washingtonpost.com's view

THE FELLOWS didn’t get it. They were throttle-jockeys attuned to measurable things — horsepower, torque, gravitational forces.

Passion meant little to them.

They were auto scribes on a mission. They came here to the Chrysler Pacifica Advanced Product Design Center to examine pre-production models of the Plymouth Prowler, a stylistic hot rod. They weren’t about to be whiskered by an artsy type talking about “passion.”

The fellows, for they were all fellows on this part of the 1997-model car tour, got all of the numbers. But judging from many of their comments, they missed the point: Passion is the Prowler’s sole excuse for being.

The Prowler is car as seduction, a rolling celebration of libido. It is dance, poetry, a portrait well done. The Prowler is not a muscle mobile. Neither is it a 1934 Ford “highboy” roadster, though it resembles that hot rod in several respects. People who want one of those cars should shop elsewhere.

Background: Chrysler Corp. has done something remarkable, not only with the Prowler, but with its entire product line. The company has styled its cars and trucks so nicely that people are buying them for looks alone.

Chrysler’s research supports that conclusion. Some 92 percent of its current car and truck owners rate styling as the top reason for their vehicle purchase, the company says. There’s anecdotal evidence, too.

An acquaintance, Greg Taylor, who resides in the Maryland suburbs, recently bought a 1996 Chrysler Sebring coupe. Why? “Looks are important to me; and I like the way the Sebring looks. If I didn’t care about looks, I would’ve bought a Honda,” Taylor said.

None of this means that Chrysler’s products are functional flops. Quite the contrary. In terms of overall quality and performance, they can and do compete globally.

But the company’s whiz-bang, in-your-face approach to styling raises certain expectations that might not be met by some of its products, such as the front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, two-seat, ragtop Prowler roadster.

Clearly, for example, many of my fellow scribes expected to rip up the roads during their Prowler test drives here. But neither the car, nor the law, would let them.

Oh, the car was fast enough, as evidenced by the need to mash the brake pedal when nearing California Highway Patrol vehicles. But some of my peers complained that the Prowler didn’t “move out” as quickly as they thought it would; or that it didn’t take corners, say, with the aplomb of a Porsche 911 Carrera.

But I was thrilled by the car. It did exactly what I wanted it to do, which was to attract gobs of favorable attention from many, ahm, verrry attractive admirers. Hell, I wasn’t trying to go fast. I was trying to go slow. I was on parade.

Prowler particulars: It is an aluminum-bodied car. Indeed, about 900 pounds of its estimated 2,850 pounds is aluminum. Its wheelbase extends 113 inches. Overall length is 135 inches. With its top raised, the car is 51 inches high.

The P rowler runs on Goodyear rubber — big, 17-inch tires up front and even bigger 20-inch tires in the rear. These are special “extended mobility” tires, which means they can roll 50 miles at 55 miles per hour after losing air, eliminating the need for carrying a spare. It also means that they’re expensive, at least several hundred dollars apiece.

The Prowler is equipped with a 3.5-liter, 24-valve, single overhead-cam engine rated 214 horsepower at 5,850 rpm. Torque is rated 221 pound-feet at 3,100 rpm.

Unlike many true hot rods, the Prowler comes with dual front airbags. Power four-wheel-disc brakes are standard, as is the Prowler’s rear-mounted, electronically controlled, four-speed AutoStick gearbox. AutoStick allows the driver to use an automatic transmission, or to shift manually.

For now, the Prowler is available in one color — metallic purple.

Complaints: Chrysler dipped into its spare-parts bin to come up with Prowler components. That mostly worked well – – with the gl ring exception of the Prowler’s center console, which looks like something from an extraordinarily ordinary mom-and-pop sedan. A car as funky as the Prowler deserves something funkier.

Also, there were some rattles emanating from the roof stowage area behind the seats. But the test car was a pre-production model, which means that some rattles and squeaks were expected.

Praise: The hoot of it all. The absolute head trip of being in a stunningly attractive car.

Head-turning quotient: Zinnngggg! Outta here! Neck-snapper supreme.

Ride, acceleration and handling: Very comfortable ride. Very good lane-change acceleration. Excellent handling when driven around curves in a manner befitting common sense. Braking was excellent.

Mileage: About 25 miles per gallon (12-gallon tank, estimated 290-mile range on usable volume of recommended premium unleaded), running mostly highway with two occupants and no cargo, which was a good thing, inasmuch as the Prowler’s cargo space is practically nonexistent.

Sound system: Standard AM/FM stereo radio and cassette with compact disc; 320-watt, seven-speaker, Chrysler Infinity system. Whoa! Boss boogie.

Price: The Prowler goes on sale in early 1997. Prices are not yet firm, but Chrysler officials say that the car will list for about $35,000.

Purse-strings note: It’s possible to spend as much as $100,000 in parts and sweat equity building your own dream hot rod. By comparison, the ready-made Prowler can be a bargain. But you’ll have to stand in line to get one. At this writing, Chrysler’s Plymouth Division has 90,000 bona fide potential Prowler buyers — people who have asked about the car’s availability and demonstrated a willingness to buy it.

But only about 3,000 Prowlers will be built for 1997 at Chrysler’s Conner Avenue Assembly Plant in Detroit. Production eventually will rise to 5,000 annually, Chrysler officials said.