By Zachary Senter
Bob Allison is a former employee of Chrysler. He worked with the company for 31 years and held more than 10 different jobs over that time. He is also the proud owner of a special car known as a Plymouth Prowler. This vehicle was manufactured by Chrysler from 1998 to 2002. This special vehicle has an interesting story to tell.
The Plymouth Prowler was an experiment by the Chrysler company. It is the first and only Chrysler car made entirely out of aluminum, making the vehicle extremely light. The engineers were told to design the vehicle so that its physical appearance grabs peoples’ attention as it went down the street, but to do so using an existing power train. So, while the vehicle may look like a sports car, the vehicle is not actually built for racing. The vehicle also comes with its own trailer. The vehicle’s cabin is small, and it has almost no trunk space, so a trailer was added so people could carry things like luggage with them. However, the story of Mr. Allison’s Prowler goes beyond its technical information.
Mr. Allison was working for Chrysler during the time of the Prowler’s production. His daughter saw how much he loved the vehicle and started sending him ads of Prowlers for sale. Eventually she found one in Ohio. The vehicle was 23 years old and had 11,700 miles on it. Mr. Allison bought the car and often takes it for drives. He also takes the Prowler to car shows.
Mr. Allison’s Prowler has seen shows in faraway places, like North Florida, and ones closer to home. Mr. Allison does not go to the shows to win prizes. In fact, Mr. Allison has said that the Large Cat decals on the vehicle, added by the previous owner, are considered a change to the original vehicle. This means that the Prowler would have to pe placed into a different category than normal. However, the Prowler still gets displayed alongside other interesting vehicles and Invites visitors to talk to Mr. Allison about his unique vehicle.
Mr. Allison advises readers to buy something that they like and hang on to it as he has with his Prowler. “People . . . they buy something and it’s disposable.” Mr. Allison says that people today tend to replace their possessions rather than repair them. Unfortunately, the knowledge of how to do repairs has because more has become more difficult to come by. If people do not learn to do repairs, then they will not be able to pass things they enjoy, like Prowlers, to those who come after them. So, if you have a Prowler of your own, then consider maintaining it and keeping around instead of getting rid of it.
