Our Daydreaming Designer Morphs Subaru’s Coolest Failure (The SVX) Into Something That Would Have Actually Sold

Imagine if Panda Express decided to offer a hamburger. As it would turn out, the burger was rather delectable; grilled just right on a new system the restaurants installed. The sauce was very different but also delicious, with a big hint of peanut that few others had tried (yes, Purdue alumni, I have tried a Duane Purvis Peanut Butter Burger at the Triple XXX Family Restaurant on my way to Indianapolis). Of course, as good as this burger was, it failed miserably in this imaginary reality market. Are you surprised? Who goes to Panda Express for a hamburger? Also, regardless of how it tastes, just the idea of anything peanut on a meat paddy is too much for many people.

The 1992 Subaru SVX is a product similar to the one in the scenario described above. Here was a slick looking Italian-designed grand touring coupe with bizarre love-it-or-hate-it Lamborghini styled windows — and it was available for purchase at a dealership known for selling flat-four powered economy cars equipped with simple four wheel drive systems to people who had entire wardrobes from the L.L. Bean catalog.

The situation was worsened by the fact that the SVX cost significantly more than the next most expensive car on the Soobie lot; remember also that this was the age of the Japanese sports coupe where great options were plentiful from every brand. Despite being marketed as a sporting car, there was no option for a manual transmission. Here was a hard-to-define product which, no matter how you described it, and it didn’t fit the definition of anything a person would darken the door of a Subaru store for. The dismal sales of 5,200 units the first year dropped steadily to an embarrassing 600 for the final 1997 model year.

Of course, these factors mean that the SVX is about as Autopian as a car can get. A flat six up front and all wheel drive? A funky Giorgetto Guigiaro design from a period where many of his production cars were pretty damn dull? The radio inexplicably hidden behind a door? No wonder we love it, and no surprise that it didn’t sell. As much as I’m enamored with this car, I’ll admit that it didn’t really seem to make sense, and honestly Subaru should have been putting efforts towards a market it could actually compete in.

There’s a lot of argument as to what the first “crossover” built was. Admittedly the AMC Eagle of 1980 was the first to offer a real all-wheel-drive system, but arguably the late seventies Subaru wagons with four wheel drive seem to be the pioneers. Regardless, Subaru kicked off the new generation of the crossover breed in 1994 with the “Outback” series of Subaru Legacy models featuring raised suspensions and cosmetic modifications to make them appear more off-road-ready.

The Outback was a smash hit. After spending the early nineties trying to make boring Camry-competitors, Subaru finally got its groove back by effectively creating this new genre. However, when it came to larger, taller, and more truck-leaning crossover SUVs, Subaru struggled. The oddly-named and odd-looking B9 Tribeca was the brand’s poorly received first entry, and despite making less controversial entries in the coming years Subaru remains just-another-player today with the boring-as-a-filibuster Ascent.

Let’s turn back the clock. What if the SVX had never existed? Instead of making an ill-fated sporty car, Subaru could have complemented the Outback car-style crossovers by pioneering something bigger. We’d still have the SVX’s edgy styling and spirit, but used instead on a vehicle that couldn’t have hit Subaru’s target market and base better if it had a laser scope mounted to the roof.

Here’s a side view of the original GT car and what we might have it morph into:

Presenting the SRV (for Sport Recreational Vehicle, not the late, great blues guitarist); a Mercedes ML/BMW X5/Lexus RX years before those firms had a chance to hog the spotlight.

Based on a Legacy platform, it would be launched with the flat six motor (possibly lower lever four cylinder models could be available later) and all-wheel-drive. Because of the taller nose over the engine, we would absolutely put the space saver spare under the hood. We’ve kept the funky split windows, but with the larger glass in might not be as disturbing as on the SVX.

In back, a hatchback opens on to a reasonable sized cargo area, though only two rows of seats are available. This egg-shaped thing would likely raise some eyebrows, until you told them it was a Subaru off-roader-for-the-street. Just the word ‘Subaru’ would likely get them to nod, knowing that it came from a brand that once sold a four seater car with two of those seats outside of the car (the BRAT) or a wagon with the back roof cut off (the Baja) — see those below:

Speaking of Subarus with seats outside, the SRV doesn’t offer the Chicken Tax seats of the old BRAT, but there would have been a spiritual successor to that fun machine. The SRV Brumby would have used the name that was placed on Australian market BRATs (anything Aussie was uber cool in American in the early nineties- even Yahoo Serious had a career here and Mel Gibson hadn’t opened his mouth yet). The new Brumby thing would have had a few tricks up its sleeve for the flannel-shirt-under-puffer-vest crowd.

In the area were the normal SRV has a wagon-like hatchback cargo area, the Brumby has a tiny pickup-style bed with a tailgate. A standard ‘trunk lid’ makes this space weatherproof, but if you remove it you now have a mini pickup. This bed can be expanded by folding down the tailgate and adding a cargo fence around the perimeter of the open gate.

There’s a tough looking roof rack that can hold different adapters for product carriers, but the real trick is the Brumgalo tent system.

The Brumgalo (play on bungalow) is a tent system that takes advantage of the Brumby’s design to create a perfect space for two to camp. There’s sleeping space for two on the roof with an extension to increase the roof length so your legs aren’t hanging down. A full-height tent space is at the back of the car, but the cargo area/bed features a removable box containing a sink and cooktop (plus possibly a 12 volt fridge). Now you’ve got a real living space with the Brumgalo.

While I think few people might have used the Aztek-with-tent as a camping machine, I can guarantee that owners of Soobie do. You MUST know a person with a CrossTrek or Outback that actually does Instagrammable outdoor adventures on a regular basis (even if it isn’t on their dopey “Badge of Ownership” thing stuck on the tailgate):

Look, as with most designers, in my job I’m rarely designing for myself. I might occasionally cringe at the choices customers make, but I need to pay the power bill.  With most of the cars that I ‘modify’ on this site, I’m quite fond of the design of the original vehicles and wouldn’t have changed a thing but acknowledge that they missed the mark with the buying public. The SVX is certainly one of those cars. However, this is one car where the design could be kept almost the same but be a better seller on a different type of vehicle. Subaru would have been the perfect brand to release an early “tall” crossover, likely unaware that this category would take over the world thirty years later.