READER RIDES

HAS THERE EVER BEEN A CONCEPT CAR SO UNLIKELY TO REACH PRODUCTION? THIS AUSSIE-BASED PLYMOUTH PROWLER IS PROOF THEY TRULY EXIST

They built it? Really? The Hot Wheels-made-real Plymouth Prowler has you asking the same question in 2024 as it did when the first of these retro roadsters prowled American streets in 1997.

Paying homage to ’32 Ford hot rods, this was Chrysler Corp designer Tom Gale’s even more extrovert follow-up to the bonkers Dodge Viper. The Prowler wowed in concept form at the 1993 Detroit Auto Show, was somehow given the production green light, then they hand-built almost 12,000 of these overwhelming aluminium open-wheelers up until 2002. Introverts need not apply, especially when yours is glimmering in orange pearl framed against a deep blue Queensland sky. Sunshine Coaster Sid James spotted his 2001 Prowler for sale in Los Angeles three years ago. Handily, his son Corey is California-based so was tasked with inspecting and testing it before money changed hands. Sid had been burnt before. He’d transferred money over for a sight-unseen Prowler, was scammed, and lost the lot.

It was a happier story this time. “Part of the import rules is you must have new catalytic converters fitted,” Sid explained. “I got the high-flow cats, but regulations mean you can’t have them delivered to California. I had to go through three different muffler shops before I found someone who’d weld them in.”

He also had carbon brake pads fitted in the States to avoid any potential asbestos dramas, then transported the Prowler to San Francisco to set sail for Brisbane. Left-hand drive restrictions meant this 20-year-old Plymouth went straight to conversion specialist Performax, Sid’s being the 14th Prowler the company would convert.

“I’d ridden in a Prowler in the States in 2002,” Sid explained. “We were going down the freeway and people are beeping their horns and pointing and waving. I thought ‘what a unique car.’ I wanted one from the point on.”