The front end of the 2007 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder is identical to the 2006 Eclipse coupe. The split grille wears the Mitsubishi three-diamond emblem on its divider. Compound, projector-look, faux-HID (i.e., fronted by a blue-tint lens) headlights rest in notches cut into the leading curves of the fenders. A large air intake fills the lower half of the front bumper. Round fog lamps tuck into the corners beneath the headlights. The barest hint of a spoiler forms the bottom edge of the fascia between the air intake and the fog lamps.

Not surprisingly, the transformation of the coupe into a convertible alters the Spyder's side view most significantly, but not all that dramatically. The change is, in fact, less disruptive of the Eclipse's sleek lines than the chop job done to the Nissan 350Z in birthing that sports car's roadster. Most noticeable is the loss of the rear quarter window to an expanse of either black or gray fabric, depending on the body color ordered. The tires still look undersized for the wheel wells, especially in the rear, but the rocker panel-like swell across the lower portion of the door panel lightens the mid-body mass.

Lowering the top emphasizes the Spyder's wedge shape, with the fast windshield arching back over the front seat and the bulbous rear quarters seeming to rise up to fill in for the dropped top. The powered top disappears completely, collapsing into a well under a flush-fitting tonneau cover behind the rear seat. The process takes almost 20 seconds, but it's an easy process, with only a couple latches to release and a button to press. And once it's done, there's no cumbersome plastic cover that has to be wrestled into place to cover the folded top. Putting it up is just as slick, and again, without leaving behind a plastic cover that'll consume precious trunk space.

Out back, a translucent spoiler incorporating the high-mount stoplight arcs across the high rear decklid between clear-lens taillights. The license plate sits inside a cutout in the rear bumper beneath an embossed "ECLIPSE." A tiny red reflector is embedded in the lower corner at each end of a cutline running the width of the bumper above an extractor-like indent, through the right-hand end of which the exhaust exits.