The Plymouth Prowler, later the Chrysler Prowler, is a retro-styled production sports car manufactured and marketed from 1997 to 2002 by DaimlerChrysler, based on the 1993 concept car of the same name. The Prowler was offered in a single generation in a front-engine, rear-drive, rear-transmission configuration—with an overall production of 11,702. Chrysler engineers were given free rein to design whatever they wanted in a 'hot rod' or 'sportster' type vehicle. Chrysler's design and international director Thomas C. Gale said his 'love for 1930s-era hot rods inspired Chrysler's latest design triumph, the retro-styled Plymouth Prowler.' Gale, who has a hotted up 1932 Ford in his garage approved the hotrod-inspired Plymouth Prowler as the company's follow-up show-stopper to the Dodge Viper. An early influence is credited to a Chrysler-sponsored project at the Art Center College of Design. This resulted in a thesis by Douglas 'Chip' Foose, which included drawings of a retro-roadster. Foose 'designed it as a coupe for Chrysler to begin with but modified it to a roadster version.' (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)