Chrysler Cars Drivers Shouldn’t Touch With A 10-Foot Pole

Cameron Eittreim October 18, 2021

5: Chrysler TC By Maserati

Believe it or not, you’ve read this heading correctly. There was indeed a Chrysler sports car designed by Maserati. Developed in partnership with Maserati to get rid of the ‘blue-collar’ image Chrysler had. The Chrysler TC was built in Italy, and there was a small production run on the car (via Motor Trend).

The two-door sports car did not persuade consumers, and like the Cadillac Allante, it quickly faded into obscurity. Chrysler is not the first brand name that comes to mind when you think of an exotic sports car. Justifying the high price tag for the TC wasn’t an easy task and the car was eventually discontinued.

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4: Chrysler Pacifica

It was the mid-2000s, and every automaker had to have an SUV model. The Chrysler brand was without an SUV model, and thus the Pacifica was born. The Pacifica was one of the first crossover SUVs to hit the car market. The styling was new in 2004, but nowadays is the norm when you spot a crossover (via Motor Trend).

From a performance perspective, the Pacifica was underpowered. It competed against a barrage of considerable V8-powered SUVs on the market. The styling was also different from what consumers were used to at the time. The Pacifica didn’t end up being a success for Chrysler and was ultimately discontinued until years later.

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3: Chrysler New Yorker Fifth Avenue

The early 1990s Chrysler New Yorker was a small luxury sedan based on the K Car platform. For many Chrysler models, the K Car platform was fine, but competing against Cadillac and Lincoln took something a bit more substantial. The Fifth Avenue package was supposed to address the concerns of luxury car shoppers (via Hagerty).

Instead, the car was cheaply designed with an emphasis on interior comfort only. The exterior, drive train, and the rest of the car were all pretty much unchanged. With new competition from Lexus and Acura, the buyers for the Fifth Avenue weren’t there. The car faded into obscurity fairly quickly as Chrysler redirected toward a cab-forward design.

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2: Chrysler LHS

In the 1990s, Chrysler was trying to position the brand even more upmarket than before. The LHS sedan was designed to complete this mission as the most expensive model. Initially, the LHS had some unique features, such as a built-in car phone. But the initial quality of the LHS was questionable at best, and the car eventually faded into obscurity (via The Truth About Cars).

If you took a look at an old LHS and a Chrysler Concorde, drivers couldn’t tell the difference. Both of these cars were carbon copies of each other and this confused consumers. There were much better luxury sedans on the market than the LHS. Chrysler couldn’t compete with the onslaught of new luxury models coming out.

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1: Chrysler LeBaron GTS

In what was meant to be a performance-oriented car, the LeBaron GTS was a four-door hatchback model. The car was based on the Mitsubishi Lancer at the time and had the same turbocharged four-cylinder engine whereas the main LeBaron Convertible and Sedan were based on a cushier riding platform (via All Par).

The LeBaron GTS will go down as one of the weirdest Chrysler models. For a brand that had positioned itself as a luxury car brand, the LeBaron GTS was an oddity. The cheap design and tacky appearance of the car made it seem out of place. Chrysler had more than a few of these failures in the late 1980s and early ’90s.

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Chrysler Cars Drivers Shouldn’t Touch With A 10-Foot Pole

5: Chrysler TC By Maserati

4: Chrysler Pacifica

3: Chrysler New Yorker Fifth Avenue

2: Chrysler LHS

1: Chrysler LeBaron GTS

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