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Although Brian's Mitsubishi Eclipse didn't have a prominent role, it is one of the most loved and replicated JDM cars in the Fast & Furious franchise.

Paul Walker was an American actor famous for his role as Brian O'Conner in the Fast & Furious sequel. He made a breakthrough in the 2001 action film The Fast and the Furious starring alongside Hollywood actor Vin Diesel. The movie was an instant success and subsequently established Paul Walker as a leading film star. The movie featured an impressive lineup of tuned JDM cars. The green Mitsubishi Eclipse featured is arguably the best-looking car from the film.

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It's first introduced in the opening scene where Brian takes it for a spin. He later brings to an illegal street race where he gets closely beaten by Dom's Mazda RX-7. But Brian later comes through for Dom by helping him get away from the police in his Eclipse. The JDM classic is lastly seen when Dom's old racing rival destroys it. Despite the Mitsubishi sports car getting limited screen time, it became one of the most loved cars. As a result, there's a lot of misinformation and missing facts regarding the car. Here are 10 things most people don't know about Brian's Mitsubishi Eclipse from The Fast and the Furious.

Brian O'Conner's hero car was a 1995 Eclipse RS originally owned and built by John Lapid. While it appeared in the movie painted in Kawasaki Green, its original color was dark green when John Lapid purchased it and had no body kits.

He later repainted it silver and installed a few basic mods such as the RoboCar full body kit. When Universal rented the car from John Lapid, it was the only Eclipse to show up at the auditions following Craig Lieberman's casting calls in the early 2000s.

The now famous Mitsubishi Eclipse is one of the most loved cars in the world, thanks to the Fast and Furious franchise. According to Craig Lieberman, at least 50 known replicas are floating around different parts of the world.

However, Lieberman adds that most replicas today are similar but not as accurate as Brian's Eclipse. That's due to difficulty in obtaining the original parts. Brian's Eclipse featured a body kit that was very difficult to get back in the day. Today, it literally doesn't exist, and the rarely available parts are too expensive if not discontinued.

Contrary to Eddie Paul's book and other internet sources, Brian's Mitsubishi Eclipse was neither the turbocharged AWD GSX model nor the GS-T trim. Instead, it was a 1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse RS that fell under the second-generation model produced from 1994-1999 under the joint venture between Mitsubishi and Chrysler's Diamond Star Motors (DSM).

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Named after an 18th-century English racehorse, the second-generation Eclipse shared parts and platform with the Plymouth Laser and the rebadged Eagle Talon. The Base RS model featured a 2.0-liter Chrysler 420a 4-cylinder engine producing 140hp and 130lb-ft of torque.

Brian's Eclipse featured a handful of bolt-on mods such as the bored-out throttle body, Hotshot header, cold air intake, RoboCar Eclipse body kit, APR GT2 performance rear wing, green neon lighting, carbon fiber mirrors and front splitter, and a 75hp NOS.

In the end, these mods got an extra 10hp at best. The fact that Brian's Eclipse was naturally aspirated, it produced 150hp on a good day. So, unlike what the movie portrayed, the three-stage nitrous oxide system couldn't have helped its course – it was just for show.

At the street race, Dom crossed the finish line ahead of Brian by an inch. While it was a close race, any enthusiast knows it's only in the movie where the Eclipse could challenge the Mazda RX-7. In other words, Brian's Eclipse stood no chance despite having DSM customization parts and technology from 2001.

Additionally, Brian's Eclipse was neither turbocharged and produced a mere 140hp compared to Dom's twin-turbocharged RX-7, which was twice as powerful, with a claimed 330hp sent to the rear wheels.

The "danger to manifold" is now a defined internet meme. It was born from the scene where the Eclipse's intake manifold began overheating due to overcompensation from the first NOS. While attempting to beat Dom's RX-7, Brian snarled at his laptop, pushed the second NOS intake, and the floorboard piece fell out.

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It's hilarious because what the film intended to be a warning regarding the intake or even the exhaust manifold had nothing to do with the car's floorboard. Lieberman, the technical director at the time, suggested a better pop-up warning message, but the producers declined as they insisted the general public would understand the message better. As for the floorboard falling, Lieberman added it was for dramatic effect to get sparks.

The Fast and Furious started as a franchise centered around the JDM tuning culture. In fact, the first Fast and Furious movie is arguably one of the films that rejuvenated the rice car craze in the US. It has since evolved into a car-culture show featuring all types of cars.

While the tuning culture was still zealous at the time, Brian's Mitsubishi Eclipse was among other JDM cars in the film that fueled the cultural revolution further beyond the decade. It inspired an entire generation, and fervent fans have done their best to create replicas of the iconic Mitsubishi Eclipse.

Cars driven by Paul Walker (Brian O'Connor) continue to command furious prices. The latest entry is this 1995 Eclipse that fetched a whopping $170,500 (the highest price paid for an Eclipse) at Mecum Auctions. While it wasn't the hero car, it featured an APR rear wing, custom mirrors, alloy wheels, Jensen stereo, Recaro seats, and diamond-plate floor pans.

The 1995 Eclipse joins the Brian-driven Toyota Supra in commanding blockbuster prices. Surprisingly, it's not the most expensive Mitsubishi. That honor belongs to the $197,000 Lancer Evo VI Tommy Makinen Edition sold at Silverstone Auctions in 2021.

Since Brian's hero one car was privately owned, the filming crew used stunt cars to prevent damage and act as a backup to the rented Mitsubishi Eclipse. According to Craig Lieberman, the Fast and Furious movie used six Eclipses.

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One was the hero car owned by John Lapid, and hero two was the car used for interior shots. Three Eclipses served as stunt cars where one was the blown-out model, and the last one was the "buck car" for blue or green screen scenes.

After the shoot, John Lapid hanged on to his car for a while before selling it to George Barris for $50,000. According to Lieberman, Brian's Eclipse is now in Hollywood Star Cars Museum but with missing parts. Universal also sold the hero two cars to George Barris. He later sold it to a buyer in the Netherlands.

Stunt one (the exploded car) resides in a museum in Las Vegas. Universal Studios repainted and reused the other two stunt cars in the 2 Fast 2 Furious sequel - they are in different locations today, one in Illinois and the other in Rusty's Museum in Tennessee. The Buck car was recently sold to an unknown movie fan via Mecum Auctions.

Dennis Kariuki is a tech enthusiast who writes for Hotcars.com. Previously, he wrote for the.car .He likes covering the marriage between technology and cars. Besides that, he is big f1 fan. After working tirelessly through the week, you can be sure that on Sundays he is most likely enjoying and following motorsports events.