inventorgtp

lee and detomaso went way back, to the pantera in fact as far as the tc being the lebaron the fact is its the other way around. The tc was designed and on the show circut before the lebaron with the coke bottle sides existed, one theory is that lee like the look of the tc so much that the lebaron was designed to refelct it. The history of american and euro's building great cars extends way back, the most well known is the Shelby cobra (a ac ace body and chassis) through the pantera (detomaso with for funning gear) the big Jensons (hemi power). As to how fast, vrs the best may I bring out the Dusenburg, still looked at as being the equal to the best in the world.

little of both, I am a product designer and I have a buddy who is budds with one of the old timers that were on the design team for the tc. What I was told was the maserati team had a lot to say about the look of this car and because of timing some of the details were left out such as the quality of the badges, console area. I might take a crack at making some penta toadsticker logos but for now I like the oval ones. I do relate more to the italian side, like I said in my piece "ode to a great little auto" this is one of the best cars chrysler or maserati ever built.

here is my ride and some of the custom bits and pieces. The badges, script and shifter kit I will custom make to order.

Ode to a wonderful exotic. First off let me state that having owed a lot of exotics I can speak with some degree of familiarity on the subject. In the past I have owed in no order a lotus Europa, 68 xke, Austin healy 3000, MB 300, Alfa Romeo spyder, Fiat spider, Mazda Miata and a 308 Ferrari for a short time. Of all of them I like the TC best, but ONLY after doing a number of things to the TC to make it the car Maserati (Detomaso) wanted and not what we got. The modifications I made were pretty simple and didn't cost that much in the scheme of things they are as follows. Cam key to change cam timing New high performance SEMAC New vacuum lines New fuel pump New motor mounts New high pressure fuel lines 5 liter mustang oil filter 3" exhaust from turbo with low restriction catalatic converter, glass pack and Anasa twin tip exhaust 17" enki 5 spoke alloy wheels 17" 215 x 45 tires Filtron air filter 14 psi waste gate pop off valve Shimmed front roll bar Rebuilt and upgraded transmission On the cosmetic side, I took my cues from the Maserati quatraporte of that year, this car after all shares many of the styling cues with it and was at one time supposed to be the 2 seat sport version of that luxury cruiser, you can see it in the hood, grill, and interior. I removed the dash and coverd the lower half that was black plastic in burngendy leather, I as you have seen upgraded the logos on the car and made the shift area look like it was designed for the car not just lifted off a K car. Other little things, cracked plastic seat belt guards got rebuilt in polyethylene and covered in leather, head light switch replaced with custom wood one stained to match the rest of the "wood" in the car, glove box covered in cream brushed leather, storage bin below the radio lined with cream brushed leather. Ok so what do we have, well its one of the best touring convertible you can get under any badge. With the motor mods its got lots and lots of power and sounds like a panther (its SHELBY after all) but gets great milage as long as your not in the blower. The car has even with 90k miles on it NO SQUEAKS (cant say that of even my BENZ when new) and has a wonderful ride. The seats, great for hours and hours of cruising and with room behind for every damn thing you could think of for a days journey. The stereo with the windows up is marvelous, the AC up to desert heat. The fop fits tight, don't drum or flap and is easy to put up or take down. The trunk, its huge, 2 full size suite cases fit into the well, with room for 4 more (I am making up some nice leather ones to match) so when you go for a week or 10 days your lady can bring every damn thing she wants, cant say that about many convertiables and none of the hard top convertible. This car handles as good as the BENZ or the JAG, and if it has a hiccup (doubtful) parts are available, after all think of the millions and millions spent on the development of the power train. I will when time come re motor this car with a 2.5 that will run up to 14 psi of boost, giving something close to 300 hp but given its strong heart, that will not be for years yet. In my opinion, this is the best grand touring car I have ever owed or driven, all it needed was putting the Maserati back into it. Cheers Gtp

I am a member of the yahoo tc group and have come up with some custom bits and pieces for the tc that i posted over there too. I have put up some pics in the image file here under gtps ride. It seeems i cant put up the photos here, so this is a link to the album there. http://autos.ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/ChryslersTCbyMaserat/photos/browse/e9cd http://autos.ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/ChryslersTCbyMaserat/photos/browse/82d8 http://autos.ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/ChryslersTCbyMaserat/photos/browse/3634 http://autos.ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/ChryslersTCbyMaserat/photos/browse/c11d Ok troops here it is, remember all this stuff is hand made by me and jewelry quality out of polished billet aluminum 3/16" thick Front oval badge on back plate (no mods needed just remove old) 2.785 v 3.75 inches ......................$130.00 Rear round badge on back plate (no mods needed, just remove old) 3.50 inches..............................$ 130.00 Small oval badge for steering wheel or key fob on leather back plate 1.75 x 2.125".......................$ 120.00 Maserati in script small for use on area below the radio 4.75 by .625"............................$ 90.00 Maserati in script large for use on dash board or valve cover 7x .75" ........................... $ 97.00 Shift gate plate, aluminum and padded leather (color may not match exactly) part requires the disassembly of the consol and removal of old shift gate and prndl window supplied with full instructions........................$ 130.00 Payment is via pay pal and as each are made to order I will quote delivery times. Cheers GTP