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.