Plymouth Prowler with designer Chip Foose - Jay Leno's Garage

The Prowler set the 'Retro Design' trend in motion. After it came out, we got the PT Cruiser, Chevy HHR and such. Great job, Chip!

Chip Foose is such a cool and humble guy, my favorite car designer since I was young. Truly inspiring.

This was my father's first sports car he bought brand new in 2001 after surviving khmer rouge, escaping from Vietnam, without any adolescent education and graduating from Baylor college of dentistry. He sadly passed away 3 years after purchasing one of his dream cars but luckily the Orange prowler is still in the family and will always be a special car to us. Because of this, after building numerous cars, including one that was showcased in SEMA 2022 inside the Toyo Tires Treadpass exhibit, I must give this vehicle justice one day and swap the motor with something proper. For now the plans will be to try and stuff a viper gen 4 motor! Thanks Jay for sharing this incredible interview and shedding some new light on a forgotten vehicle.

My grandad designed the suspension blue prints for this car. I have a photo in my wallet that my dad used to carry before he pressed away of him holding the blueprints up for a photo. He’s even got his name on several of the patents for suspension components. I have always had such a soft spot for this car, and this color specifically. It’s just such a cool machine!

I bought my Prowler in July, 1998. It is a yellow 99. I still enjoy the car and get it out during the Summer.

Chip is so insanely talented. His design influence has had a bigger impact than most people realize.

“Go look at and buy a neon” lol that’s exactly what happened. My dad’s truck broke down and I begged him to get a prowler. I was so excited when I saw it in the showroom. Man I was the most hateful little 7 year old when we left in that neon later that day. Still love the prowler.

As a kid who grew up in the 90s — I LOVED this car. They used to have little diecasts of them everywhere.

Chip is a legend. So is Jay in his own right.

I was an engineer for Alcoa when the Prowler was being developed. I formed all of initial frame structure at the Alcoa Research lab outside of Pittsburgh then moved production to Toledo. Fun project to work on@ I did not know that Chip was the inspiration behind the design. Cool to know. I never got to drive one myself so it was nice to watch your video of it

I helped build this car. It started out in the Norwalk, Ohio Mayflower Plant that made truck cabs for Mack and Freightliner. Old biker guys hand jigged them up. My company Henkel supplied the structural foam that made it crash test worthy. Terracore.

I officially feel old. Thanks Jay and Chip. I was 11 when these came out and I remember the first time seeing one.

So awesome to see Chip finally get some recognition for this car. Years passed without many knowing he was the spiritual designer. And this car, despite not having a V8, was a test bed for Chrysler, including building with aluminum (the v6 was aluminum and later on made 255hp, as much as their 5.9 v8) 😎

I would think Chip Foose has to be in the top ten of the nicest people in the world today for sure & not to mention his artistic talent...

Jay and Chip... two heroes that might not let down the regular kid

I've always thought how cool it is the way Chip speaks so professionally about Boyd. The same Boyd who had nothing good to say about Chip until the day he died.

To this day I have an awful memory of seeing one of these in public for the first time. I was with my dad, I brought him over to show that it had an automatic and looked like a minivan on the inside. I was pointing at it and said something like "it's for people who don't know anything about hot rods but like the look" and when I turned around the owner was standing right there with her groceries, the meanest look on her face too. I felt terrible.

We inherited one with 260,000 miles on it!!! That black beauty was awesome! Attention everywhere.

Still a beautiful car to this day. Classic design.

It aged like wine. The only thing I would change is the gearbox, for a manual one with clutch and everything. A V6, retro-styled car an manual can be a hell of a fun. Loved it at first sight as a kid in the 90s, loving more now as an adult. And that purple color... jeeez. Wonderful. Thanks Chip and Jay!