In the 1980s, Chrysler and Mitsubishi teamed up to offer a trio of stylish, turbocharged coupes to compete with the Japanese sports cars arriving on US shores. The Mitsubishi Eclipse - opens in new window or tab., Plymouth Laser, and Eagle Talon stormed onto the scene in 1989 with an incredible bang-for-the-buck ratio.
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The Eclipse became a tuner darling and starred in the hit 2001 movie The Fast and The Furious - opens in new window or tab.. For those who don’t mind a different badge, the non-Mitsubishi branded models, like this 1990 Eagle Talon TSi recently sold on eBay in Titusville, Fla., pack just as much performance.
Diamond Star
The three models are collectively known as DSMs, after the Mitsubishi-Chrysler joint-venture called Diamond Star Motors. Mitsubishi engineered the triplets using bits from several different models. They were built in a Chrysler-shared plant in Normal, Ill.
The cars were created specifically for the US market to combat popular Japanese sports coupes like the Nissan 240SX - opens in new window or tab., Acura Integra - opens in new window or tab., Honda Prelude - opens in new window or tab., Mazda MX-6, Toyota Celica - opens in new window or tab., and so on. They were built atop a Mitsubishi Galant - opens in new window or tab. platform with turbocharged and intercooled 2.0-liter Sirius four-cylinder engines. They shared this engine with the Galant VR-4, which Mitsubishi campaigned in rally racing.
Eventually, the more compact Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution - opens in new window or tab. adopted the engine. It replaced the Galant as the company’s global rally star and catapulted the motor and Mitsubishi marque to legendary status.
Superb Performance
The DSM engine offers superb performance, churning out 195 horsepower in its highest trim. Like its rallying cousins, the Eclipse/Talon/Laser have all-wheel-drive, adding traction and vaulting their performance even further ahead of the competition. Magazines of the era clocked their 0-to-60 time at 6.7 seconds, eclipsing (no pun intended) similarly priced sports cars that generally took 8 seconds to reach 60 mph.
Speaking of price, the DSMs stickered at a little over $16,000, a performance bargain. In 1989 Car and Driver called the Eclipse:
...an affordable sports coupe with enough performance to embarrass a Porsche 944.
That Porsche started at $36,000.
Nearly Identical
The Eclipse, Talon, and Laser are nearly identical except for minor trim and cosmetic differences. The Talon is arguably the most upscale-looking of the three, considering that Eagle was a premium Chrysler brand. However, Eagle was discontinued in 1997, and Plymouth got the axe in 2001. The Eclipse continued for four generations.
The Eagle Talon TSI recently sold appears to be in excellent condition. The odometer read only 76,499 miles, a rarity for an affordable performance car of this age. The seller listed a host of suspension upgrades to improve handling, but the car presented as original otherwise.
Of particular note was the interior, which was in impressively fresh condition. The listing said the car was repainted in 2023 in what looks like its original metallic dark blue. Many major maintenance items were taken care of.
This excellent example of the breed had a very fair Buy-It-Now price of $10,500. Most DSMs were heavily modified due to their accessibility and appeal to boy racers. That makes an Eagle Talon TSI survivor that escaped the ‘90s tuner era unscathed an even rarer proposition.
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This article is meant to provide general guidance only. Automotive maintenance, repair, upgrade, and installation may depend on vehicle-specifics such as make and model. Always consult your owner's manual, repair guide for specific information for your particular vehicle and consider a licensed auto-care professional's help as well, particularly for advance repairs.