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Sure, the Prowler's a cute piece, but where you gonna put your buddies-you know, the guys that hang out over the side, bang on the aluminum with their fists and make sucking noises between their teeth to attract girls? Nowhere-if you have a standard run-of-the-mill 2-door Prowler. Of course, a 4-door Prowler XL version is a different story.
And that's not the only reason an XL makes sense. Say you wanna share the Prowler experience with your family. Hey, quality family time these days is in short supply. Or, maybe you're like Ehreberg and you want to take all your friends for a ride-maybe even on a trip to the Mopar Nats. Those five seats sure fit the bill. 'Course, you can always substitute a couple of surfboards for a backseat full of freeloaders.
The Prowler XL, from a historical perspective, makes a lot of sense. Prowler's roots lie in the '30s and '40s, and the car building strategy back then was a little different than it is today. These days, carmakers build a number of narrow focused, specialized vehicles designed to target specific niche markets. But back in the halcyon days immediately preceding and following World War II, essentially one model sufficed, although in several configurations to cover all bases. By adjusting wheelbase and body treatments, the same car was offered as a coupe, business coupe, roadster, 2-door sedan, 4-door sedan and maybe a limo. Station wagon and sedan delivery versions also were knocked off. What else could you ask for? If you ran over muddy, rutted roads a good part of the time, you didn't need a high-priced 4-by-4 sport-utility, you simply opted for 20-inch road wheels.
'Course, the question everyone will be asking at this point while salivating all over our saliva-resistant coated pages is-so where's the cupholders? The clever engineers really outdid themselves on this one as the cupholders pop out of the rear of the trans tunnel. Need to store stuff? The rear seatbacks flip forward revealing a cozy stash between the seats and body. For even more room, check out the optional teardrop tailer.
A lift-off Carson fiberglass hardtop keeps rain and bird droppings out of your hair, but you have to decide before you start your journey whether you want the lid on or off as there's no way to stow it on board. Fear not, though, as every XL comes standard with 5 colorcoordinated shower caps (ponchos are optional).
Right now, the Prowler XL, like the nitrous-boosted Neon, is in the concept/research and development stage. And while we're the first to show you the concept, you can be sure we'll also be first to give you a complete test on the real deal-probably next April 1st.
