Chrysler TC Overview
The Chrysler TC automobile came about as the result of collaboration between Chrysler and Maserati, an arrangement rooted in the friendship of the charismatic men in charge of the two companies, Lee Iacocca and his friend Alejandro de Tomaso. The link was perhaps ahead of its time, with the low-volume Maserati providing its image and tuning expertise, and the high-volume Chrysler providing its engineering and sales capabilities. The basic idea was to add some glamour to Chrysler (and some profit to Maserati); at the same time, various high-performance, turbocharged Dodge Daytonas and other vehicles (such as the Spirit R/T) were being introduced to spice up the company's reputation. Conceived as a two-passenger luxury grand touring convertible and changed only in minor details from its early prototypes, the TC was intended to be Chrysler's image-building flagship.
Unfortunately, the building and promotion of semi-drivable pre-production examples could not make good the TC's intemperately announced introduction as a 1987 model. The subsequent two-year delay in getting the car into actual production was a monumental public relations and marketing blunder, especially since rather than preceding the Chrysler LeBaron convertible - and lending its prestige to that vehicle - it ended up being introduced afterwards. That meant that, rather than the LeBaron being seen as inheriting cues from the high-end TC, the TC was seen as being too similar to the run-of-the-mill (though attractive) LeBaron. As it finally worked out, by late 1988 an assembly line of sorts had been set up in Milan, where standard Chrysler engines (a 2.2 liter turbo for 1989, a Mitsubishi V-6 in 1990 and 1991) with automatic transmissions were sent to be mated to the largely handcrafted bodies.
The whole cars then being shipped back to the U.S. for sale only by selected Chrysler-Plymouth dealerships. A more exotic variation of the TC sported a more powerful Chrysler-based 2.2 liter engine fitted with a double overhead cam 16 valve Maserati head fabricated by Cosworth; an even more powerful version of this engine would show up as the Turbo III. This powerplant could only be had with a 5-speed Getrag manual gearbox. The TC's 16-valve 2.2 liter engine was engineered by Maserati and developed by Chrysler, and a contractor; it used the standard 2.2 liter engine blocks and various other parts made at the Trenton Engine Plant, with final assembly in Modena. Maserati designed the aluminum head, with direct-action cams above the valves and shim-based valve lash adjustment; they set up a cog-based cam drive, both manifolds, the accessory drive system, and revised rods and crank.
Mahle pistons were used; a remotely mounted intercooler air intake was used with the IHI RHB52 turbocharger. This engine produced 200 hp and 220 lb-ft of torque, very respectable numbers (albeit beaten by Chrysler in 1991 with the Turbo III engines. Automatic-transmission cars were restricted to the 174 horse Chrysler-built 2.2 Turbo II, and after 1989, the Mitsubishi V6. Although sharing styling cues with the LeBaron coupes and convertibles of the same period, the TC actually has relatively few components that are readily interchangable with those found on other Chrysler products. Certainly almost all body panels and exterior trim items, as well as most of the interior furnishings are unique to the TC. With only 7300 examples made over the three year life of the model, and the availability of new replacement parts from Mopar steadily declining.
An invaluable resource for the TC enthusiast is the TC America club, which via a quarterly newsletter and an annual national meet disseminates to a current membership of over 900 arcane tips and information regarding the various quirks and problems peculiar to this special vehicle. I've enjoyed several exotics over the years - Ferraris, Maseratis, Loti, AMGs, Astons, and Cobras - and I firmly believe that the TC is among the very best of the bunch. I know that among the slick-car-magazine crowd it was fashionable to sniff or sneer at the TC as being a "didn't make it" hybrid. To such types I have just shrugged and said, "It's by far the best vehicle that Maserati ever made, and the best sports car that Chrysler ever made; and the only thing it suffered from was a lack of marketing in the USA because most Chrysler dealers didn't know jack about it.
It's more comfortable than any Ferrari or Mercedes ever made, it gets much better gas mileage than a Shelby or a Viper, the parts are Chrysler-inexpensive, it's got a nice big trunk, you can see all the gauges clearly, the stereo is perfect, you can see in all directions, the A/C vents are in exactly the right places for passenger comfort, and you don't have to worry about wiggling up steep driveways at an angle as you must in a Testarossa or Countach." That usually brings comments from Maserati purists like, "What? You mean it's better than a Mistral or a Bora or even a 1990 Biturbo Spyder?!" To which I say, "Sure, drive any one of them and then drive a TC, and you'll agree with me. There is no comparison in build quality, comfort, or handling. The 'straight'-Masers' only advantage is in raw horsepower if you're into Stoplight Grand Prixs and speeding tickets. Not to mention that the TC sold new for a fraction of their prices."
