Operated manually, the top is made of a substantive padded cloth. It fits solidly and looks good when up, and it goes down with relative ease (aided by a few expletives), storing out of sight behind the rear deck lid. The rear window is real glass with defogger. The side windows are power with one-touch down.The leather-trimmed bucket seats are handsome. They also provide good driving support and cruising comfort. The dash is another Chrysler design statement, a body-colored stretched lozenge-shaped cluster with centralized instruments. Never mind, the important thing is the little round tachometer apparently after-thought-mounted smack in front of the driver's nose on the steering column. It reminds us of hot rods with tachs from the J.C. Whitney's catalog. Prowler has all sorts of comforts that few real rods have: remote keyless entry, air conditioning, 320-watt stereo with six-CD changer, audio and cruise controls on the steering wheel, power locks, windows and mirrors, even a cupholder (singular). Outward visibility suffers notably. Hot-rod like, the sides of the car rise high, engendering that three-year-old-in-a-bathtub syndrome. The top in place achieves a cocoon-like visual isolation. But even with the top down it is impossible to know exactly where the right-side front tire is. This is more a problem in parking lots than on the road, but care is suggested to avoid damaging or being damaged. (Also be cautious in edging up to low concrete parking space markers lest an unpleasant underside scraping results.) Fortunately for locating other objects in the world the side mirrors are amply sized. (Hint: adjust them so that they take in some of that great swell of the rear fender. This is for aesthetic considerations only.) The Prowler will teach you to travel light, and flat and soft-sided. The great rear haunches are for transaxle, tires, gas tank and top storage, not your gear. Some garment bags might fit in the shallow area remaining, and a truly skinny brief case behind a seat, but if you carry more than what you wear opt for the small rounded color-matched trailer. It's cute. Fortunately, the center console has a little stuffing space. People much above the national average in size may find the Prowler's cockpit (and the term is apt) cramped. Seat travel is limited. Certainly anyone who can play above the rim will not find a home in the Prowler. My 6-foot, seven-inch ergonomic tester could sit in the car only with the top stowed. He could drive - sort of - peering over the windshield, knees akimbo around the steering wheel at full tilt. It's not easy to watch an overgrown man cry.
|