Remember the 1980s Chrysler/Maserati TC? A TD successor may be coming.
08-18-12, 12:11 PM
#1
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Remember the 1980s Chrysler/Maserati TC? A TD successor may be coming.
I'm sure some of you older guys here at CL will remember the (frankly, forgettable) Chrysler/
Maserati TC of the late 1980s.....a poorly-built, squeak-and-rattle-prone machine with the solidness of a wet noodle that was assembled partly here and partly in Italy (not exactly a cost-effective method). It also more or less competed with the also-poorly-built Cadillac Allante of the period.
Well, a new TD successor may be in the works....but this time with more components being Italian-sourced and with the whole car being essentially an upscale, folding-hardtop 2-door convertible version of the new Dodge Dart compact sedan. Introduction, if approved, would be for 2014, and would (estimated) start around 35K.
It's hard to tell, right now, exactly what the American-maket competition might be. The VW Eos folding-hardtop convertible would seem closest, but it would undercut the TD's 35K (estimated) base price. Car and Driver magazine also thinks the Mini Cooper convertible might also compete, but I disagree...the Mini ragtop is not hard-folding, and the car itself is too small. One thing sems sure, though, Unlike the former TC, the proposed TD would probably not have a Cadillac competitor, although we'll have to wait and see what Caddy ultimately does with the ATS platform ad if it spins off any variants.
Let's hope this new TD, if it actually goes into producton, turns out with better quality then what Chrysler was giving us back in the 1980s, when the company, IMO was ripping people off (yes, I owned a couple of their products back then, before the poor quality forced me to switch to Mazdas). I do agree with C&D that one thing working against the TD's sales would be people who remember its predecessor.....although, of course, the Chrysler of today is not the Chrysler of the 1980s by a long shot.
http://www.caranddriver.com/features...ti-future-cars
What It Is: Fiat’s inadequate quid to Chrysler’s pro quo. In exchange for building the Jeep Grand Cherokee–based Maserati Kubang crossover—as well as the 200 and 300 sold as Lancias in Europe—Chrysler got Italian help with the styling, as well as the fluffing and tufting of this compact folding-hardtop convertible.
Why It Matters: Chrysler refuses to let go of its pseudo-luxury delusions, and this is proof that Fiat is nurturing them. This car is only worth waiting for to see how many people storm Chrysler headquarters bearing torches.
Platform: The Dodge Dart’s, which is adapted from the Alfa Romeo Giulietta’s.
Powertrain: A 160-hp, 1.4-liter turbocharged four shared with the Fiat 500 Abarth will be the base engine, but the TD will be the first vehicle available in the U.S. with Fiat’s turbocharged TwinAir 0.9-liter two-cylinder. The engine makes 85 horsepower in its current European applications, but something closer to 87 is likely for the TD.
(MM comment: a two-cylinder powerplant in a 35K Chrysler-badged convertible....give me a break)
Competition: Ostensibly the Volkswagen Eos and the Mini Cooper convertible, but the TD will mostly do battle with the reputation of its predecessor, the TC.
What Might Go Wrong: People might remember the last Chrysler by Maserati. People should remember the TC, especially people who work for Chrysler. The TD needs to be more reasonably priced than its predecessor and look dramatically different from the Dart, but nobody is addressing either topic.
Estimated Arrival and Price: Early 2014. The TC cost roughly three times what a contemporary LeBaron sedan did; figure on the blow being softened this time but only slightly. We expect a starting price of about $35,000.
Maserati TC of the late 1980s.....a poorly-built, squeak-and-rattle-prone machine with the solidness of a wet noodle that was assembled partly here and partly in Italy (not exactly a cost-effective method). It also more or less competed with the also-poorly-built Cadillac Allante of the period.
Well, a new TD successor may be in the works....but this time with more components being Italian-sourced and with the whole car being essentially an upscale, folding-hardtop 2-door convertible version of the new Dodge Dart compact sedan. Introduction, if approved, would be for 2014, and would (estimated) start around 35K.
It's hard to tell, right now, exactly what the American-maket competition might be. The VW Eos folding-hardtop convertible would seem closest, but it would undercut the TD's 35K (estimated) base price. Car and Driver magazine also thinks the Mini Cooper convertible might also compete, but I disagree...the Mini ragtop is not hard-folding, and the car itself is too small. One thing sems sure, though, Unlike the former TC, the proposed TD would probably not have a Cadillac competitor, although we'll have to wait and see what Caddy ultimately does with the ATS platform ad if it spins off any variants.
Let's hope this new TD, if it actually goes into producton, turns out with better quality then what Chrysler was giving us back in the 1980s, when the company, IMO was ripping people off (yes, I owned a couple of their products back then, before the poor quality forced me to switch to Mazdas). I do agree with C&D that one thing working against the TD's sales would be people who remember its predecessor.....although, of course, the Chrysler of today is not the Chrysler of the 1980s by a long shot.
http://www.caranddriver.com/features...ti-future-cars
What It Is: Fiat’s inadequate quid to Chrysler’s pro quo. In exchange for building the Jeep Grand Cherokee–based Maserati Kubang crossover—as well as the 200 and 300 sold as Lancias in Europe—Chrysler got Italian help with the styling, as well as the fluffing and tufting of this compact folding-hardtop convertible.
Why It Matters: Chrysler refuses to let go of its pseudo-luxury delusions, and this is proof that Fiat is nurturing them. This car is only worth waiting for to see how many people storm Chrysler headquarters bearing torches.
Platform: The Dodge Dart’s, which is adapted from the Alfa Romeo Giulietta’s.
Powertrain: A 160-hp, 1.4-liter turbocharged four shared with the Fiat 500 Abarth will be the base engine, but the TD will be the first vehicle available in the U.S. with Fiat’s turbocharged TwinAir 0.9-liter two-cylinder. The engine makes 85 horsepower in its current European applications, but something closer to 87 is likely for the TD.
(MM comment: a two-cylinder powerplant in a 35K Chrysler-badged convertible....give me a break)
Competition: Ostensibly the Volkswagen Eos and the Mini Cooper convertible, but the TD will mostly do battle with the reputation of its predecessor, the TC.
What Might Go Wrong: People might remember the last Chrysler by Maserati. People should remember the TC, especially people who work for Chrysler. The TD needs to be more reasonably priced than its predecessor and look dramatically different from the Dart, but nobody is addressing either topic.
Estimated Arrival and Price: Early 2014. The TC cost roughly three times what a contemporary LeBaron sedan did; figure on the blow being softened this time but only slightly. We expect a starting price of about $35,000.
Last edited by mmarshall; 08-18-12 at 02:11 PM.
08-18-12, 02:01 PM
#3
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
Seems to be the general Dart platform (which, of course, is Alfa-Giulietti-derived), not just the grill. And I agree that an 87-HP two-cylinder for a car like this would probably be absurd in the American market.....I doubt if it will actually be approved. More likely, we'll see the top-line Dart engine-option.
08-19-12, 12:00 AM
#7
Out of Warranty
It appears the new TC will share nothing with the original but the Maser name and of course those portholes in the roof, a la T-Bird.
The original had a turbo 2.2 four (by Chrysler - head design by Maserati, machining by Cosworth) with a four-speed MT, or later a (Mitsubishi) V6, with automatic. It was not a bad concept, but abysmally executed and marketed. Chrysler didn't object when the public thought the Maserati name would mean "sports car", which the TC definitely was not.
The company got caught up in the "Maserati" hype and marketed the little removable hardtop/convertible with the emphasis on the "By Maserati" part of the name. It was a boulevardier, more akin to the Thunderbird in concept - something with a cache of exclusivity among the horsey set. It had neither the power nor the handling to provide much of a sporting experience, although it was said to deliver all of the reliability and cost of ownership of a "real" Maserati.
With all of the "cooperative manufacturing", the resulting product was a disaster, the shotgun wedding between British, Italian, and American families that nearly killed off a generation of automakers. I recall TC's being assembled in Modena, Italy of parts from the US, with stopovers in England and Italy. Finished cars were delivered stateside by a bespoke 747, rigged with a special cargo bay for moving the cars quickly to the US market. As if it weren't already expensive enough to manufacture, air-mailing the product to the buyer was a little more than ridiculous.
The original had a turbo 2.2 four (by Chrysler - head design by Maserati, machining by Cosworth) with a four-speed MT, or later a (Mitsubishi) V6, with automatic. It was not a bad concept, but abysmally executed and marketed. Chrysler didn't object when the public thought the Maserati name would mean "sports car", which the TC definitely was not.
The company got caught up in the "Maserati" hype and marketed the little removable hardtop/convertible with the emphasis on the "By Maserati" part of the name. It was a boulevardier, more akin to the Thunderbird in concept - something with a cache of exclusivity among the horsey set. It had neither the power nor the handling to provide much of a sporting experience, although it was said to deliver all of the reliability and cost of ownership of a "real" Maserati.
With all of the "cooperative manufacturing", the resulting product was a disaster, the shotgun wedding between British, Italian, and American families that nearly killed off a generation of automakers. I recall TC's being assembled in Modena, Italy of parts from the US, with stopovers in England and Italy. Finished cars were delivered stateside by a bespoke 747, rigged with a special cargo bay for moving the cars quickly to the US market. As if it weren't already expensive enough to manufacture, air-mailing the product to the buyer was a little more than ridiculous.
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08-20-12, 10:30 AM
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