Posted Tuesday, September 9, 2025 at 10:03pm
A forgotten hero, the Subaru SVX has an impeccable origin story: dreams of conquering the USA, aircraft-inspired styling like no other car before or since – and a fatal flaw that put it out of contention. That said, Subaru had form for pushing boundaries, as Jason Cammisa’s video on the XT Turbo explained.
Released in 1991 in the US and Japan, then stuffed awkwardly the following year into UK showrooms the “Subaru Vehicle X”, (the “Alcyone” prefix was dropped outside Japan), was keenly priced at £27,999 (£64,400 today).
More importantly, it offered everything US GT buyers wanted: dramatic Giugiaro concept car styling with a torquey, naturally-aspirated 3.3-litre flat-six, an automatic gearbox, and full-time four-wheel drive. Subaru had long coveted a greater market share across the pond – and the SVX looked like it could forge new markets there as an alternative to the Ford Thunderbird or Jaguar XJS.
