[Xodi-SVX]

My story begins on a rather uneventful day in St. Augustine, Florida. I had delivered my cargo in a fifteen passanger van destined to make it's way to Mississippi for the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. All and all, I was feeling pretty good when Phillip, Carl, and I loaded into the biggest materialistic love of my life, the Subaru SVX.

We began to cruise along I-95 North, a quick turn onto I-10 West, and another turn onto I-75 North with very few stops inbetween. I had been trucking along at about 79 miles per hour most of the way in a nice line of traffic heading home after the college ball game, up until I got onto I-285.

This is when the trouble started.

Traffic had slowed down considerably, so I merged all the way into the far right lane and began to drive along peacefully. We had been jamming out to Mindless Self Indulgence for the past hour or so, and my crew and I had gotten rather antsy wanting to get home to crack a few beers in celebration of a nice, easy road trip.

... Too bad that celebration never happened.

Nearing exit 41 to Memorial Drive/Avondale Estates (GA-10), I began to notice something odd. My temperature gauge shot up rather unexpectedly, so I decided it was probably a good time to take exit 41. Just as I neared it, I began to notice smoke coming out from under the hood. I missed my exit and pulled off of the road, and as I did so, green fluid shot up on my windshield. Finagling my way around the other three recently broken down cars (Must be a bad exit or something, you Georgia boys should know what I'm talking about, it isn't the best area either), I parked and turned the car off. I hadn't noticed any amiss engine noises, which was a good thing. I popped the hood, and underneath I saw a huge crack on the top of my radiator, the entire thing had burst.

No bueno, my friends, definitely not good.

The tow truck arrived three minutes exactly after I had placed my call. He had been traveling in my direction to pick someone else up, but since I was much closer, he decided to grab me instead. That and he laughed when he heard what kind of car I drove, he said he had owned one when they first came out, but sold it recently due to gas prices.

He took me to Royal Subaru in Decatur, Georgia, in which I dropped the car off. They replaced the radiator and then called to tell me I had a blown headgasket. This was $600 already into the car, and the blow would cost me an additional $1,100. This also wasn't the only thing they'd have to do, they said, if any other problems were found. To replace the engine, it'd cost about $5,000.

I've only had this car for a short while compared to most of you, and I have loved every minute of being a SVX owner. I've chased and have been chased down by other SVX owners, and although I don't post here often, I've been a regular lurker of the forums. Unfortunately, it is time to lay the black beast to rest. I can't afford to fix her, I can't afford to tow her, and the only thing working on the car was the engine. The body was in bad shape due to people not wanting others to have nice things, the interior had seen better days, the electricial system was fried (By the way, if you read my other thread about electrical trouble, the culprit was the alternator providing too much electricity, thus boiling the battery and providing direct AC power into the electrical system, thus shorting just about everything), and all and all, the car was essentially dying. My SVX had cancer, and lost the fight. She fought hard, made it to 198,551 miles, and honestly, had given me the best driving experience of my life.

The car is now in a junkyard, so I'm told. They did, however, take the radiator out and sent it back to whomever they got it from. I don't know how they did that, but all they charged me was the labor and shipping to return it. I guess they saw how disheartened I was and actually cared -- Or a few of the mechanics and people high on the chain of command know what a SVX is.

I'm pretty down over this, but then again, it isn't like I'd be able to drive the car much anymore. With the stinging gas prices, and my current choice of employment (I'll be shipping out to Lackland AFB in Texas in Janurary), driving isn't something I'll be doing in a while. All and all, though, I doubt I'll ever be able to find a car that'll replace my 92 SVX.. Heck, I'll never be able to drive a sports car without AWD again. She spoiled me, but instead of looking at my loss in sadness, I remember all the good times I've had in and with the car, and how many conversations I've had with people about it. I'll miss people asking me "Whoa, where'd you get those windows from? How much did that mod cost?!" I'll miss the gas station attendants telling me that "You in the black honda at pump twelve, you're ready to fill!"

But you know what I'll miss the most about the SVX?

... POWER!