Still prowling the streets - but under a new badge

It may take some getting used to, but DaimlerChrysler Corp. confirms that it will keep its Prowler around - but with a Chrysler badge. The retro roadster was supposed to bow out at the end of the year, a victim of the decision to kill the Plymouth sales channel. "While Plymouth will be discontinued after 2001, Prowler will continue to be offered as one of the most outrageously styled roadsters on the road today," says Tom Gale, DCC executive vice president-product development and design. Sales have risen - to 1,621 so far this year vs. 1,102 in like-1999 - since word of the car's now-scuttled demise leaked out. A Chrysler medallion will replace the Prowler signature on the hood.