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Life with a sporting flair gets a new spin from Mitsubishi Motors for its 1995 coupe line.

Mitsubishi’s American- designed and -built 1995 Eclipse sports coupe will debut on the Indianapolis market in the next month or two. It’s the best-looking coupe the company has ever offered.

“We’ve been told that we can expect them in June or July,” said Jim Pollard, vice president and general manager of Collin Mitsubishi. “You can go past the factory in Normal (Ill.) now and see a few of them on the grounds.”

Completely redesigned in California and built in Normal, the new Eclipse has been created for a variety of lifestyles and budgets.

As a product of Normal-based Diamond Star Motors, the Eclipse is being offered in four versions — RS, GS, GS-T, GSX — each designed for a specific market slot. These range from the entry-level RS to the GS-T and GSX, with more standard equipment and turbocharged engines.

The coupe was styled by Mitsubishi’s studios in Cypress, Calif. And I don’t know whether it’s the California climate or an atmosphere that seems endemic to the West Coast, but the car has very aggressive styling.

It embraces the concept of cab-forward design, with sashless doors (frameless windows) and sweeping rear pillars to enhance its aerodynamic shape. The previous-generation Eclipse has a coefficient of drag of 0.32. With the new car, it’s down to 0.29.

The cowl has been moved forward almost six inches, following the cab-forward theme. The seats have been raised and the console lowered for better visibility and more room.

The Cypress design people played around with exterior dimensions in creating some different standards for the cab-forward concept. The coupe is lower than its predecessor by four- tenths of an inch. And it’s six-tenths of an inch shorter.

However, the wheels have been moved out toward the corners of the car, creating a longer wheelbase and a wider track front and rear. This wider stance, coupled with a sophisticated multilink, four-wheel independent suspension system with anti- dive and anti-lift geometry, certainly will improve the coupe’s handling characteristics.

It’s a four-seater, and like anything built on 98.8 inches of wheelbase, there is more leg room for the front seats than the rear. Rear-seat legroom is 28.4 inches. Up front it’s 43.3.

I’d say cockpit instrumentation and controls are state of the art, although the center of the instrument cluster has been angled toward the driver’s seat to improve visibility.

A large dial sweep-hand tachometer lies to the left in the instrument cluster, and the speedometer is to the right. Fuel and temperature gauges are standard, while an oil-pressure and turbo boost gauge are included on the GS-T and GSX models only.

You get a choice of either a five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic transmission with either the normally aspirated (non-turbocharged) engine or the turbo motor. There’s a difference of 60 horsepower here, with a blown 210-horsepower GS-T w eighing in at but 2,877 pounds when equipped with a five-speed manual gearbox.

That one will get your attention, especially off the line when the front driving wheels begin fighting for traction.

Power for the Eclipse RS and GS is via a double-overhead-cam, 16-valve, 2.0-liter (121.8 cubic inches) four-cylinder engine that produces 140 horsepower.

In GS-T and GSX form, engine displacement is still 2.0 liters. But with turbocharging, intercooling of the fuel/air charge and twin balance shafts to control vibrations, the horsepower rating goes up to 210.

Prices on the new coupes aren’t expected to be announced until shipping time. For comparison, the base price for an entry-level 1994 Eclipse is $12,099, and $22,279 for the ’94 all-wheel-drive model.

Pollard expects Mitsubishi will keep prices in that range. Any increase is expected to be moderate.

1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse Base price: Not available.Type: Front engine, front-drive, four-passen ger sports coup e.Engine: 2.0 liters, DOHC 4. 16 valves, fuel-injected, 140 horsepower, 130 foot-pounds of torque.Transmission: Five-speed manual.Mileage: Not available.Wheelbase: 98.8 inches.Length: 172.2 inches.Width: 68.3 inches.Height: 51.0 inches.Curb weight: 2,723 pounds.Options: Air conditioning, automatic transmission, ETR stereo with cassette, CD player, power moonroof, ABS braking with rear disc brakes, four-wheel disc brakes, aluminum alloy wheels.