In early 2011, Mitsubishi announced that it will be discontinuing one of the marquis economy sports cars of the last two decades, the Eclipse. The Eclipse->ke251 lived a rather odd life, starting out with two nearly identical siblings in the Plymouth Laser and Eagle Talon. After the elimination of the Laser, the Eclipse and Talon remained, turning into two of the most beautiful economy sports cars ever built, in 1995.

In 1998, Eagle folded and only the beautiful Eclipse remained, but the death of its sibling didn’t set too well with the Eclipse, as after just one year of being on its own, it morphed into a rather ugly and over-styled pig that required a V-6 engine to be even remotely fun to drive.

In 2006, Mitsubishi->ke58 finally came to its senses and realized that the new body style just wasn’t doing the “Eclipse” name justice, so they went back to the drawing board and created a rounder Eclipse that more closely resembled the one from the late-90s. Oddly enough, this new sportier Eclipse is actually heavier than its predecessor, but that certainly does not take away from its beauty.

In the earlier years, when a car was on its last production year, the final model to roll off of the production line was kept by the manufacturer and stored. In more recent years, the last model typically ran off of the production line like any other model and became lost in the sea of models. Mitsubishi seized this opportunity to fully customize the final Eclipse, which is an SE model, so that it was truly a one-of-a-kind vehicle. Now this brand new Eclipse is up for sale by RK Motors Charlotte.

Click past the jump to read about this custom 2012 Eclipse SE final model.

mitsubishi-eclipse-se-final-model

Specifications
  • Make: Array
  • Model: mitsubishi-eclipse-se-final-model
Pros
Cons

2012 Mitsubishi Eclipse SE Final Model

Specifications
  • Make: Array
  • Model: 2012 Mitsubishi Eclipse SE Final Model
  • Engine/Motor: V6
  • Horsepower: 265 @ 5750
  • Torque: 262 @ 4500
  • Transmission: Four-speed automatic
  • [do not use] Vehicle Model: Array
Pros
Cons

Exterior

No penny was spared on the outside of this Eclipse SE, as it pretty much got the royal treatment from Mitsubishi. The body was meticulously inspected for any defects or flaws and any findings were immediately rectified. The body panels were inspected for absolute perfection, so that the body lines line up smoothly. The exterior is draped in Kalapana Black paint, which is essentially just a very deep, non-metallic black paint. The paint is beautifully buffed to a smoothness not typically seen on an Eclipse.

The apparent theme of this final Eclipse was obviously an attempt to black it out, as there are only six pieces of chrome amongst the sea of black, two are the Mitsubishi emblems on the nose and tail, then there's the “ECLIPSE” logo on the back end, the “GT V6” emblem, the upper lip on the rear spoiler, and the dual exhaust tips.

We know that you are wondering why the "GT V6” emblem when this is an SE model. Well, the fact of the matter is that this car is really neither a GT nor an SE, as it is a hybrid combining the best from both models, but is titled as an SE due to the VIN. The engine happens to be from the GT, so it wears the appropriate badging.

The front end boasts the beautifully sculpted headlight assemblies expected of an Eclipse. Inside the headlight assemblies are HID headlights that brightly illuminate everything in front of this vehicle. Beneath the headlights are a pair of projector fog lamps to get you through that low-lying water vapor.

On each of the four corners is an 18-inch satin black 10-spoke wheel. These satin black wheels are what really set off this sports coupe, making it look almost stealth-like.

As with all 2012 Eclipses, the side profile of this machine does not look like a sub-40,000 economy sports coupe. It rather resembles a sleek imported sports car begging to be driven and costing far more than the average Joe can afford. The side windows even add to the sleekness of the side profile, as the front quarter window, side window, and rear quarter window all combine to perfectly mimic the roofline. This really gives the Eclipse an exotic look. A low beltline with an “SE” badge just in front of the rear wheel lets you now that this is actually an SE bearing a GT’s power.

On the back end, there's a small spoiler with the aforementioned chrome strip on the top. There's also a set of sharp-looking clear taillight lenses and two rather large chrome exhaust tips that are partially integrated with the rear bumper.

Overall, the exterior of this special edition SE/GT Eclipse is pretty much what's offered with a stock Eclipse, sans the “GT” and “SE” badges. However, that is not a bad thing, as the 2012 Eclipse is one sexy piece of machinery in our eyes. Our hats go off to Mitsubishi for taking the additional time to make sure this car looks absolutely perfect!

Interior

Just like the exterior of the 2012 Eclipse, the interior is gorgeous too. Mitsubishi used the same care on the inside that it used on the outside in making this car unique while retaining the Eclipse’s natural beauty. All Eclipse SE models come standard with leather interior, so seeing the gorgeous black leather interior on this car is no shock. What is a shocker are the beautiful French seams on the leather seats and white thread to contrast the black cow’s hide.

You also get “Eclipse” labeled scuff plates, which remind you of what car you’re driving, just in case you forget. The steering wheel is your run-of-the-mill four-post Mitsubishi wheel and lacks any audio or HVAC controls to get in the way of driving enjoyment.

Mitsubishi did a wonderful job on the Eclipse’s center stack, adding in the necessary technology without making it look like you are about to launch a space shuttle. In this center stack is a powerful 650-watt Rockford-Fosgate that features SiriusXM capabilities and Bluetooth hands-free capabilities. This audio system connects to a total of nine speakers, one of which is a 10-inch subwoofer that is easily visible in the hatch area. The 2012 Eclipse also features a rearview camera, which shows up on the information screen near the center of the dashboard.

Our only real complaint about this final edition Eclipse, which is common with all Eclipse’s, is that the back seat is very tiny. Then again, this is a sports coupe, not a family car, so what are we whining about? It’s just one more reason for people not to ask you for a ride anywhere.

Overall, we like what Mitsubishi did with the interior of the 2012 Eclipse, though some people find it a little bland. When it comes to interiors, we actually prefer the simple to use and clutter-free look, not 200 different buttons to push and knobs to turn. The black interior with silver accents really fits nicely with the black exterior, but could lead to some rather heat soaked summer days.

Engine and Drivetrain

The engine is where this Eclipse SE really becomes unique. There were no SE models offered with the 3.8-liter V-6 engine, only the GT came with this engine. Well, to make this vehicle special, Mitsubishi scrapped its usual SE blueprints and dropped the 3.8-liter V-6 engine from the GT, which cranks out 265 horsepower at 5,750 rpm and 262 pound-feet of torque at 4,500 rpm, into the SE’s engine compartment. Short of an Eclipse SE with an engine swap, this is the only 2012 Eclipse SE with the 3.8-liter MiVEC engine.

Special care was taken during the assembly process of this car not to leave any tool marks on any of the engine components, making it look like this engine just appeared in the compartment without any human intervention. The valve covers are painted red to help set off the otherwise bland-looking engine compartment.

In odd fashion, Mitsubishi chose to link the 3.8-liter V-6 to the SE model’s four-speed Sportronic automatic transmission, which features a manual gear-selection mode. You would assume that given the fact that it has the GT engine, that this Eclipse would also inherit the GT’s five-speed automatic transmission, but for some reason Mitsubishi chose to leave the SE’s four-speed. This leads us to believe that this SE/GT hybrid still has the SE’s more aggressive 4.21-to-1 axle ratio. This would mean that this special edition is slightly quicker than its GT counterpart. If only Mitsubishi could marry this 4.21 axle ratio to the five-speed automatic, we would have a win-win situation!

There are no performance specs available for this final edition Eclipse, but we can reasonably deduce the specs using existing information. Given the GT has a 0 to 60 time of 6.47 seconds, we can reasonably assume that the taller gear ratio in the SE would allow this powerful V-6 to more effectively accelerate the Eclipse, dropping the 0 to 60 time to about 6.43 seconds. The GTs quarter-mile time is 14.99 seconds at 94.53 mph, but with the lower gear ratio we should see a slight decrease to 14.96 seconds at about 95 mph.

We definitely have to commend Mitsubishi for thinking outside of its blueprints and using a V-6 to power this special car.

Handling and Braking

This Eclipse sits on a standard SE chassis, so the front and rear suspensions are standard SE versions. The front end has an independent MacPherson strut system with an anti-roll bar. The rear suspension is an independent multi-link system that features gas-pressurized shocks and an anti-roll bar. You may read that the SE model handles slightly better than the GT, netting 0.90 g on the skid pad, as opposed to the GT’s 0.89 g. That slight difference is only based on the additional weight that the GT has with the V-6 engine and with this SE having the same V-6, you can anticipate results similar to those of the standard GT model.

At each corner you have the standard 2012 Eclipse SE disc brakes, with the front brakes featuring ventilated discs and the rears featuring solid discs. The Eclipse also features a four-wheel anti-lock braking system to keep you out of trouble in emergency braking situations. Also on the corners are the standard 235/45R18 Goodyear Eagle RS-A V-rated tires.

Fortunately, the Eclipse is a competent handling car, so having the stock SE suspension is not necessarily a bad thing. We definitely would have liked to have seen at least a few upgrades, but we can understand Mitsubishi for not wanting to go too crazy on this car.

Pricing

Now comes the pricing point, which we somewhat disagree with. First let’s look at what this car has in addition to a standard SE model. First you have the French seam leather seats with contrasting stitching. Next you get the more powerful 3.8-liter V-6 engine. That’s about it, save for some minor unlisted additions here and there. Does that really warrant a price of $49,900, which is $20,000 more than the standard Eclipse GT?

We really question how they arrived at this number. We completely understand that some extra time was added into the building process to assure it was 100 percent flawless, but shouldn’t that already be the goal of every single new Eclipse that rolled off of the showroom floor? We really don’t think that the change in seating material and stitching warrants that type of price, as it’s nothing truly spectacular in today’s world.

Honestly, we think the RK Motors Charlotte is pulling the old “Pay us now for its future worth” game with this model and we don’t like it. Granted it is the last Eclipse to roll off of the production line, for now, but there is no guarantee that is will not come back (see: Camaro). If it does come back, that will have a serious negative effect on this car’s value, despite its rarity.

We are willing to pay a premium for this one-of-a-kind vehicle, but not a $20,000 one. If the car was going for closer to $40,000, it might be worth it, but not nearly $50K.

We venture to say that this Eclipse will remain in RX Motors’ possession for a while before some Eclipse enthusiast snags it up.

Competition

When you have a brand new one-off car like this, there is really no competition for it. The only competition we can think of is whether or not it is a safer bet to just buy a normal Eclipse GT rather than spending a huge premium for a “special edition.”

Conclusion

We love the car, but that price is a true killer. There is no way that a car of this nature is worth almost $50,000. We would understand if it was tuned for performance and had some extra goodies that you can’t get on any Eclipse GT, but it does not have any of that. It is basically a 2012 Eclipse GT in an SE wrapper and featuring an SE VIN.

Unless RK Motors is willing to drop about $10K off of that price, we say avoid this car. It will take 10 to 20 years to get a return on your investment, if it ever does net you any equity. Plus, we have no clue if Mitsubishi will decide that axing the Eclipse was a bad idea two years down the road and release it again, thereby killing the value of this “final edition” Eclipse.