not to over fetishize the little SVX, but damn - for a twenty two year old car that wasn’t much more than a new Lexus’ tax, it did a fine job of keeping us comfortable. capably dealing with whatever crappy weather and varied terrain hand it was dealt.
purchased four months ago, during the saddest of times, it’s nice to realize the sun back in my life hasn’t illuminated any glaring flaws on the sporty Suby.
she got a little asthmatic at higher altitudes, being sans turbo and all... and we had to feed her a tankful of 86 octane gas/water at one particularly Podunk station. but mostly she cruised at 80-90 without complaint... even hitting a buck twenty on one epic Nevada straightaway... with more pedal left than I had balls.
most of these Nickelback era Subaru flat sixes have been transplanted in Volkswagen Vanagons of all things. turns out the engine is more powerful and reliable than the Wolfsburg four banger. and where there’s a demand the supply follows, in the form of adapter kits and aftermarket companies specializing in the swap.
during one particularly amusing gas stop, a leathery old dude driving one such van spied my SVX, did a quick double take, proceeding to ask if I wanted to sell the car moments after I preemptively told him he’d not be taking my engine today - turns out he did have said engine already installed and wanted a spare.
so yeah, the SVX is probably the weirdest cool I could’ve found for that amount of green. eventually something will break and I’ll likely be thrust into the rarified air of obsolete Japanese car parts. until that day I’ll keep flying low in the little spaceship that could.
