Turbo SVX?
These two photos from the Road and Track Guide were for many months, the bane of SVX owners as debate raged furiously about the existance of the turbo SVX. Although a lot of cars in Japan have turbocharged engines as an option, the lack of any data on a turbo SVX engine is perhaps the most conclusive prove of the lack of a forced induction SVX.
Rumour has it that it was tried but abandoned due to the problems that the transmission had in coping with the existing power.
Also from the November 1991 issue of Car Styling, these two shots depict the '4WD Turbo' liveried SVX from the R&T Guide but, when compared to the earlier 4WD Turbo concepts below, this is much closer to the production
SVX, featuring the integrated headlight assemblt although this is sans spoiler. The retractable headlight concept below, also styled as a 4WD Turbo, are featured both with and without a rear spoiler.
In any event, the additional photo's below show an earlier styling exercise of the SVX, complete with '4WD Turbo' livery just below the C-pillar. These photos were obtained from the November 1991 issue of
Car Styling.
As can be seen, this earlier concept features not only the 4WD Turbo livery but also the retractable headlight assemblies. These were abandoned on the basis that when operational, such as in northern European countries with mandatory headlights at all time, the aerodynamic and visual aspects of the SVX would be unduly compromised.
This concept also shows the early theme of "lens to lens" were the front and rear of the car were sought to be balanced. This was done through mirroring the wrap-around rear light lens with the front indicators which were also of a wrap-around design. Of these two design elements, only the rear wrap-around lights made it to final production.