Happy Eclipse Day! Can You Tell Where This Eclipse Is?: Cold Start

As you likely know, today the great almighty sky-clam is going to devour the sun, digest it for a few minutes, then poop it back out again, so the grand and majestic cycle of life can begin anew. We call this an “eclipse.” Some people think they’ll be raptured away to heaven during this celestial event, so if you’re driving and you may be raptured or you’re driving someone who you think may be raptured, be polite and, if you have a sunroof, keep it open, or, even better, if you have a convertible, keep the top down. If you have neither, I do not suggest driving with anyone who may be raptured away. More importantly, let’s take some time to focus on another special kind of eclipse: the kind made by Mitsubishi.

The Mitsubishi Eclipse, made between 1990 and 2012, is one of those cars that people tend to forget about, and then you remind them, and their face lights up with a flash of memory, and they tell you something like “oh yeah, the Eclipse! I haven’t seen one of those in forever!” and then you agree and, if the moment feels right, you go in for the kiss. I mean, it’s your call, just putting it out there.

That Eclipse brochure picture I put up top there, I chose it because it’s another opportunity to play our fun game of Where They Shot That Car Brochure Picture! We’ve done these before, and they’re always a good time. I recognized the background of that shot up there immediately. Here, I’ll show it again:

Is that woman chauffeuring that other woman around? Why is she in the back seat? Are they waiting for someone who was in the passenger seat to return? Are those two fighting? I hope they work it out. Back seat does look pretty pissed.

Back to the location, though; it’s pretty distinctive, being vivid green with a big yellow stripe and that peculiar blackletter text at the base of the windows reading “Twenty Four Seven Pinch [a] Juicy Loaf And Tofu Scramble” which can only mean one thing – this is Fred 62. Here’s a Google StreetView shot of it so you can see for yourself:

Fred 62 is a fun little hipster-ish (well, it was, I’m not sure if that still qualifies now?) diner that used to be in easy walking distance of my old house in Los Angeles, so I’ve been here a lot. They used to make great milkshakes, if I remember, and were open very late, both valuable, important amenities for modern life.

It looks like the first half of that strange motto is gone now, and we just have the “a Juicy Loaf…” part left. They’ve also upgraded their awning significantly, so good for Fred.

That Eclipse up there is the third-gen Eclipse from 1999, much curvier and significantly more grooved car than the first-gen Eclipses, which I think I’ll show you in some commercials from that optimistic era, especially this one that shows an actual eclipse! Or a faked eclipse:

Here’s another one, all full of implied heat and whipping the car sideways:

See that hood bulge? The hood was so low, that bulge was needed to clear the valve cover. These early Eclipses with pop-up lights had a detail I liked, which is that if you did the flash-to-pass thing, the lights would stay down but shine through little clear windows in the front fascia; here’s me showing a proud Plymouth Laser owner (a badge-engineered sibling of the Eclipse) how it works:

Such a fun detail! Happy eclipse day, everyone.