Fast and the Furious Mitsubishi Eclipse feature car to be sold at auction

Of all the iconic movie cars to own, it doesn’t get much more recognisable than a Fast and the Furious feature car. Brian O’Conner’s first love, a 1996 Mitsubishi Eclipse coupe, is set to cross the auction block this month at Mecum Auctions’ Kissimmee event in Florida, US.

It’s shown at the beginning of the movie in the open parking lot of Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, as Brian O’Conner practices his shifting technique for his fledgling drag racing career.

The car is sold with Cinema Vehicle Services documentation accrediting the vehicle’s authenticity and a host of modifications as seen on the car in the film. These include a Robocar bodykit, large APR Performance rear wing, roof scoop, Sparco sports seats, carbon-fibre-look bonnet, seven-spoke alloy wheels, and Toyo Proxes tyres.

The Eclipse was at the centre of the infamous “danger to manifold” technical movie error which saw a floor panel fly off mid-drag race, and it also met its untimely end by way of nitrous oxide explosion, after Johnny Tran fired bullets into the car’s engine bay. The burnt-out stunt car seen in the movie currently resides in a museum in Las Vegas.

Disappointingly, the car up for auction is equipped with an automatic transmission, as opposed to the movie star car which was manual-equipped. It also looks fairly unmodified under the bonnet, retaining the original 2.0-litre engine.

That said, its condition looks to be good and it certainly looks the part. Will it hit Mecum Auctions’ $US75,000-$US125,000 ($AU103,000-$AU172,000) estimate? We’ll know for sure after the car crosses the auction block this weekend.