Dreamcast18
12-31-2006, 12:03 PM
Students at Ferris State University's Automotive Center will be running diagnostics on a glossy red convertible roadster, thanks to a generous donation from Daimler-Chrysler.
Company officials delivered a 2000 Plymouth Prowler to Ferris last Wednesday, recognizing the University as one of only two CAP (Chrysler Apprenticeship Program) schools in the state of Michigan and providing the vehicle as support technology for the program.
According to Rich Whittier, training center supervisor for Chrysler's Global Technical Training Center, the Prowler is interesting to students for a number of reasons. "The Prowler is a hand-built specialty car-everything arrives at the plant welded and painted, and it is purely assembled, by hand," said Whittier. "It's also an example of the maximum use of aluminum in automotive design and engineering-it has an aluminum body, aluminum frame, aluminum suspension and engine."
The Prowler is assembled along side the Dodge Viper at the Connor Avenue Assembly Plant in Detroit at a rate of just 12-14 per day. Whittier said the car shares many of the same components as Chrysler's 300M and has the same suspension technology as the Viper.
The body, however, is pure Prowler-a low-slung coupe calling to mind the antiques-turned-hot-rods cruising town in the summer, with a front end that peers at you through squinted eyes, a slight smirk below the grill.
"This is a car that a student looks at and say, 'Okay, I want to be an auto technician,'" said Associate Professor Peter Alley, who serves as the University's CAP coordinator. Alley said students would disassemble and reassemble the Prowler, practice diagnostic procedure, and learn to navigate state-of-the-art electronic and braking systems. Launched in 1997, the Prowler will remain in production through 2003. The car currently sells for approximately $46,000.
http://www.ferris.edu/fsuintranet/fyi/apr0501/prowler.jpg
Company officials delivered a 2000 Plymouth Prowler to Ferris last Wednesday, recognizing the University as one of only two CAP (Chrysler Apprenticeship Program) schools in the state of Michigan and providing the vehicle as support technology for the program.
According to Rich Whittier, training center supervisor for Chrysler's Global Technical Training Center, the Prowler is interesting to students for a number of reasons. "The Prowler is a hand-built specialty car-everything arrives at the plant welded and painted, and it is purely assembled, by hand," said Whittier. "It's also an example of the maximum use of aluminum in automotive design and engineering-it has an aluminum body, aluminum frame, aluminum suspension and engine."
The Prowler is assembled along side the Dodge Viper at the Connor Avenue Assembly Plant in Detroit at a rate of just 12-14 per day. Whittier said the car shares many of the same components as Chrysler's 300M and has the same suspension technology as the Viper.
The body, however, is pure Prowler-a low-slung coupe calling to mind the antiques-turned-hot-rods cruising town in the summer, with a front end that peers at you through squinted eyes, a slight smirk below the grill.
"This is a car that a student looks at and say, 'Okay, I want to be an auto technician,'" said Associate Professor Peter Alley, who serves as the University's CAP coordinator. Alley said students would disassemble and reassemble the Prowler, practice diagnostic procedure, and learn to navigate state-of-the-art electronic and braking systems. Launched in 1997, the Prowler will remain in production through 2003. The car currently sells for approximately $46,000.
http://www.ferris.edu/fsuintranet/fyi/apr0501/prowler.jpg