Looks too much like a Chrysler LeBaron for my tastes. And it's too "made by an early 90's Italian car company" for my tastes as well.

It looks too much like a Chrysler LeBaron for my tastes. And it's too "made by a early 90's Italian car company" for my tastes as well.

Dear Punkey:
I hereby ridicule you.
Best,
DGJ

At this year's Kruse auction in Auburn, IN, there were a surprising amount of TCs, Reattas and Allantes up for bids. As I walked the lots on Saturday I couldn't believe the numbers of these cars. Either someone thinks they're collectible, or their current owners were hoping that was the case.

According to the Kruse site, the TCs went for about $5k-$7.5k, Allantes $5.5k-$27k (huh?), and the Reattas were a steal at $4k-$7k.

My stepbrother had one of these new--I rode in it once and the top was on, it rattled like a son-of-a.....he said the dealer couldn't fix it and it had rattled like that for over a year. Not sure what he ever happened to the car, and for that matter, the stepbrother, which is just as well.

i've always liked the look of these and the Allanté, especially in convertible guise; too bad about the front end on the Reatta! i was going to ask if these had any potential for performance mods, but then saw that the thrust is applied from the wrong end...

So, what did Maserati actually do to this car? The seats look a little more plump than on your standard LeBaron, and they put the Maserati trident inside a Chrysler pentagon. Is it safe to assume that's the extent of it?

Yeah, the first gen lebarons with the headlight covers were cool, but pitty they were front wheel driven. Kinda spoils everything. The long hood made promises the car itself couldn't keep.

Only $1,500? Man, that thing has to be a collectible. But seriously, root through the photos. That thing's a motherfucking junker.

I hijacked one of these things - along with a very comely young colleague - at the press introduction. We were only supposed to drive it around the block but wound up going to lunch about 50 miles away. As we both climbed out of the brilliant red car at the restaurant, an elderly couple walked by…The woman remarked to her husband…"Is there anything he doesn't have?"

P.S. - I would like to bid, but don't think my wife (not the same woman as the comely young colleague) will let me.

It LOOKS like a LeBaron, but trust me, not a single body panel is interchangeable (which makes for expensive repairs, as only about 7,000 of these things were built). Maserati hand-fabricated the totally unique bodyshell themselves. T

he TC was supposed to go on the market a few years BEFORE the 2nd generation K LeBaron, and was threfore supposed to preview the LeBaron's styling. Instead, production delays meant that the TC was launched after the LeBaron, so instead of the TC helping LeBaron sales with a glamourous halo effect, the LeBaron wound up hurting TC sales by making it look too "average".