Approximately one year ago, a friend of John’s traded him this 1999 “Modern Hi Boy”, Plymouth Prowler for a paint job (done by John) on the friend’s Porsche. Originally, the Prowler was listed on Craigslist as follows: “For Sale or Trade for a paint job on a 1973 Porsche – DONE DEAL – as far as John was concerned.
The first thing John did to the Prowler, after taking possession of it, was install air suspension. He also made the entire front end out of 14 gauge steel He then made the sides out of 18 gauge steel. The grille is of 1/8″ X 3/8″ polished stainless steel, with each rib set 1/4″ apart. The motor is all stock, which is to say, it’s a V6, 3.5 litre, 260 HP motor with a top speed of – pretty darned fast, as John put it. The engine has clocked a scant 52,000 original miles thus far. John installed his own invention of push button door “handles” (see photo). As a matter of fact, John installs these “handles” on all his cars. I was totally impressed by this ingenious concept! It gives the car such a sleek, smooth appearance. He also removed the rear fenders and installed a Hi Boy kit. The car sits on 8 X 17 front and 20 X 12 rear billett wheels.
The interior is all original stock. House of Colors jet black paint was done by John and the flames are also painted on; not decals. This Hi Boy has removable windshield wipers and hot rod mirrors, which replaced the “big ‘ol ugly stock mirrors.” The rear end was custom built by John, which is a fiberglass rear roll pan and aluminum deck lid. Notice the pinstripes. These were HAND PAINTED by Eric, of Mindless Pinstriping. The entire project took less than three months to complete.
John can be seen around town, on various weekends, often for us to enjoy. Thank you, John for taking the time to share your story with me.
Story and photographs by Carol Marcopulos
