Today, Subaru is a well-respected and known automaker, famous for rally-bred performers like the WRX, as well as practical adventure-ready AWD daily drivers. This wasn't always the case though, and for those who remember Subaru's cars of the late '80s, the name Subaru once stood for cheap and rather boring boxy machines. Entering the '90s with a lineup consisting of humble AWD cars, Subaru pulled a surprising move and created a truly unique, and relatively high-end sports car.

Not their first attempt at a sports car, and neither would it be their last, the strange machine that was the SVX came about in 1992 as a successor to their earlier wedge-shaped XT. Packing a ton of quirkiness, surprising luxury, and a milestone engine for Subaru, the SVX ended its production run as an abject failure market-wise.

Mostly forgotten today, the SVX is one of the weirdest classic '90s Japanese sports cars, but there was more to it than just strange looks, as several factors made its virtues unappreciated when new.

A Strange New Direction For Subaru

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To understand how weird the SVX was when new, you have to know what Subaru's lineup at the time consisted of. For 1989, Subaru dealers were selling cars like the notorious BRAT, its boxy yawn-inducing normal version of the GL/Leone, and later the improved, but still boring, first-gen Legacy.

Subaru's cars, to be brief, were cheap, scrappy, slow, risk-averse in design (aside from the BRAT), and mountain goat-like in their handling. Seeking to overhaul their image, and introduce new design styles, legendary Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro was brought on to design a new concept for the brand,

Unveiled at the 1989 Tokyo Auto Show, the Alcyone SVX concept looked nothing like what Subaru had been known for up until then, and was a stand-out design overall, thanks to Giugiaro's styling. Continuing the Alcyone nameplate that the XT used, this was a reference to the brightest star in the Pleiades cluster - the star formation that Subaru's logo and name are based around. Regardless of naming, the SVX entered production in 1992 with little change from its Giugiaro penned concept form and was a 6-cylinder, luxury grand touring sports car that was unlike anything the brand had attempted before or since.

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At the time too, Japanese sports cars were beginning to reach their peak, with beasts like the Z32 Nissan 300ZX, A80 Toyota Supra, and FD Mazda RX-7 roaming the streets around the time of its release. While unique, with its own distinctions against other Japanese sports cars, the SVX was by no means able to compete against them when it came to performance.

Great Potential, Sad Compromises

1992 Subaru SVX Engine, the EG33
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There was plenty to love about the SVX, and its performance potential was strong, but sadly was brought down by a few factors. Focusing on the good points first, the SVX, like all other Subarus, was an AWD car, giving it a good predictable grip.

Splitting torque 50/50 in low gear, the SVX was a sports car you could drive in winter or rougher road conditions and would change to a 90/10 front/rear split in normal drive mode. With Subaru's signature engine type of a boxer as well, the center of gravity was low and paired with direct and responsive steering made for nicely smooth and competent handling. Though, with a weight of around 3,500 lbs and a front-wheel drive, front-heavy bias, understeer made the SVX a car you couldn't really toss around.

As mentioned, the SVX used a boxer engine, but this was quite the unique one for Subaru, being the largest they'd made up until that point. A 3.3 L 6-cylinder boxer called the EG33, the SVX on paper had a powerplant similar to the Porsche 911 (and with custom exhaust work can sound very similar to one). Producing 230 hp and 228 lb-ft of torque, the EG33 engine was completely unique to the SVX, and while not a performance monster, it had enough power to make things fun, and was delightfully smooth with a steady power curve giving it grunt at most speeds.

One of the biggest disappointments on the SVX though, was its transmission, as the only option on it was a mediocre 4-speed auto since none of Subaru's manual transmissions at the time could handle the power being made. Giving it a 0-60 mph time of around 7.5 seconds, the SVX was not exactly a fast car.

True Early ‘90s Luxury

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While it lagged behind performance-wise, the SVX did do several things very well, and being a luxury-oriented grand tourer, one of those things was its interior. Designed with a driver-focused style, the SVX's interior is peak early '90s Japanese luxury.

Considering the barebones cars Subaru had been putting out at the time, the SVX was a huge leap forward, with uniquely cool features like an LED climate control readout, and plenty of nice trimmings making it a great place to sit in. The seats were soft and comfy leather ones, suede across the door panel and lower dash, fake wood trim, a leather-wrapped shift knob and parking brake, a flip-down center console door for the sound system, and more all contributed to the SVX's unique yet purposeful interior, but the most distinct point its remembered for are the windows.  

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Designed by Giugiaro, the SVX incorporated a window-in-window design inspired by and seen on exotic cars like the DeLorean DMC-12 and Lamborghini Countach. Only the inner section could roll down, and the divider was constantly visible as you looked out the window. Perhaps not the most practical design, but a very cool one to look at. As well, the SVX has some very good visibility from the inside. Especially good, compared to other '90s Subaru models, the SVX's build quality was incredible and holds up today as a surprisingly solid build and design too.

One thing that dates the SVX to its time though are the seatbelts, being automatic types that ride along the door frame - companies could have chosen between airbags or said seatbelts at the time, yet Subaru chose to include both.

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Pricing: The Final Nail In The Coffin

The SVX was a sports car that wasn't all that sporty, while at the same time, was a grand tourer with some nice luxury and unique, almost exotic designs to it. So what really sealed its fate as an obscure failure?

Only being offered with a 4-speed automatic kept away any real sports car enthusiasts, although the price is what really turned people off from it. Keep in mind, Subaru's 1992 lineup included the Legacy, which already was a big step up over previous Subaru cars and had a base price of $13,849 ($26,145 in today's money), yet the SVX had a base price of $24,445 that year, which today is the equivalent of $46,150 without options.

In 1996 a higher spec SVX cost as much as $36,740, or around $62,024 today. Compare that to the 1992 Nissan 300ZX, which offered far stronger sports car characteristics, and a similarly nice interior at a base price of $29,750 (equivalent to $56,166 today), or a 1996 Mazda RX-7 which had a base price of $28,712 ($48,471 today).

Incredibly expensive for a brand whose image was entirely that of cheap, and not at all sporty cars (rally success would later change that for Subaru), the SVX sold only 24,739 units worldwide during its entire 1992 to 1997 production run. A blend of strange looks, sportiness with no real edge, and luxury from a brand that revolved around cheap cars, the SVX was a good car in its own right but happened to be positioned poorly against its competition.

Today, the SVX is something of a cult classic, being rare and like nothing else out there. Not all that expensive now, an SVX can be found in decent shape for around $7,000, or well kept for upwards of $12,000.

Sources: Hagerty, Automobile Mag, Edmunds

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