I picked this car up at a garage sale when I was about four or so; I cannot believe it's stuck with me, either. In that day and age, I tended to crush cars pretty quickly. I guess I loved this thing too much to kill it.
As I got older, I began to do research on this car, and it turns out that the original name was Demon. It was changed to Prowler sometime in the early 1970s, and has remained so ever since.
One thing that I found in my research, is that like the popular Beatnik Bandit, this, too, was an actual custom car. Built my famed car customizer Daryll Starbird, the "Lil Coffin" was a popular show car that won many awards; since Hot Wheels was still relatively new, the comany began emulating (or would that be directly copying) real show car, and putting them in the hands of millions of children.
This car has helped me become a better automotive fanatic by teaching me about historical custom cars that helped shape the hot rod and custom car scene. I still like the Lil Coffin, and it's one of very few customs from that era that I do like.
Kudos to Hot Wheels for educating someone without even meaning to do so. And for that, I will always treasure the Demon.
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