Arrogance, thy name is Lee Iacocca. In the late 1980s, the Chrysler
chairman and perpetual huckster turned a friendship with Alejandro de
Tomaso, then president of Maserati, into the most shudder-worthy example
of corporate avarice ever to roll off an assembly line. Chrysler’s TC
by Maserati was little more than a Milan-built K-car with a few pricey
underhood components and some styling hackery, a wrinkly grandmother
dressed up in custom running shoes and ill-fitting hot pants. The
Maserati trident plastered on the grille just added insult to injury.
To be fair, Iacocca’s brainchild wasn’t without its pluses. For 1989,
the TC sported a 200-hp, 2.2-liter turbocharged four-cylinder with a
Maserati-designed 16-valve cylinder head. A five-speed Getrag manual was
also available that year, and Fichtel & Sachs dampers took care of
wheel control. But by and large, the TC was a dud. In 1990 and 1991,
Chrysler ditched the turbo four for a Mitsubishi-built V-6, neutering
the Italian connection even further. Just over 7000 examples were sold
over the course of three years.
Comedian Patton Oswalt once called the Kentucky Fried Chicken Famous
Bowls—a heap of corn, mashed potatoes, and chicken lumped into a plastic
container—a “failure pile in a sadness bowl.” Consider the TC the
vehicular equivalent.
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