The Plymouth Growler

[PR19_Kit]

This will be a looong sloooooooow build of one of my fave cars, but I've only ever seen one of them for real. 

It's the Plymouth Prowler, the 1997 retro-styled hot rod 2 seater made with modern techie stuff, and ramrodded through Chrysler Corporation's board room by Tom Gale, their serious car nut of a design director at the time.

The real thing looked like this



But originally they only came in metallic PURPLE! Yes, really, but the one I saw was yellow, like the one above, and so will  my model be, but maybe with a bit more trim to it.

This kit's by Revell and it's really good, and I understand AMT did one too, but I've never seen one. The Revell kit comes with a trailer for a very good reason. The real Prowlers have a stupidly small boot (trunk....) only just big enough for a toothbrush maybe, so if you wanted to take anything with you, you're stumped, thus the trailer.

Here's the kit box with the basic body shell below it, in glorious PURPLE! of course!



Not being one to build car kits OOB this one's going to be 'tuned', or 'hot rodded' if you prefer. The real Prowlers had a 3.5 litre V6 under the bonnet (hood....) and every single road test lanbasted it for being gutless as it only pushed out 214 bhp originally, and then 253 bhp later on. That did give the Prowlers a 0-60 time of 6.7 secs, which I don't think is all that bad really, but by today's standards it'd be a bit of a slow coach. My Mega-Prowler will have a MUCH larger V8 under that pointy bonnet (hood....), either a Chrysler 340 cu ins wedge, keeping it the same family, or a larger 440 wedge or even the famous 1965 426 cu ins Hemi if I can squeeze it in. That should improve the 0-60 time no end. 

It'll need a fair amount of chopping and changing underneath, but I didn't win the IPMS-UK Hot Rod class 5 yrs on the trot without knowing how to do that! 

Fred Zenrat has done that sort of thing already with his Caonnonball Run Citation, which actually used a Prowler chassis under the Citation body and he squeezed a 340 in there, so it can be done. Fred sent me some great pics of the Citation so I'm a bit ahead of the game now. Thanks muchly Fred. 

I've already built up the very complex IRS system, complete with its rear mounted transmission. Yes, the prop shaft runs at crankshaft speed!  In a moment of madness I decided to cut the boot (trunk...) lid out too, if only just to show how inadequate the space is in there, and that took quite a while and was pretty fiddly as well. Having done so I realised that Revell didn't supply ANY sort of interior to the boot (trunk...) so with the lid open you can see right through to the transmission and rear suspension! I suspect a LOT of scratchbuilding will be needed there now, either that or I'll glue the lid back on!

Here it is so far.

[kerick]

This will be quite a project!
It was my understanding that the trailer was made from a Prowler rear end that got a regular axle and a hitch. I could well be wrong about that

[PR19_Kit]

It certainly looks as if it does, but the lid opens in the opposite direction, and it uses the smaller front wheel size, so I suspect it was deliberately styled that way rather than actually modded from a real Prowler.

But if they had done that, whatever did they do with the rest of the front bits? 

[frank2056]

Kit - that picture is like one of those trick images where the hag turns into a beautiful woman. Are we looking at the fuselage body from below or from above?

[kerick]

I'm pretty sure that's the top of the body judging from the tops of the fenders.

I heard once that people made trailers from the back end of corvettes where the front end had been wrecked. Not sure if that's true either. I know they make trailers from the beds of old pickup trucks. You're a high class redneck if the trailer matches the truck you're driving.

[PR19_Kit]

Kit - that picture is like one of those trick images where the hag turns into a beautiful woman. Are we looking at the fuselage body from below or from above?

That's from above Frank, looking down through the boot (trunk....) to the transmission/rear suspension.

[zenrat]

Please lose those godawful bumpers.


And if i may make a suggestion, rename it the Growler...

[McColm]

It would make a great trike or three-wheeler alternative 

[PR19_Kit]

Please lose those godawful bumpers.

And if i may make a suggestion, rename it the Growler...

The rear bumpers look OK, but the front ones look very much afterthoughts, don't they? And I like 'Growler', thanks Fred. 

[Dizzyfugu]

Ah, and I had expected a high-altitude EA-6B after reading the headline... 

[Rick Lowe]

Ah, and I had expected a high-altitude EA-6B after reading the headline... 

A high enough jump, a-la Blues Brothers, and you'd have the altitude...

[Charlie_c67]

Sorry, but seeing that title made me think of something COMPLETELY different...

Too much time in the NHS and at the Army/Navy rugby games   

[su27rules]

  

[PR19_Kit]

The other two possible engines just arrived, hidden in a Revell '68 Dodge Dart Hemi box. 

[perttime]

A quick google image search found prowlers both with and without the ugly front bumpers.


https://www.motorbiscuit.com/the-plymouth-prowler-is-a-modern-car-for-classic-car-lovers/