This article appeared on June 20, 2007, in The New Mexican.
I wanted something different in a car, the way Santa Fe is different as a city. I got it in the SVX, Subaru’s attempt to shift out of stodgy and into something sporty.
The SVX? It’s that sleek car with the spoiler and those weird half-windows that really do roll down, all of it sculpted by world-renowned Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro. The SVX is rare and getting harder to find, though its value hasn’t skyrocketed because of it. But SVX owners don’t buy the car with the busy cockpit to make money.
Turn the key two clicks, and a band of red, green and orange lights winks along the width of the dash below the tach and speedometer, which sweeps ambitiously around to 160 mph.
Turn it all the way, and the 3.3-liter, 24-valve six-cylinder boxer engine bursts into life, the twin exhausts thrumming, spewing power with the intensity of a BMW. A BMW it is not; the SVX handles more softly, especially in the turns. But the SVX’s 230 horsepower at 5,400 rpm can move its 3,580 pounds from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 7.3 seconds, fast enough to bring on a smile. This being a Subaru, that power is sent through all four wheels.
Posted by Richard 