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Junkyard Gem: 1998 Mitsubishi Eclipse with Lambo Doors

Front-wheel-drive sporty cars with wild body kits and eye-searing graphics became increasingly popular in North America during the 1990s, but it took the enormous mainstream success of the first Fast and Furious movie in 2001 to place bewinged sport compacts with giant tailpipes in every town from Nome to Naples. No doubt due to the narrative-enhancing role of the cop-purchased 2005 Mitsubishi Eclipse and its Robo Car Aero Armor body kit in The Fast and the Furious, the second-generation Eclipse (and its Eagle twin, the Talon) built by Diamond Star Motors in Illinois became the car to have by the middle 2000s… and the only way to improve on a full complement of flares, scoops, and wings was the conversion of the doors to use scissors-style aka Lambo hinge mechanisms. You'd think a car so equipped would be sufficiently desirable to stay on the happy side of the boneyard fence (Those are the doors of a billionaire, after all. -Ed), but such was not the case with this '98 in the Denver area. As we all know, there's no point in going to the expense and trouble of installing Lambo doors in your Eclipse if you haven't got a wing big enough to keep a Mitsubishi F-2 fighter plane aloft. Check! I find these graphics a bit too subdued, but then I'd have chosen a Mitsubishi Debonair AMG for customization in the first place. The body kit looks plenty mean, but hard times appear to have befallen this car quite a few years back. A bit over 150,000 miles show on the odometer, which is non-shabby for a DSM product. The engine is the Chrysler-sourced 2.0 DOHC unit originally designed for use in the Neon, rated at 140 horsepower. A 210-horse turbocharged Mitsubishi 2.0 could be had in the 1998 Eclipse/Talon, but the real gone cats added 14,000 horsepower worth of NOSSS. Someone loved this car enough to put plenty of sweat and dollars into it, and I felt saddened to see it come to such a fate. If it had had an automatic transmission, at least I could have consoled myself that it was built entirely for show. Nope, five-speed manual. The aftermarket wheels look rough, but they may have been sold anyway. This car has been crushed by now, but perhaps the Lambo door hardware got sliced out before then. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. So fast, it destroys wholesome farmhouses. The final model year for this generation of Eclipse was 1999.

Japan could consolidate to three automakers by 2020

Sergio Marchionne might see his dream of big mergers in the auto industry become a reality, and an analyst thinks Japan is a likely place for consolidation to happen. Takaki Nakanishi from Jefferies Group LLC tells Bloomberg the country's car market could combine to just three or fewer major players by 2020, from seven today. "To have one or two carmakers in a country is not only natural, but also helpful to their competitiveness," Nakanishi told Bloomberg. "Japan has just too many and the resources have been too spread out. It's a natural trend to consolidate and reduce some of the wasted resources." Nakanishi's argument echoes Marchionne's reasons to push for a merger between FCA and General Motors. Automakers spend billions on research and development, but their competitors also invest money to create the same solutions. Consolidating could conceivably put that R&D money into new avenues. "In today's global marketplace, it is increasingly difficult for automakers to compete in lower volume segments like sports cars, hydrogen fuel cells, or electrified vehicles on their own," Ed Kim, vice president of Industry Analysis at AutoPacific, told Autoblog. Even without mergers, these are the areas where Japanese automakers already have partners for development. Kim cited examples like Toyota and Subaru's work on the BRZ and FR-S and its collaboration with BMW on a forthcoming sports car. Honda and GM have also reportedly deepened their cooperation on green car tech. After Toyota's recent buyout of previous partner Daihatsu, Nakanishi agrees with rumors that the automotive giant could next pursue Suzuki. He sees them like a courting couple. "For Suzuki, it's like they're just starting to exchange diaries and have yet to hold hands. When Toyota's starts to hold 5 percent of Suzuki's shares, this will be like finally touching fingertips," Nakanishi told Bloomberg. "I absolutely do believe that we are not finished seeing consolidation in Japan," Kim told Autoblog. Rising development costs to meet tougher emissions regulations make it hard for minor players in the market to remain competitive. "The smaller automakers like Suzuki, Mazda, and Mitsubishi are challenged to make it on their own in the global marketplace. Consolidation for them may be inevitable." Related Video:

2013 Pikes Peak Hill Climb, Practice Day 3

The third practice day of the 91st Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is done. While the other classes got running time on the middle and top sections of the course, qualifying times were set on the bottom section of the course for the Open, Open Wheel, Electric, Exhibition and Vintage classes.
Everyone managed to keep it on the black stuff today, Greg Tracy setting the fastest time ahead of Hiroshi Masuoka, both men driving the Mitsubishi MiEV Evolution II four-wheel-drive prototype. Not even half a second behind Masuoka came Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima in his Monster Sport E-Runner, who has taken about 18 seconds off his time since the first practice day. Rod Millen was the fourth fastest on the day in his Toyota TMG EV POO2.
Topping the Open Wheel class was Clint Vahsholtz, followed by Donner Billingsley, Andy Figueroa and Rodney O'Maley. The only driver in that class not to be given a time today was Dan Novembre. Kenshiro Gushi took the Exhibition class today as his Lexus IS F CCS-R made it up the mountain in 4:27.248, followed by Sage Marie in the Honda CR-Z at 5:19.591. Simon Pagenaud and his Honda Odyssey weren't classified.