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.
