Spotted: Subaru SVX at UNC-CH
I was on my way to class the other day when i spotted this parked next to a curb on campus at UNC Chapel Hill. I so rarely see them that I figured it warranted a few pictures. It’s an early-90’s Subaru SVX, known in it’s native Japan as the Alcyone SVX. It was the replacement for the unsellable but loveably strange XT coupe of the 80’s - the one that looks like a door wedge, has a one-spoke steering wheel, electrohydraulic steering and some bizarre adjustable ride height feature. Coming from that perspective, I suppose the SVX was a bit normal. Compared to most cars, though…
…It’s pretty strange. The styling was the work of the Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro, and Subaru decided they liked the “window within a window” so much that they would incorporate it on the production vehicle. The whole point of the SVX was to give Subaru a not-so-subtle shove upmarket, and it was priced accordingly. When the SVX debuted in 1992 the base model was more than $24,000 and a top of the line model went for around $28,000. For comparison, the 1993 Ford SVT Mustang Cobra had an MSRP of less than $19,000. Still, check out those windows:
Underneath, the Subaru SVX was pretty ground-breaking. The engine was a brand new 3.3L dual-overhead cam flat 6 which made a respectable 230 horsepower and 228 torques. When new, 60 came up in 7.3 seconds and the SVX would run on to a top speed of 154 miles an hour - not the kind of numbers people were used to associating with a “cheap, and built to stay that way” Subaru at the time. Remember, the WRX and turbo Legacy’s etc had yet to come into the consciousness of the US Market.
As you can tell by the fact that you never see them, the SVX didn’t really fare all that well in the US. Over it’s 5-year lifespan in the US, Subaru only sold about 14,000 SVX’s, which is still more than half of the total production (around 25k.) It didn’t help they launched their ambitious, thirsty and expensive new sports coupe right during a recession, but the honest fact is that the SVX suffered from low-grade Phaeton sydrome: too much money for the badge, too fast. SVX’s sat unloved on dealer lots for months until the model left the states in 1997. Subaru’s never tried anything quite like it since. With their impressive level of know-how, I’m sure they could come up with something truly amazing today.
This particular example has seen better days, but I’m glad it’s still being driven and hasn’t succumbed to a transmission failure or any other of the numerous maladies that plague the SVX. This one looks like it’s got an intergalactic amount of miles on it - check out how chipped the paint is. My only concern is that this neat old car is some poor student’s, and it’s going to blow that trans and they’re going to leave it stranded on the side of I-40. Now I’ve got myself worried.
-James
