For $12,000, Could This 1990 Chrysler TC By Maserati Hijack Your Heart?

Today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe Chrysler/Maser TC has a tenuous connection to hijacker D.B. Cooper. More importantly it has the rare Cosworth/Maserati twin-cam head. Maybe that, and not the famous airplane robbery will make it worth its asking.

Miserable. Awful when new. Slower than sunburned sloth sex. Dull as ever-lovin' dishwater. These were some of the themes that arose out of the comments for yesterday's 1976 Ford Maverick Four-Door. Some of you even averred that it would be overpriced at free.

It's quite surprising then that it actually drove away—albeit likely very slowly—with a 60-percent Nice Price win. I guess when it comes to Mavericks, nobody's going to tell them what to do.

Lee Iacocca was a bit of a maverick, and so were a number of his friends. liked to work with his friends. That led to partnerships with such notables as Carroll Shelby and Alejandro de Tomaso, the latter even sharing Iacocca's Italian heritage.

It was while at Ford that Iacocca funded Shelby's vision of the Corvette-killing Cobra, and it was also there where he first met industrialist de Tomaso.

Both Shelby and de Tomaso followed Iacocca to Chrysler after the latter's unceremonious canning from Ford, and there they continued to crank out special models, many of which have become historically noteworthy.

One of the most... well, notorious of those was the Chrysler TC by Maserati. Not only did it have an awkward name, but it also featured one of the more oddball pairings in automotive history. Maserati was, at the time owned by de Tomaso, who after failing to turn the marque into a large-scale producer of near-exotics with the Biturbo, sought other avenues for leveraging the company's brand and skills. He and Lee decided to build the ultimate K car.

This 1990 Chrysler TC by Maserati was the result of that decision, and this one has a number of notable attributes that make it all the more interesting.

Let's start with the drivetrain. This is one of the few TC's to rock the 16-valve turbo 2.2 and Getrag five-speed transmission combo. Most of the TC's arrived with a Mitsubishi V6 and automatic.

The engine was based on the standard 2.2 block, but that received Mahle pistons, cams designed by Crane, and was capped by a DOHC head designed by Cosworth and built by Maserati. Output from the takes-a-village mill was an even 200-ponies. The three pedal setup drove through the front wheels, because K-car.

The seller claims there were 501 twin cam TCs built in total, and only 150 this model year. The car comes with cream paint, black hand-stitched leather, and wheels shared with the LeBaron. It also rocks two tops—a fabric soft one that drops fully under its hard tonneau, and a porthole equipped hard cap. The use of each is fully on you.

There's 35,000 miles on the clock and the car presents well in the ad. It comes with an update to R134, a ton of manuals and original kit, and—oddly—a connection to '70s airplane hijacker D.B. Cooper.

Okay, so the connection is about as strong as my connection to Anna Kendrick—whom I once saw on TV and considered stalking. The ad says that this car was once owned by an FBI agent on the Cooper case. Yep, that's it.

If that's a bit of a let down, know that the car apparently comes with a V6/auto parts car as a bonus. I'm not 100% sure if that costs extra, but the ad seems to imply it does not.

The price is $12,000 which gets you arguably the most interesting TC model there is, and one that seems well taken care of and hence is still presentable.

What's your take on this TC and that $12,000 price? Does that sound captivating? Or, is this Italian-American not infamous enough to get away with it?

You decide!

Portland, OR Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.

H/T to Fauxshizzle for the hookup!

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