Friday 1st May 2009

SOTW: Subaru SVX

Shed finds a concept car lookalike for £1000

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It’s not often that the fictional Shed budget manages to stretch to something as exotic as a concept car, this is in fact a first, but the Subaru SVX is a genuine piece of automotive fancy.

Designed by famous Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro, the SVX was most noted for its strange window-within-a-window design. The unusual decision to have miniature windows inside the window frame was taken to aid aerodynamics, improve visibility and provide a show-car feel to Subaru’s new premium executive model.

Few people would have thought that the dual-window design would have made it to production, but sure enough, the SVX (windows and all) found its way to the showrooms just under two years after its Tokyo motor show debut.

It went on sale with only one engine choice, a 3.3-litre six cylinder boxer unit that produced 230bhp and 228lb ft of torque. Built for comfort and refinement, the SVX still managed a decent turn of pace and could crack 60mph in 7.3sec and (if you believe what you read) would eventually top out at a claimed 182mph, although this was later limited to 154mph on the early cars.

Around 25,000 SVXs were produced during its five year lifespan, over half of which were exported to the United States. Only 2,478 officially made it to Europe, a large proportion of which ended up in Germany, which is why this SVX is such an unusual find.

Early cars were plagued by transmission failures as the automatic gearbox was prone to overheating, a problem that was later rectified. Other known problems include the excessive wear of rear wheel bearings due to insufficient lubrication and water seepage.

Apart from the non standard alloy wheels, this SVX looks in pretty good shape and has even had new brake pads at all corners. It comes complete with a service history and, according to the advert only needs the air conditioning re-gassing. Not even the seller’s ‘txt spk’ can put us off, well not much anyway.

PistonHeads advert reads: Subaru SVX

(1992) 88k, burgundy n black, 18" konig alloys with good tyres, new cambelt kit, pads all round, service history, 3.3 ltr automatic, cruise, heated front seats, full leather, good condition 4 year, electric windows x 4, tested till end of november. bad points . aircon needs regassin, if it sells 4 askin price will tax 4 6 months. Buxton Derbyshire. £1000.

 

[MG511]

I've always really liked these, though the wheels on that one spoil it. Would be a risky buy at that price.

[boolay]

182mph! It must have been aerodynamic!

[H22K]

there used to be one of these in Grantham in Lincs that always took my fancy, especially as I worked for subaru at the time (ripe old age of 16!).

I generally hate it when people pick holes in the copy etc, but I do have to querey...182mph?

[TurboMills]

182 MPH seems a bit optimistic to me, nice sotw though

[funkytinbox]

3p........Purple, Pricy when it breaks and Pig ugly. That may explain the price, (nice wheels though)

[Tracked_Out]

182mph seems a bit unrealistic - rather than just believe the Wikipedia page, there are some detailed stats here:

http://www.cars101.com/subaru_svx.html

SVX performance specs
1992 LS AWD: 0-60 7.1, 1/4 mile 15.2, Top Speed 154, Braking 70-0 169, dBA 73
1992 LSL AWD: 0-60 6.9, 1/4 mile 15.1, Top Speed 155, Braking 70-0 170, dBA 73
1994 LS Front wheel drive: 0-60 7.1, 1/4 mile 15.3, Top Speed 136, Braking 70-0 189, dBA 71
1994 - 1996 AWD models: 0-60 7.6, 1/4 mile 15.9, Top Speed 136, Braking 70-0 174, dBA 71
ALL 1997'S 0-60 7.4, 1/4 mile 15.5, Top Speed 136, Braking 70-0 171, dBA 70

Car and Driver magazine September, 1991 issue, 1992 SVX LS-L test results
Standing 1/4 mile 15.7 seconds @ 91 mph
0-60mph: 7.8 seconds, top speed 140 mph

These are for the US model, which may have been limited by emissions regs and poor fuel.

I'm sure there are plenty more stats online...

[topless_mx5]

That looks like an interesting SOTW. Anyone know if they did a manual version?

[swisschris]

Is that a tow rope behind the drivers seat?

Edited by swisschris on Friday 1st May 08:47

[Fetchez la vache]

They looked fantastic at the time, and not that bad now either. I have a huge soft spot for these, but 182mph? Vert much doubt that unless dropped from a c130 from a great height... and then I very much doubt it.

Good spot with the tow rope

[varsas]

Is the advert some sort of competition entry? How many times can you get the number '4' in a car advert....

Also 182mph? I'd be very impressed if it could do 150.

[mas99]

I had one of these for 3 years.

Really excellent GT. Its effortless ability to cover ground cross country was what sold it to me. The auto box failures were the issue. I had one complete failure and it was I suspect on the way out when I traded it in.

Parts could be an issue, because despite what you might think for such a low volume vehicle there didnt seem to be much part sharing with the legacy etc.

Some people have done manual conversions but it looks like a lot of work - so probably only worth it if you can diy.

Ability in poor weather was excellent.

Great handling as well, 4 wheel drifts etc. I never went over 140, but 180 sounds optimistic. It is a very heavy car with only 240bhp or so.

I traded it against a run around for my gf and then bought a 964.

tow rope? I once towed a bogged down transit out of a field using mine. Had a knock on the door and some girl ina hired van had tried to turn around in a field and got very stuck. I said 'no problem, I've got a 4x4' She looked very sceptical when I got the car out but it did the job.

Edited by mas99 on Friday 1st May 09:06

[Neil_H]

182mph with 230bhp? A mishtake Shirley?

[Whiters]

topless_mx5 said:

That looks like an interesting SOTW. Anyone know if they did a manual version?

No manual was ever offered for for the UK market IIRC, but not sure about the rest of Europe. That being the case here, I very much doubt a manual for the US market was an option. So, unless Japan or other eastern markets had one....

[Simond001]

Text speak really doesn't sell cars in the best light.

Lovely motor though, in better condition it would be fantastic. Do these share parts with other cars?

[SVX]

How ironic, a mere two weeks before mine comes back - at that price of course the 4EAT Auto box will be shot to pieces.

I've never VMAX'ed mine, but did see an indicated 1.65 leptons on a *ahem* private test track.

[VerySideways]

Absolute future classic

With 230bhp even with those aerodynamics i would bet money it'd never reach a genuine 160mph, but in all honesty when it looks (and sounds) like it does, who cares?

Edited by VerySideways on Friday 1st May 09:35

[DanBMW]

Neil_H said:

182mph with 230bhp? A mishtake Shirley?

+1 surley with 230 bhp it would take 5 years to reach 182mph.

Yes its an exaduration but u get the idea.

[jamesson]

DanBMW said:

its an exaduration

It's a what?

[SVX]

DanBMW said:

Neil_H said:

182mph with 230bhp? A mishtake Shirley?

+1 surley with 230 bhp it would take 5 years to reach 182mph.

Yes its an exaduration but u get the idea.

From 120 to 140 with the taps fully open wasn't too bad but it did crawl to an indicated 165, I reckon there was more to come but I ran out of "test track" and nerve.

[Dagnut]

I wonder how many post we can get with "182mph no way" in it