Well your friend was 95+% in terms of physical size and a threat to the earth's ecological balance. Hopefully he did not reproduce. No one designs cars, especially economy cars, around a 95th percentile human.
Such a horrible car. I had one as a rental and it just shook and rattled. A good idea with poor execution. Not even the SRT-4 version to possibly entertain you. Hard pass.
Neons were great cars,lasted well,great mileage and comfortable,my wife had a Honda Accord and I had worn neon for daily driver,her Honda had no horsepower, no room,more road noise and had more problems than my neon.my wife sold the Honda and took over my neon.
The auction still has a couple days to go https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2001-plymouth-neon/lol