Hi All
My first post over here. Looks like a heck of a great forum. Lots of great people, cars and information.
I had loved the SVX since I first saw one at the Subaru dealer on O'Connor in Toronto in the early 90's. Just the most amazing looking car. Just out of university, it might as well have been 40 million dollars. So life goes on and it was just something I didn't think about very much over the years.
Anyhow, a couple of weeks ago, I saw a pristine black one on Yonge St and it started the mind working again. Checked online and found that prices were not very bad at all. Quite cheap actually, considering that they went for close to Corvette money when new. So, I figured that they must have an Alfa Romeo level of reliability. Nope. Wrong again. Actually, from what I have seen, for a car of their age, they are seem very reliable and well built.
Sooo, started looking around locally to see if I could find one. Turns out Scarboro Subaru had one in stock. A green 1997 with 240,000 ish km's. Beautiful condition they said, etc. Asking price was $7995. Got a hold of the dealership and then went over and took a look. After leaving me standing outside, the sales guy brought the car around and I took a look. Body seemed to be in decent shape. Odd green colour. At second glance, I realized the car had been repainted. Not a bad paint job, but obvious enough if you are looking for it. Had been black originally and the owner had left the back spoiler black when he repainted it. The interior was very nice, however. Tan in colour and fully loaded with everything including the sunroof.
Moment of truth came. Could I fit my 6'4" frame into it? Well, it was a little further down than I have been used to lately, but with a little judicious fiddling with the seat, a comfortable driving position was found.
Started it up and it seemed to be running ok, with just a slight miss/rough idle. Everything seemed to work. After taking a copy of my DL, I was let loose on the streets with it. First impression? Nothing seemed to really stick out. Steering smooth. Engine smooth. Shifted nicely. Accelerated well, but not astonishingly so. Almost a little disappointing.
Kept driving. Car was pulling to the left with some enthusiasm. Little bigger gap opened in traffic so I got on it a little. Hmmm. Felt pretty good. Next corner, I goosed it a little and felt the back end working a little too. Nice.
Another good kick on the throttle and the engine seemed to start getting happier. Nice smooth hard pull. Opened the sunroof. Was really starting to enjoy this. Felt like maybe the strut mounts were a little bad too. Felt a little hesitation in the tranny at low speed, when coming on and off the gas.
Overall, I gotta say I really enjoyed the drive. This specific one is not the one for me (I would like well under 200,000 and a 96 or 97), but I can see myself in a SVX in the next few months.
All my way of saying hi!