Single-Owner ’99 Plymouth Prowler Coming Up For Auction (With Matching Trailer)

Remember the Plymouth Prowler? If you were alive in America around the turn of the millennium, it was pretty hard to miss. For better or worse, it’s been out of production for some sixteen years now. (In fact the whole Plymouth brand was shut down around the same time.) But if you missed your chance the first time around, there’s a cherry of an example coming up for auction.

Born at the height of the retro craze, the Prowler was a roadster evocative of 1930s hot rods. Reinterpreted for the ’90s, it featured a modest 3.5-liter V6 with a four-speed “autostick” slushbox driving the rear whees. It had all of 214 horsepower (217 ps/160 kW) when it came out, taking a rather un-hot-rod-like 7.2 seconds to reach highway speed.

It was later upgraded to 253 hp (257 ps/189 kW), but it still took 5.9 seconds to make the 0-62 run. And even then, it could only top out at 126 mph (203 km/h). But what it lacked in performance it made up for in attention-grabbing design. In short, it looked nothing else on the road. Not even the equally retro Ford Thunderbird or Chevy SSR of the time could match it for visual impact.

DaimlerChrysler (as the company was then known) only made 11,702 of them between 1997 and 2002. This one was made in ’99 (with the upgraded engine), in bright red with a black interior and chrome wheels. Nearly two decades later, its solitary owner has only driven it 134 miles, and is now putting it up for auction.

The roadster is set to hit the block on Thursday, May 17, as part of Mecum Auctions‘ sale in Indianapolis. It still has all the original literature, window sticker… even the optional matching trailer (of which only 94 were made in this color). You may, however, have to find your own Ricky Martin or Smashmouth cassette to load into the dashboard tape deck.