Earlier this week, we shared a couple mouthwatering leaked photos of cars seen at the set of Fast and Furious 8. As I expected, the post drew a lot of buzz (ugh, I apologize again for unintentionally identifying a modified Charger for a Challenger).
In fact, the story prompted my new best friend Joel Higginbotham, a Cleveland resident that had read the previous story, to reach out via Facebook and share some more details: "The original Brian O'Connor Eclipse was in the lot as well....I saw your article. I live in Cleveland and drive by the lot they use for car storage daily. Worth mentioning."
Here's Higginbotham's photo of the iconic green Mitsubishi Eclipse taken from a parking lot in Cleveland where the vehicles are being stored while the second unit is reportedly shooting stunt sequences throughout the month of May:
Too blurry? Here's a clearer photo via Forty-Six Motoring LLC's Facebook page:
Yup, looks just like the buster's 2G GSX. The green paint, carbon hood, body kit, GT wing and blue vinyl all look authentic and period correct. At a glance, the only thing we can tell that looks off are the rims, which were a set of Axis SE7EN wheels in the first The Fast And The Furious movie.
So will Fast 8 feature a cameo of Brian O'Conner's Eclipse as a tribute for the late Paul Walker? Does this Eclipse simply belong to a crew member on the set that also happened to be a dedicated fan of the F&F franchise? Or was it on the set for future promotional reasons? Maybe, maybe and maybe. We really don't know as the car has only been seen moved around inside a parking lot, but not actually caught on the set of any stunt or driving sequences.
Hat tip to Joel Higginbotham and Forty-Six Motoring for the pictures. Stay tuned as we learn more about Fast 8 in the months ahead.
