Monday, June 27, 2011

Minneapolis Street Sighting: Chrysler's TC by Maserati














In the 1980s, Chrysler was in trouble, so was Italian carmaker Maserati; Chrysler had economy cars, Maserati had luxurious sedans that oozed class, and Maserati was struggling to broaden its US image. The pairing seemed natural, right? Shady reliability, crappy dealer network, and a lurid base platform-- what could possibly go wrong?!?
Unfortunately for Maserati (or for Chrysler depending on how you look at the situation), not many US customers were fooled into paying double for a coachbuilt Chrysler LeBaron. Before you bemoan me, and say I have no respect for fine Italian motoring-- well.. this thing is neither fine, not very much Italian. I'll leave you to be the judge on the styling, because I like some parts of it, yet I can't quite look at this and not see its generic Chrysler roots. Granted, the interior is a bit nicer, and the exterior does look slightly more formal than that of the Chrysler on which its based, but that isn't saying much. I would call this the 1980s equivalent of the Ford Fusion/Lincoln MKZ sedans. Different styling, and different dynamics, yet you can't help but know they're the same car beneath the skin.
Like other Turbo variants of Chrysler products, these Italian-American bastardizations may creep up in value, but since they're often forgotten, prices should stay quite low for some time to come; that's good news if you're seeking an offbeat classic from a marque with rich heritage, but bad if you bought one with the intention of scoring a killer profit. So, would you fall for this offbeat Italian, or is this TC just another ill-fated pseudo luxury car?

1 comment:

Art Tidesco said...

Not heard of the Chrysler Maserati tie up before, if I ever find myself looking for a cheap pseudo exotic classic I'll know what to go for !