There are many legacy cars that have made a lasting impression on the automotive world through innovation, popularity, iconography, or performance. I'm talking about cars like the Ford Mustang, the Volkswagen Beetle, the Toyota Prius, the Chevrolet Corvette, and the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. Cars and automakers that have weaseled their way into the zeitgeist through pop culture and media like movies and music, or simply by selling in such great numbers that they are impossible to ignore. They say getting
to the top is hard, but staying at the top is harder, and that definitely applies to maintaining an automotive legacy.
Sometimes, those legacies get fumbled, either by a lazy redesign, reckless business practices, a premature cancellation, or lack of continued innovation. So that brings us to the question of the day: what's the worst fumble of an automotive legacy? It can be a brand that a parent company fumbled, a particular model that an automaker fumbled, or any other automotive legacy that was once great, but eventually fell from grace.
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My Answer Is The Blasphemy Committed Against The Mitsubishi Eclipse
I think the Mitsubishi Eclipse is the biggest automotive fumble. In its first generation, the Eclipse was an affordable, sporty, fast, and stylish coupe that punched above its weight. Over the next few generations, it gradually grew larger, heavier, and less of a focused sports car as Mitsubishi attempted to broaden its appeal. The second-generation Eclipse retained the sporty character of the original and is probably the most beloved, but by the third generation Mitsubishi lost the plot. I still have a soft spot for the fourth-gen Eclipse; I love the way it looks inside and out, but it still never lived up to the fun character of the original.
Now the Mitsubishi Eclipse name has been tarnished beyond recognition, found on the back of a subcompact crossover that's exclusively available with a CVT. Mitsubishi's styling still appeals to me, but I cannot forgive the sin of slapping the Eclipse Cross name on a bargain crossover. What about you? What do you think is the worst fumble of an automotive legacy?
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