Photo: Plymouth
From the depths of the Daimler-Chrysler era comes the the Plymouth Prowler. It’s a perfect example of what comes out when you give designers and engineers the liberty to do whatever they want.
It wasn’t exactly a runaway success story, but SRT remembers the car as a kind of bleuprint for what they’re doing right now. The Prowler was created by Performance Vehicle Operations (PVO) with aluminum construction in mind.
“For SRT vehicles, we decided to take the weight out of those vehicles and use Prowler technology,” Prowler engineer Saad Abouzahr said. “We created our suspension components using aluminum, and SRT vehicles also have unique aluminum hoods.”
“Back when we were building the first SRT vehicles, aluminum technology at the time was still new. For us, it was taking what we learned from the Prowler in terms of lightweight construction and implementing it on the SRT vehicles,” Abouzahr said. “All SRT vehicles today, as a signature, have aluminum hoods and suspension — which can be traced directly to the Prowler. With the Prowler, we had the recipe for these SRT vehicles.”
The Prowler was unveiled in 1993 as a concept and three years later as a production vehicle. The first ones rolled off the line with a 3.5-liter 24-valve SOHC engine producing 214 hp, but in 1999 this was increased to 253 hp. Just like a Corvette, it had the transmission at the back. Its lightweight construction meant that it was fun and reached 62 mph in 5.9 seconds on later models.
“For SRT vehicles, we decided to take the weight out of those vehicles and use Prowler technology,” Prowler engineer Saad Abouzahr said. “We created our suspension components using aluminum, and SRT vehicles also have unique aluminum hoods.”
“Back when we were building the first SRT vehicles, aluminum technology at the time was still new. For us, it was taking what we learned from the Prowler in terms of lightweight construction and implementing it on the SRT vehicles,” Abouzahr said. “All SRT vehicles today, as a signature, have aluminum hoods and suspension — which can be traced directly to the Prowler. With the Prowler, we had the recipe for these SRT vehicles.”
The Prowler was unveiled in 1993 as a concept and three years later as a production vehicle. The first ones rolled off the line with a 3.5-liter 24-valve SOHC engine producing 214 hp, but in 1999 this was increased to 253 hp. Just like a Corvette, it had the transmission at the back. Its lightweight construction meant that it was fun and reached 62 mph in 5.9 seconds on later models.
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