I was introduced to Maserati at a particularly bad time in the company's often troubled history. It was 1989, the year Maserati joined Chrysler to launch the Chrysler TC by Maserati.
It was a match made in hell. Chrysler was an up again, down again American car company trying to rise up again, at least in prestige, by mating with a legendary Italian luxury brand. Maserati was a car company so down on its financial luck, it was willing to jump into a joint venture with anybody, including Chrysler.
The Chrysler TC by Maserati was the unhappy progeny of that unfortunate union. It was supposed to be a "halo" car, a sales magnet to pull buyers into Chrysler's showrooms. But it was little more than a workaday Chrysler K-car wearing costume jewelry. It did nothing for Chrysler's prestige and even less for Maserati's bottom line. It went out of production in 1991.
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