The Eagle Talon was one of three model names given to a passenger car that was manufactured and sold by the then Chrysler Corporation (symbol: penta-star) and Mitsubishi Motors of Japan (symbol: triple diamond) in a collaborative project known as Diamond Star Motors (DSM), between 1990 and 1998. The Talon was sold under the Eagle marque, a brand developed by Chrysler to compete with Japanese imports in the late 1980s from the remnants of American Motors which was purchased by Chrysler in 1987. The other two sister models were the Eclipse (sold by Mitsubishi) and the Laser (sold by Plymouth, another Chrysler brand). Note that both the "Eagle" and "Plymouth" brand names have since been discontinued.
All three vehicles were built on the same platform at the DSM manufacturing plant in Normal, Illinois. All three vehicles were mechanically identical (when comparing the same option level) including engine, transmission, and drivetrain. Cosmetically, differences between the three were found in wheels, availability of colors, tail lights, front and rear bumpers, and spoilers. The primary way to establish the identity of an Eagle Talon is its two-tone body color - the 'greenhouse' (roof, pillars, door-mounted mirrors) was always black regardless of the body color (Note: 1G Eclipses with a 2.0 L engine also have black 'greenhouse' roofs).
The basic characteristics of the Eagle Talon are:
Two doors
Hatchback
2+2 seating (2 front seats and 2 marginal, fold down rear seats)
Four option levels (from lowest to highest): DL, ES, TSi, and TSi AWD
front-wheel drive (FWD) for all option levels except for the top option level, which had all-wheel drive (AWD)
5-speed manual or 4-speed automatic transmissions
Two-tone color combination as described above
Hood bulge on the left-hand side of the car in order to provide adequate clearance for the camshaft sprockets/timing belt cover on the 4G63 engine (Note: the base model DL did not use this engine but still had a bulge as evident in the 1992 Talon brochure. 2nd Generation cars all of which had such a bulge, even with the inclusion of the Chrysler supplied 420A engine also found in the Dodge Neon.)
One notable thing about the Talon is its success compared to the Eagle nameplate itself, which was a huge flop for Chrysler. While the Eagle nameplate was not very well accepted and failed to gain any marketshare from Pontiac, its main rival, the Talon was a stellar success, and the only Eagle model that was profitable. It also garnered a number of awards and sold over 100,000 units in its lifetime, which is considered good numbers for a sports car.
