Quebec Garage Queen finds a New Home

[Old Davy]

Backstory:
Two weeks agoI went to a workgal's Mom's condo to do Langka chip repairs on her 2003 Cosmic Blue Saab convertible. Drove my SVX. While working her husband Bob was drooling all over the SVX. They are both semi-retired 70 yo. Bob had been looking for a 12 cylinder Jaguar XJ coupe but the maintenance costs and Lucas electrics were giving second thoughts. He's never seen an SVX.

A few days later Bob called to tell me he'd been googling, had seen a lot of junk for sale but what did I think of this white one on Kijiji in Ottawa? The ad pictures got my attention did the open, forthcoming and honest correspondence Bob had initiated with the seller. Further pictures convinced me that we should take the 7 hour drive in Bob's turbo Saab sedan to at least see the car, since I have the free time, too.
Wednesday I took Bob out in mine all afternoon and had him drive it on back roads showing him all the features so he'd know what I was talking about in Ottawa. More than ever he was in love/lust. We arranged to drive to Ottawa on Thursday, because first snow storm was predicted to begin Friday night. Which it did Big Time w 7" starting at 7 pm and all day Saturday.
Inspecting the car in/out/up/down/under made it a no-brainer and so Bob struck a deal and we drove it to a motel for overnight, at sunset.

Provenance of the car:
SVX LS-L was purchased and kept by a Trois Rivieres Subaru dealer in 1992, displayed in the showroom and driven only in Parades and special events & shows.
5 years later at 97000km (60000miles), even tho it didn't need it, transmission, differential, brakes and timing belt, etc were replaced under warranty. The car was still being mainly used as a display trophy.
At that time the Dealer had the trunk & spoiler painted in matching Tri-stage White Pearl as well as replaced the grill opening with the 1997 version in Pearl. An airdam spoiler was added to the front bumper also in Pearl. Besides chrome plating all the engine bay brackets, 17" Momo alloys in liquid silver were put on and the roof panel painted Liquid Silver to match.
When the Dealership closed up in 2000 (divorce) the Service Manager - Seller's Uncle - brought it home, garaged it and put another 35000 km on it only on summer drives around Quebec and Ontario.
In 2010 his nephew took possession and same thing, babied it in garage and never winter driven and never on the hiway.
2012 - 2nd baby on the way, need practical second car and wife says it has to go.

Bob's SVX:
1992 LS-L, build date March 1992, VIN JFICX3537NH109471.
All Tri-stage White Pearl including trunk & spoiler, Liquid Silver roof & Momo alloys. Dark Gray leather interior - spotless.

You'd have to see this car in person to absorb the spectacular condition it is in. I thought my '97 Black was primo but it pales beside Bob's White. All original paint & clearcoat (including the roof & trunk) no rust bubble anywhere. Only defects I could fine are one chip out of the back bumper, one on the front grill and very minor road rash chips on the hood lip. The fiberglass front spoiler is cracked at the corners from hitting a curb (in fact it looks forced to fit, to me). Otherwise not one scratch, dent, swirl in the paint - it's a smooth & glossy as the day it arrived on the showroom floor.
No CELs, all I could find wrong is a few burnt out switch illumination bulbs, and the intact power antenna fully extends but retracts with 4" sticking out, another easy clean & fix.
Absolutely NO stabilizer scratches on the untinted Blue side windows. (rust bumps inside the rear side window separator strips, just like mine. Is this the norm? I see this on all SVXs)

Pardon the post length but I want to get this all recorded now.

Incident on the trip home:
I was driving the SVX. I mentioned to Bob early on at a rest stop that a slight shimmy felt to me like one wheel weight had been thrown but the car was riding smooth and straight. It didn't get any worse as we drove at 120kmhr on cruise control.
6 hours later just west of Milton we stopped for gas, Tims and pee break. This involved several sharp turns.
As I entered the hiway 401 for the final leg home the front wheel began to wobble horribly and the steering wheel, too. Within one minute I hit the flashers and pulled over.
Pulling off each hub cover, which enclosed the wheel nuts, all checked out tight...until I took the driver's side cap off.
A nut & sheared lug stud fell out into my hand! The adjacent two nuts I could spin off by finger.
Takes no brainiac to realize when the wheels were off someone neglected to torque the front wheel.
Without going into all the specifics, I tightened the remaining 4 nuts and advised Bob to call CAA to tow the car 35 minutes to the Kitchener/Waterloo Subaru Dealer, Gemini Motors. It was now 2:30 PM with a storm approaching, tho the sun was still out.
The CAA truck had the correct dollys to lift all 4 wheels off the road and we arrived at Gemini at 3PM. Told them all I knew and explained I knew a great deal more than most about everything Subaru & SVX.
Being Friday the shop was booked up. They said they would look at it first thing Tuesday morning and call.
Fast forward to Tuesday:
Gemini calls at 9AMN to say they've replaced the stud, balanced all w wheels, road tested and the car is ready to pick up. Only $149 for the service.
I drove Bob in my SVX to Kitchener because it was a sunny day, took some pictures and we brought his new baby home.
Spent the afternoon down in his undergroud parking garage wash bay vacuuming and wiping and doing as much detailing as we could.
Wednesday it passed the e-test with flying colours. Thursday, today, Bob got the new plates and registration. He also decided to get full year coverage because who wouldn't want to be able to drive it year round?
We drove it out to Sebringville to the mechanic Bob has used for 20 years to arrange to have it gone over thoroughly. I made an appointment for Tuesday to have my O2 sensors changed out and fluids replenished.

Oh yeah, on the ride back well before the wheel 'incident' the slipstream caught the front spoiler, which was already loose, and tossed the center section to the side of the hiway. We had previously discussed it esthetic removal so had the sides taken off at Gemini. It certainly looks better without a lip. It was literally 3.5" clearance.

Now, enjoy the pix. You guys with splendid examples will appreciate it's condition.

[Conn SVX]

Not a fan of the all white look but it is a clean one. VERY NICE .. I notice you never mentioned a $ amount. Care to share. Just curious what a nice one is going for these days.

[Sean486]

Looks much better without the front spoiler. The liquid silver on the roof is a odd choice, how does it look in person?

[Hocrest]

Beautiful car, I'm not sure how I feel about the silver roof, in these pics it looks odd.

What is the emblem/decal between the front wheels and the doors?

[Old Davy]

Don't mind at all. Remember, this is Canada where everything coasts more.
Seller was asking $8500. Bob talked him down to $8000 cash.
Based on the extraordinary clean condition of this 1992 I'd say it was worth it and heck, it's Bob's money. This car doesn't need any major fixing up - runs like a dream and is show circuit ready. 130xxx km on the odo (80780 miles). All maintenance records back to 1992 to present.
I got mine for half that at 124XXX km (77052 miles), for which I was happy to pay $4000 because it is a low mileage 1997 with no major flaws.
Bob sent an email to Paul telling him the story about the wheel just to let him know and how much he loves the car & deal, Paul felt badly enough about it and the bullet we (and he would have) dodged that he's refunding $500...so $7500.

Looks are subjective. Well, the only colours I would consider when I was looking were Blue, black or white (which was n/a by 1995. I definitely wanted a 1997 and got what I wanted.

Personally, I'm not a fan of the black topped over colour cars. Bob agrees and this all white is a singular knockout that highlights the styling. The paint depth reminds me of that premium Cadillac White Diamond Quartz; looks deep & luscious enough to dip your finger in.
As for the silver roof, it's not screamingly noticeable until you notice and it's subtle. You have to look twice since the seamless glass canopy separates the colour change.

Each to his own but Bob has a one-of-a-kind that stands out.

Yeah, the spoiler was gonna go anyway so that saved us the trouble. As I said, it dropped too low and would have gotten smucked on most suburban driveways. Was this a dealer option? Because it was definitely forced around the corners, had a noticeable flex warp on the bottom corners.

The enamel badge on the trunk lid has something to do with Puerto Rico - Dealership owner - and is stuck on with trim tape. We will piano wire it off in the warm spring. The silver lettering on the tail light says Christofaro, the name of the defunct dealership. Extremely well done raised stick on 3-d letters - they can stay. The round symbols on the fenders are the Christofaro crest (unless someone recognizes them?) and again, they will remain.
Front plates are not required in Quebec but the plate mount is in the trunk in the original wrapper. In Ontario you need both but Bob will leave the front one off so as not to drill holes in the bumper...and carry the plates in the trunk.

Aftermarket security system (no factory security on Canadian cars) removed but the basic key functions work. In the rear fender behind the trim we found the huge Subaru Cell Phone box and all the thick cabling running under the carpets to the dashboard. There's an antenna mount stuck to the inside rear glass. Both have been removed by me.

Notice those spanky chrome plated radiator mounts? There's more of that sparkle throughout the engine bay.

[Blacky]

You say it was bought off Kijiji in Ottawa? I check it nearly every day and never saw that car. Good one.

[Rod.]

Great write-up on a great car and a great deal!! Kudos to both of you!!