I was at my local boneyard the other day looking for a part when I ran up on this unexpected site: a 1990 “Chrysler’s TC by Maserati”. I use quotation marks because that is exactly the appellation Chrysler gave it on the car’s tail badges. A little pretentious, but the whole car was more than a little pretentious. They are a rare sight and it’s not a car I would expect to see in derelict status in the pick-a-part lot, but there it sat waiting for someone to come along and let some of its parts live on.
The TC has been covered at CC several times, so I won’t give much history. Most here probably already know the background of this ultimate K-car (Mopar called it a Q-body and the TC stood for Turbocharged Convertible). Based on the common 1980s/early ’90s corporate chassis with body work by Maserati, it was assembled in Italy and sold from 1989-1991.
Chrysler only sold 3,762 in 1989 and then stopped importation in spring 1990. 1,900 were sold for 1990, with 1,636 leftovers made into 1991 models. It was a well-equipped, luxurious convertible cruiser with a well-trimmed leather interior, proven mechanicals and the latest safety features of airbag and anti-lock brakes. It had a soft top and removable hardtop standard. Who wouldn’t want one? Well, anybody who would prefer paying almost exactly half the price for a LeBaron convertible, which was visually and mechanically the same basic car with a backseat and better proportions.
The car was a tough sell when new, so it’s not surprising Chrysler never sold the 5-10k/year they originally hoped to. It’s been called a deadly sin and other negatives on this site, which it surely deserves. However, it should surprise no one that it has a cult following. Just ask the members of the TC America Club. To them it wasn’t an overpriced economy car putting on ridiculous airs, it was a reliable, well-sorted chassis under a premium body built with care and outfitted with a sumptuous interior.
Even in its current sad state, that sumptuousness comes through.
The wood trim was actual wood veneer. The downside was that all the gauges, controls, switchgear, etc. was straight from Chrysler’s parts bin.
The steering wheel was unique and rather handsome, which may be why it was one of the few components that had obviously been picked from the car. Even under all the debris, it would be tough to deny this is a comfy-looking interior. The chrome plated door jambs are a nice touch.
The dash, door panels and, of course, the seats were all covered in leather. Stitching on the doors and dash was real. If you ignore the parts bin stuff, the inside really has a nice feel.
I have no idea if the smashed porthole happened before or after the car showed up in the junkyard. I think you could argue that the portholes improved visibility slightly (which was the stated reason Ford added them to the 56 T-Bird).
I appreciate that Chrysler put tiny rear quarter windows in the car. Functionally, they don’t serve much purpose, but not having them would be really cheap looking (like the 82-83 quarter window-less LeBaron convertibles).
The 1989 engine was a Chrysler 2.2L turbo 4, while ’90 and ’91 models got a Mitsubishi 3.0L V6 like this car. These engines were unchanged from the ones used in many other Chrysler products. There was also a rare, optional Maserati-massaged 200-hp, DOHC 16-valve turbocharged 2.2-liter four-cylinder mated to a Getrag five-speed manual.
The last one of these cars I ran into was at the 2018 Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, AZ, where they had an example in the same year and exterior color but in primo condition with only 45k miles. Would you believe our junkyard car has 50k? Yep, and it appears accurate because the odometer has a 100k digit reading 0 and the seats are actually not very worn. So what landed it on death row? Engine or transmission failure? The right front accident damage? The advantage of K-car mechanicals is that most parts should be available and reasonable. The Scottsdale car sold for $5,720. That was probably a little below book value for as nice as it was, but I imagine a rough-around-the-edges car like this wouldn’t have much value at all.
If anybody out there happens to be a member of the TC cult and covets some of this car’s parts, it should still be there but probably not for much longer (LKQ Wallisville Rd). It came into the yard on 12/14, so its days are very numbered.
R.I.P. little Chrysler’s TC by Maserati. May your afterlife be less awkward than your name.
Photographed 1/18/21 in Houston, TX
related reading:
Curbside Classic: 1989 Chrysler’s TC by Maserati – The Chairman Has Gone Krazy by Brendan Saur
Curbside Classic: 1989 Chrysler’s TC By Maserati – The (Deadly) Sin Of Pretentious Overreaching by PN
In-Motion Classic: 1989 Chrysler’s TC By Maserati – Jackpot! by Joseph Dennis
Vintage Scoop: Chryslerati – The Shape Of Madness by Perry Shoar, review of 12/85 C&D article detailing the expected-for-87 model. As we know now, it wasn’t actually sold until 1989, over two years after the new 87 LeBaron stole its styling thunder.
The awkward “Chrysler’s TC by Maserati” syntax was done to skirt a legal agreement Chrysler had with their dealerships that allowed any of them to sell all Chrysler-branded cars that were offered in the US. Chrysler wanted to sell TCs only through a hand-picked 300 dealers, so they got around the legal verbiage by making it not technically a Chrysler.
The TC was originally slated for a 1986 introduction, which would have been a year before the J-body LeBaron was introduced. Had delays not prevented that outcome, the TC would have looked quite unique when it was new, and the LeBaron would bask in the glow of looking like a Maserati. Timing is everything…
You hit on the point that most others miss about this car. In the plan, this would have been a unique model that was nothing like the boxy LeBaron convertibles in the showroom. It was a very attractive design when it appeared and would have been even more of one had it showed up when planned.
But even at that, it’s hard to swallow the cynicism baked into this car. Let’s design a low-production, beautiful, expensive car that will have people with money paying big bucks to be special in it. Then let’s follow that the next year with a regular LeBaron that will look almost exactly like it, but for a fraction of the price. Then let’s laugh as the rich folks watch their cars plummet in value. The rich folks got the last laugh when the expensive one showed up late after the regular one was out and the discounting started.
That’s been done several times over the years. Remember those crazy-expensive 1959-60 Cadillacs with distinct hand-built Italian bodies that were made by Pininfarina in low volumes, then came the regular 1961 Cadillacs that looked just like them (only better) but sold for less than half the price? At least they were really Cadillacs. For me the most cynical thing about the TC by Maserati is how little Maserati there was in it, especially after the 16V engine (in MT cars) was dumped in favor of the same Mitsubishi V6 found in Plymouth Acclaims and minivans. These also dropped the original bespoke steering wheel for a standard Dodge wheel.
But “John” Voight drive a Le Baron.
I hadn’t heard that about the dealers, interesting!
Grab that headlight. There’s a maroon one around here that looks a little funny because some other headlights have been adapted for use, no doubt after an unavailable original got broken. I know these had expensive Italian wheels, too, but I doubt there’s much market for 15″ alloys these days. I wouldn’t mind one of those seats as a desk chair, either.
A pristine red one showed up for sale over @ BarnFinds, but there seems to be something sketchy about the ad.
https://barnfinds.com/cheap-exotic-1990-chrysler-tc-by-maserati/
I have a friend in Houston that had two of these and was trying to make one good one out of the pair. Last year he GAVE both the cars away as no one wanted to buy them.
Wow, that’s sad!
Believe it or not there are two of these things still running around town here. Different owners too.
I believe the original goal was for a far greater percentage of these to be offered/sold with the Maserati engine. Keep in mind that if introduced earlier it would not have been much later than Maserati’s own Biturbo which did generate a bit of buzz initially as Maserati’s next coming, however the delayed introduction of the TC allowed the Biturbo to gain its generally dreadful reputation and the rest is history.
I find the styling to improve on that of the LeBaron somewhat, and given (forced) a choice at price parity would vastly prefer the TC even though most can’t see a difference.
In any case this is an impressive and interesting junkyard find. There is no greater automotive status equalizer than the pick’n’pull.
A big undoing of these cars (from what I’ve read) is that the ABS system on the TC is unique and parts are NLA. Savvy club and forum members who can DIY have figured out how to install an entire non-ABS system from the LeBaron, etc.
But for the owner who can’t/won’t DIY, paying a shop to do this labor-intensive job far outstrips the value of the car, so it winds up in a junkyard.
Always been intrigued by these. They sound like Lee Iacocca was getting too far into own parallel reality for his own good, TBH.
Are the rocker switches at the top of door jamb behind the driver’s shoulder for the folding top?
yes
IIRC, Iacocca had shipped a bunch of Daytona chassis to Maserati for conversion to the TC with plenty of time to make it back for an introduction as scheduled. But, as one might expect, de Tomaso inexplicably ran into long, inordinate delays.
This left Iacocca in a real bind. He could pay to have the car platforms returned to the states, but by the time they arrived, they’d be useless. So, all he could do was just wait it out and hope for the best when the completed cars finally got into Chrysler showrooms, right next to very similar (but a whole lot cheaper) Lebaron convertibles.
With all that said, I’m rather surprised that someone hasn’t scarfed up those seats from the feature junkyard car. They look to be in good shape, quite comfy, and nice, and would seem perfect for some kind of custom installation.
And this is probably unlikely, but I wonder if the TC hardtop will mate to a similar era Lebaron convertible.
I used to think these were a name debasing joke, but then I was behind a crossover with a full on Maserati badge in traffic, and then I realized how much more respectful to the name “by Maserati” is!
Sad to see any car junked that survived this long with such low miles. If I found this I’d be really tempted to pull those seats and turn them into home furniture.
After people saying here to grab the seats, I find myself tempted! It’s a testimony to how well my wife has me trained that I didnt even think of that.
I laughed profusely when they came out,no leather seats of this type could convince me otherwise.Of course I was 24 yrs old at the time and any car that was front wheel drive was a joke.But it was the times and people had few choices left for RWD cars.I didn’t like these when they were new but now I look back and I see a pretty good attempt at a quality car.My mother has a 1993 LeBaron Landau I really like it.It has the 3ltre Mitsubishi in it and performs super smooth.The consumer reports gave it 4 point something for the rating overall.It is a collector car in my book,still runs great,looks great and averages over 20mpg.They were only built 2 years,1993-1994 and were absolutely beautiful cars.Last of the traditional American pillow tufted,dripping in chrome,decked out little cruisers.After 15 years of her owning it and only a little over a 100k it has held up very well.Quality was a little better than I thought back in those days.The TC model here will live on in other ones,I’m glad I changed my mind now,30+years later.They were nice.Thank you folks for the memories and great stories! Robert Levins.
Those LeBaron four door sedans were made starting in 1990, with the ’91s the best of breed IMO (ABS, full analog instrumentation, overhead console from the minivans). They weren’t called Landau yet though; that started in ’92 to distinguish it from new low-end models that were previously sold as Plymouth Acclaims. By ’94 it had some cheaper-looking interior trim and those nasty motorized seat belts on the passenger side.
Whoever is smart will snag that apparently good driver-side headlamp. They sell for eye-popping money.
The 1993 LeBaron Landau we have I would consider somewhat a rarity in the fact they didn’t build that many.The car to me seems like a mini Chrysler 5th avenue,although it doesn’t have a moonroof.All the chrome,padded top,pillow velour interior looks like it came from the same parts bin.Our car for some reason,doesn’t have the usual rattles and sqeaks at 105k original miles.Maby we just lucked out,being it was to be built as a luxury car which in our case it has definitely done its job.I bought the car for my mom in 2005 thinking she would need a smaller car as she got older.I was right.She’s 82 now and more than before the car definitely fits the bill.It’s also our last car of its type for now,probably we will move on to total electric after she quits driving.I’m 56 now came from the older times when big V-8s and station wagons ruled the highways.Lots of great stories to tell,take care everyone. Robert Levins
I once had a really nice ’89 LeBaron coupe (not convertible) that I parked next to one of these TC’s. Wished I had my camera with me that day I would have photographed them together. The only thing about the TC that I might have preferred over my LeBaron would have been the seats. Other than that, I preferred my LeBaron. Wish I still had the LeBaron.
I recall a fellow, on SF Craigslist, trying to sell two of these between 2017-2020. They would disappear, thinking sold, and then reappear for sale again by the same owner. Happened over and over.
In one of the interior photos, there’s a shot of the top and toneau cover switches located behind the driver’s left shoulder belt retractor.
While I confess I’ve never seen one of these without the hardtop, meaning those switches are likely never used, it’s got to be the worst location for convertible top switches I’ve ever seen.
If you look at the old Maserati Quattroporte you’ll see how the interior is faithful to that car’s overstuffed look. I like the 3.0 V6 as I had one in my ’90 Caravan. It was a real runner but the valve guides started leaking and it smoked on take off after 140k. I’ve seen these close up and they are well put together. Think of the times. the Allante was a similar idea, but much more expensive. American FWD dressed up in an Italian suit. The Reatta was a FWD Riviera under that new skin. Even the Cadillac XLR was chasing the same ideal, the Mercedes SL.
I was just at one of the local Pick Your Parts to snag a set of seats from a Dodge Magnum R/T with the Road&Track Package. Right next to that car was a yellow TC by Maserati. The seats, console, dash and steering wheel had already been picked clean. According to the website, the car had only been there for a few days.
Apparently there are 2 TCs in the same yard, I didn’t see the red one…. but then again I wasn’t specifically there looking for them.
Anyone know how to apply the nitrogen to the special brake system that was recalled way back in the beginning?
Apply the nitrogen…?