2013 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Gsr on 2040-cars

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Junkyard Gem: 2012 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder

When Chrysler and Mitsubishi partnered to establish the Diamond-Star Motors plant in Illinois, the first cars built at that facility were 1990 Mitsubishi Eclipses along with their Eagle Talon and Plymouth Laser twins. The Eclipse went through four generations, with 2012 as the final model year. Today's Junkyard Gem is one of the very last Eclipses, found in a Denver car graveyard recently. This generation of Eclipse was built starting with the 2006 model year, and it was based on a platform shared with the Galant and Endeavor. It was substantially larger than the early Eclipses, scaling in at nearly 3,500 pounds. The Spyder convertible version of the fourth-gen Eclipse debuted in the United States as a 2007 model. Sales were never strong and became downright miserable by the end, with fewer than a thousand 2012 Eclipses (both coupes and convertibles) leaving showrooms. This car is a base-grade GS with automatic transmission, and its VIN indicates that it was built for fleet sale. This would have been a fun rental car, at least compared to the Dodge Nitros and Kia Rios that stocked rental fleets in the early 2010s. The engine is a 2.4-liter SOHC straight-four rated at 162 horsepower and 162 pound-feet. The MSRP was $27,999, or about $38,581 in 2024 dollars. 2012 was also the final year for the Galant in the United States, though that was the model year in which the i-MiEV went on sale here. For the 2018 model year, Mitsubishi revived the Eclipse name — sort of — for the Outlander-derived Eclipse Cross compact SUV, which is still being built to this day. Rare? Very. Valuable? No. You could get the Eclipse Spyder with a 650-watt sound system. Driven to thrill.

Mitsubishi's all-electric Pikes Peak challengers are in it to win it

With a second-place finish already in the books from 2012, there's only one thing on the minds of Mitsubishi drivers Hiroshi Masuoka and Greg Tracy: winning. As the presenting sponsor for the 2013 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, there's no doubt the Japanese manufacturer is hoping for a good showing this year, and the video you'll see below explains how Mitsubishi changed things this year to help ensure a win... basically, more power and more downforce.
Winning in 2013 certainly won't be easy. With competitors that include Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima and Rod Millen, who's driving for Toyota, winners in 2012 in the Electric class. Our own Jonathon Ramsey sat down and spoke with the boys from Mitsubishi, and found that, if not for the over-the-top presence from Peugeot, the the all-electric MiEV Evolution II (which may be a sort of test-bed for potential Lancer Evolution-of-the-future components) may even be capable of challenging for the overall victory.
Their target: nine minutes and thirty seconds. We'll see how close they get later this afternoon. Scroll down below to watch the video.

DoJ fines Japanese parts firms $740M in massive automotive price-fixing scandal

Nine Japanese suppliers have pleaded guilty in US court over charges of price fixing in the automotive parts industry, resulting in the Department of Justice doling out a total of $740 million of fines, according to a report from Bloomberg. The scandal, which has resulted in General Motors, Ford, Toyota and Chrysler spending up to $5 billion on inflated parts and driving up prices on 25 million vehicles has sent the DoJ hustling into investigations. "The conduct this investigation uncovered involved more than a dozen separate conspiracies aimed at the U.S. economy," Attorney General Eric Holder (pictured above) said during yesterday's press conference.
As the investigation stands, the DoJ has issued $1.6 billion in fines against 20 companies and 21 individual executives, with 17 of the execs headed to prison. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Scott Hammond said, "The breadth of the conspiracies brought to light today are as egregious as they are pervasive. They involve more than a dozen separate conspiracies operating independently but all sharing in common that they targeted US automotive manufacturers."
Big-name suppliers indicted in the investigation include Mitsubishi Electric, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Hitachi Automotive and Mitsuba Corporation. A list of fines and other corporations named in the investigation is available at Bloomberg.