Few automakers have surprised the world quite like Subaru did at the turn of the 1990s. Known almost exclusively for sensible all-wheel drive wagons and economy cars, the brand suddenly unveiled a swooping, Giugiaro-penned grand tourer with a brand-new flat-six engine — a car so far removed from its lineup that many observers assumed it was a concept that would never reach production. The SVX (Subaru Vehicle X, sold as the Alcyone in Japan) was Subaru’s bold attempt to muscle into the premium GT segment alongside far more established rivals. It arrived with all-wheel drive, a sophisticated new engine, and styling that looked like it had been borrowed from a decade further into the future. The question was whether the buying public would follow Subaru somewhere it had never gone before.
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