The Chrysler TC by Maserati was a “grand tourer” that was born out of a joint venture between Chrysler and Italian-based Maserati. The goal was to improve Chrysler’s image as a “blue-collar” automobile builder. Due to production delays, a high acquisition cost, and lukewarm customer response, only 7,300 were sold between 1989-91. Not only does the seller have one of the 1.900 produced in 1990 alone, but he/she has two, with only the difference in the color of the interior to separate them. Available only as a pair, these cars are in Sonoma, California, and available here on craigslist for $3,200 OBO (just $1,600 each!).
A friendship that developed between Chrysler head Lee Iacocca and Alejandro de Tomaso, then owner of Maserati, led to the creation of the TC, said to stand for “Turbo Convertible” (others quipped that it meant “Too Costly”). Based on the combination of a Chrysler-powered K-Car platform and a Maserati-built body with a removable hardtop, a 2-seat roadster was the end result. Though the idea for the car was conceived as early as 1984, production didn’t get underway under 1988. When they finally hit the market, the selling price was north of $40,000 and it’s said that Chrysler took a bath on each one produced.
Earlier versions of the TC used a turbocharged 2.2-liter inline-4 borrowed from the Dodge Daytona. By 1990, the year of the seller’s cars, that was changed to a Mitsubishi-sourced 3.0-liter V6 that produced 141 hp paired with an automatic transaxle, a 4-speed A604 unit. The car was often compared with Chrysler’s LeBaron GTC which offered many of the same features at far less cost to the buyer. Sales never took off, so not everything that Iacocca touched turned to gold like the Ford Mustang or the Chrysler minivan. TC’s sold as 1991 models were built in 1990 and were gone from Chrysler’s portfolio after that.
Both of the seller’s cars look identical from the outside, but one has a tan interior and the other black (though it looks lighter in color than that in a blurry photo). The odometers of both cars stopped working around 99,000 miles (said to be a common problem with these autos), so the mileage for each is estimated to be 111,000-115,000 per car. Factory A/C was standard on the TC, but the hardware is either not working or is no longer there.
Though the bodies and paint on both cars look okay, the TC with the tan interior needs its soft-top replaced, brake work done, and maybe a tune-up as it runs rough. On the other hand, the one with the black interior runs fine, having just had its timing belt and water pump replaced, and it does not need any soft-top work. Both cars have been off the road for a while and are registered in California as non-op. So, if you’ve been looking for something unusual that comes in pairs, is this set of Chrysler TC matching bookends something you would buy?
One must ask why one would want 2 of these?
His and hers?
Didn’t the 2.2s have a Maserati head?
A small number did. Those are the ones people desire to collect.
500 of the first-year had a 16v head designed and cast by Cosworth and finished/assembled by Maserati, along with a Getrag 5-speed transmission (no automatics got the 16v head).
That’s pretty much the only direct Maserati connection with these. Even the bodies and final assembly were actually done at Innocenti, which happened to have the same owner as Maserati at the time, Alejandro deTomaso — tho’ to be fair, even Maseratis of the era (Biturbo and Quattroporte) were stamped/assembled at the Innocenti plant.
Adjusted for inflation these would list for about $86,000 in todays dollars. I like these as cheap classic cars, but I can’t even imagine that kind of ask for one.
Who would have ever thought a car with Maserati blood would go for pocket change?
(This car destroyed whatever respect Maserati still had when it was produced.)
$3200? That’s pretty much F——it money for most car guys. My moms caravan 30+ years ago had the same engine, it’s not a fire breather by any means but enough to keep up with traffic.
Fix up the better of the two, sell the other one after stripping off whatever parts you need, and you have a cheap but really neat little convertible cruiser that no one else will have at the cars and coffee.
Any way it’s a great deal, I think.
This is the kind of junk that happens when you get pencil pushers making the decisions on where to go in the automotive industry. Just imagine what cool cars these could have been if they were rear wheel drive and had a true Maserati power train. Millions wasted and both companies near bankruptcy because they didn’t accept the input from true car enthusiast
I was with you right up to the point you said the a/c parts were missing.
These cars do have a back seat, small and uncomfortable as it is, why do you call them a 2 seater?
The back seat was little more than an upholstered package shelf. My first concern is what engines do they have? IIRC at one time they had a VW four in them, and for some iterations no parts are available at any price. I’d want to know about the A/C also. What parts are from Chrysler’s parts bin, and what are unique to this car?
Those VW fours were only used in early-year Omnis/Horizons.
This pair in particular should have the Mitsubishi 3.0L V6 equipped for all ’90-91 automatic TCs. The rest of the running gear is a shortened Daytona platform, so K-car derivative components.
The key to the logic behind the TC as a halo car is that it was supposed to have appeared *before* the rounded-off LeBaron coupes and convertibles, which looked very similar but were much cheaper in the latter form as well as being a full 4-seater.
As a lover of automotive weirdness, I have a soft spot for the TC. These have been on CL for at least a year. They really should have found a home by now, and the fact they haven’t says a lot about the market for them. Maybe they will come into their own eventually. Not yet though.
These cars got built-in America and shipped over to italy 🇮🇹 and sent back no ?