Out from under; Tom Gale escapes the indoor car show circuit and heads for sunshine.(Brief Article)

The guy who moved concept cars like Viper, Prowler and PT Cruiser out of exhibit halls and onto the streets wants his own personal ride to see more sunshine. Chrysler's Tom Gale says after 34 years in the auto industry, he has had enough of indoor car shows and his own hot rod-a sort of ur-Prowler-has been reworked accordingly. Gale's All American Roadster, seen at rod and custom indoor shows three years ago, is now more attuned to outdoor gatherings like the Goodguys meets Gale enjoys.

``I want to see cars outdoors, moving around,'' says the most widely acclaimed automotive design leader of his day. You wouldn't expect Gale to join the rat-rod fad, and he admits that AAR is ``still a show car'' but now it's a more driveable one, with better suspension clearance and more sound insulation.

Gale retired Dec. 31 as executive vice president of product development and design at the Chrysler Group, but his car had been out of action for more than a year. In early May, he fired its 500-horsepower supercharged Chrysler Hemi for a quick, raucous ride.

Originally designed in the early '90s while Chrysler was developing the Prowler, the AAR is nominally a '33 Ford roadster, and its title carries the chassis number of just such a car. ``The number is about all [that's left] of it,'' Gale admits.

While it clearly comes from the same mind whose enthusiasm gave us the Prowler, AAR ...