(first posted 4/18/2017) Custard apples are a delicious fruit with an intriguing, creamy texture. They were an occasional treat during my childhood in the 1990s but, especially in recent years, they’re rarely found in produce stores and supermarkets. So, I was surprised and delighted to find them the other day at the local markets and I promptly bought 4 pounds’ worth. As I was leaving, I found another sweet treat from my early years, something even rarer than a custard apple: a Subaru SVX, the only one I’ve ever seen in the metal. To quote a certain Ice Cube song, also from the same era, “I got to say, it was a good day.”
Custard apples – related to the sugar apple and cherimoya – are rare because a lot of people don’t know what they are and they don’t seem to be commercially viable for farmers to grow and sell. When they do reach produce store shelves, they tend to be a lot more expensive than a more humdrum banana or apple. Consequently, they’re overlooked except by those in the know. And even those people might balk at the pricetag.
It was a similar story for the Subaru SVX. While Subaru had offered the outlandishly wedgy XT coupe for several years, the SVX was a big step upmarket. At $26k in the US, it was priced $10k higher than a base Legacy and cost around $8k more than the old XT6. At the SVX’s launch in 1992, Subaru was still selling the dated Loyale and titchy Justy. It was a shock to see a luxurious grand touring coupe in Subaru showrooms and even more of a shock to see the pricetag attached to it. (In Australia, it was almost double the price of the top-line turbo Legacy)
Like a puzzled shopper picking up the exotic, unfamiliar custard apple in the produce section, the SVX’s appearance elicited surprise and confusion. It wasn’t immediately clear this was a Subaru. Can you see any Legacy DNA in those lines? No other Subaru had those trick windows, the glass wrapping around the outside of the roof pillars. Remarkably, the SVX looked little different from Subaru’s concept SVX from the 1989 Tokyo Auto Show. The slippery lines gave the SVX a drag coefficient of just 0.29, which helped keep fuel economy at a competitive 17/25 mpg.
The SVX concept had featured active suspension, four-wheel-steering, traction control, and all-wheel-drive. The production model would only retain the latter two features, although the concept’s engine did make it to production. An all-new, 3.3 flat six sat underneath the low hood, producing 230 hp at 5400 rpm and 224 ft-lbs at 4400 rpm and reaching 60 mph in 7.3 seconds. This engine wasn’t a carryover from the XT6 and was instead derived from the JDM Legacy’s EJ22 twin-cam flat-four, internally referred to as the EJ33 and marketed as the H6 (‘h’ for horizontally-opposed).
Unsurprisingly, the flat-six was smooth and responsive and boasted a terrific soundtrack, as Subaru engines are wont to do. Power was routed through a four-speed automatic as Subaru didn’t have a manual transmission that could handle the torque. That was disappointing but the auto was responsive and had a hold option on each gear – toggled by a button on the side of the shifter – for greater control. Unfortunately, the transmission proved to be one of the SVX’s weak spots as it had a habit of overheating.
The SVX had a 60/40 weight distribution front/rear, but Subaru’s AWD system shifted power when needed and was tuned to deliver more aggressive handling than in other Subarus. The suspension set-up was rather conventional: all-independent with MacPherson struts all round, separate subframes and anti-roll bars front and rear, and a viscous limited slip differential at the back. Anti-lock brakes were standard.
All early SVXs had a black roof that blended in with those dramatic windows, somewhat resembling an entirely glass roof. The cabin was pleasantly airy with good visibility. The only annoyance to some drivers may have been the rubber strips of the windows appearing in their sightlines. The windows only opened below those strips, resulting in a rather limited aperture and a potential inconvenience at the drive-thru or the pre-EZ Pass toll booths of the 1990s.
The cabin had a very driver-oriented dashboard, the center stack angled towards the driver. The stereo system was hidden behind a panel of rather unfortunate plastic wood. A faux suede material known as Ecsaine was used on the dashboard, wrapping around onto the door panels. The two rear buckets folded down in one piece to allow access from the cabin to the trunk. A $3000 touring package added leather seats, steering wheel and shifter, an 8-way power driver’s seat, premium stereo with CD player and a power moonroof. The package also included electronic, speed-variable power steering.
Some critics noted the flat-six was a little weak at the low-end, although the car would subsequently come alive with a healthy surge of power. But the SVX was a heavy car at 3580 pounds and, although it handled capably and with only mild understeer and little body roll, it felt more like a luxury grand tourer. The suspension soaked up large bumps well and the flat six relished highway driving. Critics were unanimous in their praise of the SVX’s dynamics. Road & Track said the SVX had “the wonderfully flat ride of a skilfully buttoned-down sports car… For a car with such disciplined roll, dive, and squat control, the ride is surprisingly comfortable.” Wheels even said, “Lexus aside, this luxury coupe boasts arguably the finest ride/handling balance of any Japanese car this country has seen.” Speaking of Lexus, another review said the flat six rivalled the Lexus LS400’s 4.0 V8 for smoothness.
When spy photographers scooped the SVX undergoing testing in 1991, they noted it appeared to be undergoing evaluation against the Ford Thunderbird and Acura Legend coupe. That curious assembly of vehicles highlights the SVX’s odd positioning as it had no direct rivals. The all-wheel-drive variants of the Mitsubishi 3000GT and Dodge Stealth were a good $5k more expensive, as was the more sport-focussed Nissan 300ZX. And neither the Thunderbird nor the Legend offered four-wheel-drive, while smaller Japanese coupes like the Mitsubishi Eclipse lacked the comfort of the SVX.
Although it offered a very different package to its nominal rivals, the SVX was still another coupe in a very saturated market. To make matters worse for Subaru, the SVX arrived during a recession and just as the Japanese bubble economy was bursting. The rising Yen was also forcing up Japanese car prices, further hampering any chances of success for the SVX.
Although Subaru kept the SVX in one highly-specified trim in Australia, an acknowledgement of its niche appeal here, they sought greater fortune in the US. Or, rather, they sought to charge a smaller fortune. MY1993 production had been delayed due to an over-supply of SVXs. For MY1994, Subaru introduced cheaper, front-wheel-drive variants—the AWD model was badged LSi while the new entry-level variants were L and LS.
Still well-equipped, these new trim levels didn’t offer leather trim, woodgrain trim, or a moonroof. The L also lacked anti-lock brakes and the new passenger airbag of the other trim levels. However, unlike base models of other coupes like the Eagle Talon DL, the cheapest SVXs looked no different from their pricier counterparts. And from 1994, all SVXs came with a body-color roof except for those painted white, which kept the black roof.
Although the new, entry-level models lacked the all-weather capability of the top-line SVX, they were around 200 pounds lighter and felt nimbler. The base SVX also cost a whopping $10k less than the fully-loaded edition.
The SVX was badged Alcyone in Japan, after the brightest star in the Pleiades cluster depicted in Subaru’s logo. Unfortunately, the SVX’s star was dimming. In its debut year, just over 5000 SVXs were sold in the US. That was disappointing for Subaru, who had projected 10,000 annual sales. Sales then dropped to 3,859 in 1993. The arrival of cheaper trim levels should have helped but the downward slide continued, 1,666 SVXs leaving Subaru showrooms in 1994. Subaru axed the FWD models from North America after just two years as they couldn’t salvage SVX sales. By 1997, sales were down to a dismal 640 units; that year, the SVX was priced from $31-37k in the US.
In total, 24,379 SVXs were sold worldwide from 1992 to 1997. Of that number, 14,257 were sold in the US, 2,478 in Europe, around 5,880 in Japan and just 249 in Australia. Subaru was losing money on the car and so ended production in December 1996.
Subaru debuted a concept car in 1991 called the Amadeus, a sport wagon based off of the SVX. While attractive and no doubt appealing to Subaru accountants as a way to amortize development costs, the Amadeus probably would have had niche appeal at its hypothetical price point.
The SVX was like a custard apple among plain banana Legacies and Loyales. Unfortunately, shoppers weren’t as enthusiastic about exotic fruits during and after the recession and, if they were, there were plenty of exciting rambutans and dragonfruits like the RX-7 and 300ZX to try. However, those that tasted the sweet SVX would have been very satisfied.
Related Reading:
Curbside Classic: Subaru XT6 – Outcast in the Speciality Coupe Group
Curbside Classic: Subaru XT – Forward To The Future In 1985
Curbside Classics: 1991-99 Mitsubishi 3000GT and 1991-96 Dodge Stealth – The King of Diamonds
Curbside Classic: 1993 300ZX Convertible – Out Of Touch, Out Of Time
I can’t help but feel a pang of sadness whenever I see one of these cars. I wish they’d been more popular, and I wish I could justify owning one. I adored them as a kid, when they were first released. I remember reading the glowing reviews at the time, and taking a special trip with my Dad to check it out at the local dealer. It was beautiful, futuristic, luxurious and exotic, and oddly not that out of place amongst the Legacies. I guess Subaru buyers weren’t quite ready to give up the utility of a 4wd wagon for an upmarket GT just yet, and the death of the affordable sports car was just around the corner. A car out of its time perhaps. It does make me wonder how well an updated version using the GT86 platform and the EZ30 (not EZ36) engine would do. Would have to be RWD of course though.
While not much of a fan of the SVX, I rather like the Amadeus sport wagon; the roofline seems to blend in better with the oddball windows than the coupe. It’s a shame it didn’t make it into production and, considering how much Subaru loyalists fancy station wagons, might have been a good seller.
In Hong Kong, at least, they are called Custard Fruit. Try a Chinese provision store for further purchases. They are very popular and people are want to steal them if they see some hanging in private orchards and no owners in sight. Now, back to the cars…..
A superb, informative, well-written piece – and I loved the metaphor. I immediately had to look up “custard apple” on the internet to learn more.
About the SVX, I was in high school when these made their debut, and I remember thinking:
* It’s styling was jaw-droppingly cool (especially for a Subaru);
* This was the first time I took notice that Subaru no longer seemed like an also-ran among Japanese import makes; and
* Those windows would be any clausterphobe’s worst nightmare.
I guess I hadn’t realized Subaru had sold so few of these, because while not a common sight, I remember seeing quite a few around.
Individualistic and innovative.
I worked at a Ford-Subaru dealership starting in ’95. They had two SVX’s, one red, one green. Couldn’t sell them. They stuck around for a couple years. Probably too exotic looking for a rural town that bought all the F-250’s and Explorers they could get their hands on. One of the salesmen finally bought the red one. That was probably the last time I remember seeing one on the road.
I’m like Joe Dennis – 1) I knew these didn’t sell well, but I did not remember how truly poorly they were received and 2) I had no idea what a Custard Apple is.
I didn’t know what to make of these when they came out. By that point I had moved out of the sporty coupe phase of life, so these were kind of an abstraction to me. Now, although there are a handful of cars from that era I might like to own, this doesn’t make the cut.
Someday when custard apples are available everywhere, William Stopford might well be viewed in a historical sense as the Johnnie Appleseed of custard apples. They’re on my list of things to try thanks to you.
I saw one on Saturday, in the somewhat ubiquitous emerald green of the era! They aren’t too uncommon around here and were a semi regular sight in CA. For some reason It always delights me when you, William, see something you’ve never seen before that I remember well or am relatovely used to seeing (I mean that in a good way so don’t take it wrong!)
Definitely one of the most boldly and interestingly styled cars of the time, I find these immensely attractive and think they have held up well. It’s too bad they were plagued with early trans issues, that’s been a common complaint for a long time now.
I’d love to Rock Me (some) Amadeus, I haven’t seen that particular concept before, it makes an interesting shape even more so.
I can beat that — I saw three SVXs on Saturday! Well, I’m cheating somewhat, because they were in front of a Subaru repair shop in West Virginia… but still, seeing three of these cars together certainly caught my eye.
The one presenting itself earlier today was an in-motion SVX in Springfield, MO. Springfield is full of automotive treasures, perhaps the Eugene of the Midwest.
I just saw a very clean Silver one this morning. Gray leather interior. Judging from its older plates, I assume it may be a one owner. The Leather on the drivers seat looked original and very good. One of the more distinctive cars of it’s time. I like the SVX a lot more now, than I did then.
I’m pretty sure they are a Guigiaro design.
We had a new one in 93, a 1st year 92 leftover then a used 97, the last year. That was totaled thanks to a douche in a Pathfinder who lost his path. We also bought a bad tranny(they all were) white 92 for a while but let it go.
I’m sure this was a superb ride so long as the trans didn’t overheat.
But I could never get around the greenhouse. Still can’t. Between that and my taste in wagons, I’d liked to have seen the Amadeus make production. Blends the roll-down portion of the windows much better.
Agreed about the greenhouse. The window in window thing was a huge turnoff, and it would be interesting to see what problems advanced age has brought to them.
I believe the back window section does roll down, a bizarre expense that had to go virtually unused by owners. But, if you were to delete the appearance of the rear operating windows, the greenhouse would probably look more awkward.
The wagon concept is cool, and eliminates the coupe’s awful rear end styling.
There appear to be four power window switches on the driver door. Too bad it wasn’t a real hardtop coupe!
Tasty! In more ways than one.
Subaru was definitely reaching a bit far with this. I suppose if there had been a six-cylinder large sedan too on this platform, they might have been able to spread costs a bit better.
There’s still a couple of these in town here. I keep wondering for how much longer.
The weird windows on the Subaru were the factor in many “No” decisions. I don’t know if the decontenting of the USA models hurt, by positioning them toward the economy/sports market. At the time Subaru had virtually zero market presence in this class, expensive or economy.
As for custard apples, they need a warm, frost-free climate and well-draining soil. The seeds can be readily purchased. My soil is ill-draining clay and we get frost in winter, with usually one ot two freezes. Otherwise I’d try, our summer days are warm, though nights are cool. Maybe as a large container plant that could be brought under cover on our deck in winter? I’d say Paul in Eugene wouldn’t be successful, though.
With America’s drive thru window addiction, those weird Subaru windows were doomed from the start.
I owned a 1996 model when it was about 5 yrs old. It’s hard to overstate how excellent these cars were: stylish, capable, fast, quiet, solid, sharp, huge & comfy seats…. To my mind, the only competition was a Lexus SC300, which had nicer trim. But I would much rather have an SVX.
It had quirks. The a/c system failed, and getting a replacement part from Japan took about a month. In July. And those windows, which I mostly loved, didn’t have much airflow. (The sight lines were never a problem, and I loved how they allowed the glass to curve up into the doors, and I could open the windows without creating a tornado in the cabin.)
The fake wood trim is among the worst I’ve ever seen. A minor nit.
Never had any transmission issues.
I traded it in to put my wife in a used Audi A8. We had just been involved in a car crash, and I wanted her to be in the biggest, safest thing we could afford. (Turns out we couldn’t afford it once the warranty expired! But that’s another story…)
I’ve owned about two dozen cars, and it’s the only one I wish I had kept. If my life still involved long highway trips, I would ferret out a perfect SVX and use it daily.
Audis in general have the reputation of eating one out of house and home once the warranty is up. The saying I’ve seen is “Buy Japanese, lease German.”
First time CC effect on me, I seen one of these in the hometown (Hamilton, Ont) on Easter weekend and wondered if CC had ever done an article on SVX’s. I still think they are pretty cool from when Subaru’s were a little different.
During one of my evening errand runs when these came out, I stopped at a nearby Subaru dealer and an SVX was on display in the showroom.
Of course I went in and checked it out.
The window-within-a-window was strange, and had to be rather expensive to accurately assemble. I thought the concept made little practical and economic sense, as the actual open area was much smaller than a comparable car.
Points for the rear glass opening, but no sale. Give me an Acura Legend coupe instead!
If I were to compile a list of my favorite cars from the 1990s, the SVX would be in the Top 10. Being a fan of large coupes, the SVX has everything I like — distinctive styling, powerful engine, etc. Even with some of the downsides (those odd windows & lack of a manual transmission), I still would have bought one if I could have.
My aunt actually did buy one, to replace an Isuzu Impulse. It was a good car for her for about 7-8 years, but then began needing more repairs than what she wanted to deal with (oh, and it seemed like every repair on that car was expensive and time consuming). But overall, it was a great car for her.
The vice-principal at the middle school my mom worked at bought one of these brand new when they came out. She had the very first one delivered to the California central valley. My mom came home one day saying that Ms. Reynolds had ordered herself a new Japanese “sports car”. She said it was brand new, but couldn’t think of the name of it. I pointed out every Japanese sports car I knew on the road, but she kept saying “Nope, that’s not it.” I actually had no clue that the SVX was going to be produced, so when it finally arrived and I saw it… I was gobsmacked. Like nothing I had ever seen before. She got the SVX because she lived in the mountains and routinely had to deal with snow in the winter time, and wanted the AWD. She loved that car.
Looks like a Durian to me, I’ll take the SVX, not the apple.
I wonder how one of these would look with the fixed portion of the side windows dark tinted and the roll-down sections left clear (or maybe lighter tinted).
One day I’m going to get one of these. I’ve always wanted one.
And then I’m going to remedy the transmission issue in the best way possible: I’m going to put a 6-speed from a STI in it. Expensive? Yes. Silly? Sure. But I want one, and by God, I will have what I want.
I can dream.
I read an article about these a while back – here? As you might expect they are a car with a fan club and as I remember solutions for various typical issues have been worked out. I think they should have been hatchbacks to round out the futurist thing and make them Subaru-practical.
Anyway I looked at one at the dealer back in the day, just window shopping. The window in window thing wouldn’t have bothered me. I rarely open that window anyway. But anyway didn’t have the bucks plus no hatch.
I’ve owned 4 of these in the UK including a Japanese import with an Alcyone badge.
K936 ###, M979 ###, L794 ###, P3 ###.
Miss them all. Always a head turner; a joy to drive. Would reach 138 miles per hour effortlessly…..
and the petrol consumption for a 6 cylinder all wheel drive wasn’t too bad either.
The ex-wife got rid of my pride and joy, a pristine 1997 specimen with everything working as it should and a sought after VRN.
Ive always liked the styling of these, but had a couple friends who owned them and told horror stories about reliability issues.
The CC Effect strikes again… I mentioned earlier I haven’t seen one since the ’90’s, and one turns in from of me in traffic yesterday. A black one and in decent shape. Gotta say its looks have aged pretty well. I thought they were slightly too chunky looking back then. Looked good in traffic compared to the hugely thick looking cars we have now.
Perhaps I shouldn’t admit, but I’ve always had a mild hankering for these, and then yu remember the pricing… thanks William
In profile, this reminded me of an Eagle Talon.
I cannot say that I have ever witnessed one of these in person.
Which didn’t do it any favors given the disparity in price.
I parked next to one for many years – until just this year. A rare beast that, in this case, didn’t age well. Quite ratty.
I know Giugiaro styled the two cars for different companies – but I always felt that the four door counterpart to the SVX was the 1993 Lexus GS. Like a brother born to another mother, they both show more family resemblence to each other than any other vehicle in their respective lineups.
When I owned a H6 Outback for a while, I became aware that these existed. I love many things about it. The courage of bringing out a car that looked markedly different, with a new engine made me appreciate Subaru even more. Road test reports that mentioned it was unexpectedly comfortable made me want one.
But even though second hand examples were not that expensive, I could not come up with a valid reason for buying one. A pity, they have much disappeared now from the second hand car advertisements so I do not think I will ever get to know one.
Saw one at a Japanese specialist a couple of years back.
Still looks like an Italdesign show car.