Vehicle Description
Available now is the 1989 Chrysler TC by Maserati. This car is an
excellent well-kept example of the blunder of the Chrysler /
Maserati collaboration. While not a wild success at the time of its
release, these are becoming more and more collectible as time goes
on. This example is dressed in a muted yellow with a black
convertible top covering a tan leather interior. Full power
everything in side and the Chrysler is powered by the turbo-charged
4-cylinder engine mated to an automatic transmission. Runs and
drives well, but the front shocks will need to be serviced before
being completely road worthy. From the Motor Trend Article on the
Chrysler TC: An Italian-American LeBaron for nearly three times the
price-what could go wrong? Chrysler head honcho Lee Iacocca in the
1980s teamed up with Maserati's Alejandro de Tomaso to produce
sporty coupes that combined the so-called best of both brands. The
result: the Chrysler TC by Maserati. (TC is short for Turbo
Convertible. ) It made its debut at the 1986 Los Angeles auto show
and rolled on the Q-platform, a shortened and otherwise modified
version of the K-platform from the LeBaron and Dodge Daytona.
Here's a quick rundown of what you need to know and never cared
enough to ask of your college-professor neighbor who drove his to
and from work every day during a simpler automotive time. The
turbo-charged, convertible version of the Chrysler TC by Maserati
was available in Arctic White, Exotic Red, Jet Black, Light Yellow,
Royal Cabernet Pearl, and Smoke Quartz Pearl. Inside, the interior
trim colors were Black, Bordeaux, and Ginger. It also came with a
removable hardtop with opera windows, plus an electric rear window
defroster. Classy. Standard goodies included A/C, a 10-speaker
sound system with CD player, six-way power-adjustable Italian
leather bucket seats, leather-covered instrument- and door-trim
panels, and more. The puffy leather interior looked like a giant
catcher's mitt from above-appropriate since the Chrysler TC by
Maserati was nothing but a giant automotive swing and miss. The
Chrysler TC by Maserati was powered by the Daytona's
160-horsepower, 2.2-liter turbocharged inline-four that was mated
to a three-speed automatic transmission. According to our experts
at Automobile, an optional 200-hp, 16-valve Maserati engineered
inline-four was available with a five-speed Getrag manual gearbox.
There was also a Mitsubishi-built 3.0-liter V-6 option available as
well. The two-seat drop-top was built in Milan, Italy, from 1989 to
1991, and it wore a Chrysler Pentastar badge with a Maserati
trident inside it. A base TC started at around $33,000 in 1989
(nearly $69,000 in today's dollars), and a similar-looking
fully-loaded LeBaron cost about $14,000 less. In our June 1988
issue of Automobile magazine, we made what was perhaps the
understatement of the decade when we proclaimed that TC stood for
Too Costly, which at this point is an even more accurate judgment
than it was at the time. Thanks to its hefty price tag, Chrysler
sold just more than 7,000 TCs during its brief three-year run. Air
Conditioning,Power Brakes,Power Steering
