blown away when we first learned of the prowler coming to our showroom floor. I will never forget the day it showed up in our parking lot on the car hauler and after the manager got his first test drive around the block, we all got to take it for a spin but just inside the dealership grounds, lol. The car was an instant hit but as chip and jay pointed out, it was under powered and no trunk space. That first Prowler we got my Buddy sold just a day later for 42,000. The MSRP was like 32 and some change and we had added a dealer mark up of 10 grand. Needless to say after the dealership closed that night, my buddy that made the sale, to a Lawyer I might add, took us all out for a night of drinking and a few other things 😂 and the Lawyer that bought the car joined us.
Top 3 automotive channels worldwide! Love your presentation, knowledge and enthusiasm, Mr. Leno!
Sure it's not a supercar or anything but they're incredible to see in person. They nailed the design of this for sure.
ikr? a V8 and a manual would've put the car over $40,000 (a remote shift manual..lol..big bucks and the iron V8's of the time weighed a lot and had less hp than the all aluminum (300M) V6 and..they had the Viper, so there was no point in making it a monster..it was a sports/niche/throwback design car and
excelled at the intended role.
Fabulous to see Chip on screen again. Gotta love that guys personality
This car looks so good for a car that was made in the 90's. Especially coming off the boxy era of 80's car designs. I grew up in the 90's and I don't recall ever seeing one, but they were probably not very common in Canada. I think it would be fun to own one of these if you are someone of my generation. A few tweaks to the engine, maybe do a supercharger mod and improve the injection system (as Jay alluded to), it would be tons of fun to drive.
I used to watch Chip’s show and was amazed at some of the custom details. One in particular were tread designs cut into the tires. I didn’t know such a thing existed.
Thanks for the show with you and Chip guys have a great week bild one with a v8
Chip is a legend. So is Jay in his own right.
Absolutely
And in fooses own mind.
Chip holds his own in wittiness, too. Funny guy!
2 legends
Chip is a legend, Jay is a notional treasure……..😮😮
This and the PT Cruiser are both brilliant designs in their revival of some of the most beautiful design language in automotive history. If you don't love the 30s cars, you may just not get it. Us street rod lovers get it.
Have you ever driven or worked on at pt cruiser?
My childhood dream car. 🙌🏻 I had a poster in my room for years of the tuxedo edition
My old man is a 40 year chrysler tech and he has a 2001 Intrepid R/T with the same 3.5 V6, even in its stock form its surprisingly quick and smooth, and there's a few mods that can be done to them that make them substantially better, mainly put the different geared gearbox from a 2.7L, air intake, exhaust, injectors, cam, etc. Some of the stuff my dad has done to his over the years.
They weren’t looking to sell a lot. It was more of an experiment for use of aluminum. At the time the v6 made more horsepower than even the 5.9 v8 . I love them . The story behind the car alone makes this a top collector car in my opinion.
You are exactly right. It would have been a complete disaster to have put the Cast Iron Magnum in a Prowler. It was all about pushing the envelope in the use of space age materials and future engine tech. They never mentioned how hard and quick they shift!
0-60 mph time to 5.7 seconds and quarter-mile performance to 14.3 seconds at
95.4 mph. Quick enough to embarrass a lot on the V8 'Musclecars' of the 60's.
& double their mpg, ahaha.
Kudo's to Jay Leno's Garage for bringing in Chip Foose to walk through and educate the car enthusiast about the history of the Prowler. This was a very cool episode and loved watching it.
Love Chip use to watch overhaulin all the time his cars are legendary
So we have a Chip & a Jay, both daft names but two truly great men in different ways but their combined knowledge of cars is unmatched.
Another great episode. Chip Voest is iconic legend.
Thank you Tom Gale for seeing the Prowler into production and Chip Foose for the inspiration!
We need more Chip Foose on Jay Leno's Garage.
agree, chip foose must be back
This was my favorite car ever to ride in. Mark from Brentwood Motors in TN had one when they came out. It was so much fun.
I attended the Detroit Auto Show in 1993, and saw a Prowler for the first time. I was amazed a Big Three company would manufacture it. Pretty cool.
One of the coolest cars to ever come out in the 90s. I can still remember the first time I saw one brand new and in 1999 you couldn't help but stare at it!
Good job ! love ya Jay ...more rides with Chip please.....KEEP ON PROWLING
I always thought those cars were so neat. I am sure that this car sparked the retro looking cars for decades to follow, like the PT Cruiser, SSR, 5th gen Mustang, and many more. Great to see Chip still doing good.
was good to see chip foose again, just learned he designed that car, loved that car growing up.2 of the best car guys
I have always liked these,and the Cross fire
I can tell Jay has every reason to not be excited about the Prowler, it's a lot of things that people find "plastic" about modern cars, but showing it with Chip and the story behind it sets this show apart from just a showcase "cars that Jay likes". Which is nice, but it adds more to show something that you're undecided on. Always appreciate these
That 3.5L motor sounded great. I had a 2002 Chrysler 300M Special with the same engine and it had an awesome exhaust note as well. Little growl at idle, would burble and pop when you revved it. Very nice.
You mentioned the "Blackwood" Lincoln Truck... I was working as a Salesperson At "Plano Lincoln-Mercury" {Plano, TX on the north of Dallas] and our General Manager decided to create a Unique Line of "Trim-Levels" of various Lincolns that you could ONLY GET at Our Dealership...
He started, in about 1997-98, with basically a custom '3-tone Paint' that was sort of a champagne color of the "Signature Series" that he labeled the "Limited" ... and our Body Shop did a Great Job with the paint, and a thin red pinstripe, and "Limited" stitched into the seats... it was about $3500 OVER Sticker, and we had a waiting line to buy them! Since Lincoln did not have a line of Trucks -- in TEXAS with NO Pickup Truck!!?? So he bought several Ford Trucks, and installed the tail-lights and front grill of a Navigator... with all the top of the line Leather interior... and called it a "Lincoln Towne Truck" ... like the Lincoln Towne Car...
FMC Finance would not include them in their Loans and Rebates and such, because they classified them as "USED VEHICLES" because our Dealer had to buy them from Ford, then convert them, and resell them... making them "Pre-Owned vehicles"...
In less than 6-months, the Blackwood appeared!! Same thing happened with the little Mercury Cougar... he created a Special Edition of the little sports car, with mostly cosmetic trim parts... a wing spoiler, wheels and tires, and a few other things ...
and it became over half of all our sales for those cars... we took it to the Dallas Car Show... and Ford Reps saw it, and soon they had a Factory Option that was an exact copy...
Jay and Chip- they could be driving a turtle shell on steroids and I'd still watch every second. The Automotive knowledge and experience in that Prowler is beyond anything anyone could have imagined!
This was the car I had plastered on my bedroom walls when I was a kid. Someone ordered one through my local Chrysler dealer and my dad took me to the showroom to see it in person.
Chip seems like such a good dude.
As a kid the prowler and the PT cruiser were my favorite cars not because of the engines but because of the classic look they brought into the modern world
I remember as a kid they had this car inside of Paradise valley mall in North Phoenix Arizona. They where showing it off.I remember walking around it thinking "cool car". Paradise valley mall got torn down and replaced with condominiums recently. sucks all those memories gone...
I bought my Prowler in 1999.
I still have mine in the garage.
Fun car for sure ❤
As a retired Chrysler designer, I appreciate Chip's modesty in giving credit to the design and engineering staffs of Chrysler for their work. There's a tremendous amount of work in taking a concept to production. Much credit goes to Bob Hubbach for his design input. Bob passed away about two years ago. Chip certainly provided the inspiration for it, and Tom Gale, a hotrodder at heart, recognized a great idea.
At one point Chrysler engineers did fit a Mopar V8 in one, but they were unable to secure the funding to get it in production.
Amazing car! I’ve always wanted one. 🚗
There is also no gas tank. I worked for a rental agency and got to take our prowler home a few times. I still love it. Fun car, fun to drive and stylish.
I use Jay Leno's Garage Radiant Ceramic Car Sealant to put the final polish on my SR-71 Blackbird Titanium Rings. Thanks JAY !
Now that I see it, again, it really does have the quintessential Chip Foose profile ❤So cool
Being born in the late 80’s and seeing this car from childhood was and still is imho one of the coolest LOOKING cars ever made.
I loved the design when these came out, and the design still looks great 25 years later.
I think that the add for Cartier coming along right after Chip says something like "you can't go grocery shopping" with this car is great. It seems to be telling us viewers that we could go shopping at Cartier because their products are usually very small.
I was about 13 when this car came out. I thought it was awesome, and still love it. It's not a performance car, but it just looks so cool. I imagine it would be a fun car to own and cruise on the weekends.
This thing has really had a glow up. Its *such* a good looking car!
sounds pretty neat for being a V6. I remember seeing one of these around the town when I was a kid and loved it.
100% True story. The company I worked for in the late 80's actually helped build the Chrysler Tech Ctr in Auburn Hills MI. I worked afternoons from 4 until midnight as a commercial carpenter assembling new office furniture for the employees that would eventually be working there. Chrysler had security 24 / 7. On afternoons after 9pm the place was a ghost town with only security and the construction team assembling the furniture. We became good friends with security over the 12 years working there. One night, security came and took a few of us into a room that had the Prowler as a concept fully built in the color here on this video. I sat in it 2 yrs prior to it being released to the public. At the same time, they had the Viper in the concept room, too. I sat in that 2 yrs prior to its release. This was all prior to cameras in cell phones of course. Working in the Detroit area and working for the big 3, I was always seeing models of vehicles way before their releases.
This was one of my favorite cars when I was in high school. I dreamed of getting one and I still hope to get my hands on one.