2006 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT

The symbolism of a menacing 8000-pound steel wrecking ball suspended above Mitsubishi's latest Eclipse must be obvious to our readers. If not--perhaps it's time to subscribe to a reputable newspaper or visit Todd Lassa's bountiful background information on Mitsubishi's plummeting fortunes (see sidebar).

Lassa claims the market failure of the new Eclipse probably wouldn't shatter Mitsubishi, but it could wind it into a dead-car-company walking. This is an important car for its maker; in the past, it's proven to have longer sales legs in the marketplace than most sporty coupes. It's also developed a following among the sport-compact tuner crowd, which didn't exactly go hog wild over the previous-generation Eclipse. Hence, the suspense mounts: 2006 Eclipse, feted or flattened? Thumbs up or down? Will our trusty crane operator, Robert Stanley, flip the switch and drop that big old dirty ball?

Emphatically in the "don't drop!" column falls the bodywork. There's the rounded stern (evocative of the first-generation car), the winking pinched side glass of the popular second-generation machine, and the raised haunches, bold face, and wheel flares of the third. In fact, the latest design is something of a highlight reel of Eclipsi through the generations--and it's an eye catcher, for sure.

Almost everybody who's had a chance to walk around the new Eclipse agrees it's optimally viewed from the rear-three-quarter perspective. From that approach, the wide, bulbous tail seems to liquefy into the roofline. The rump (resembling the Audi TT's) is simple and nicely detailed, with the taillight enclosures sporting that au courant mirrored jewelbox appearance (upping the game of visual trickery, the turn signals are colorless until illuminated yellow). Arching between the taillights is a thin-lip spoiler of the same mirror-within-clear-plastic construction. It conducts its aerodynamic business without breaking up the stern's visual continuity.

Up front, the Eclipse's crazed catfish face has a new maturity via what looks to be giant monocles suspended between the headlamps and headlamp covers. What's next? Photogray bifocals? Automotive laser eye surgery? Functionally irrelevant stuff like this is fast becoming the tailfin of our era, but it seems harmless.