In 1985 Subaru debuted a coupe called the Alcyone in Japan. It was sold until 1991, when it was replaced with an all new coupe, the Alcyone SVX, also known as SVX in other continents. This luxury, gran touring coupe featured a unique styling designed by the Italian stylinghouse Giugiaro.
The most noticeable are the side windows which are splitted in two. The reason for doing this was to reduce the noise when driving with open windows as well as to optimize the glass surface to make the occupants feel like they are in a glass canopy. The SVX also had a very low coefficient of drag of only 0.29. In Japan, the SVX does not have the Subaru logo on the front, but a special Alcyone logo.
The interior was less extravagant than the outside with a conventional instrument cluster, hidden radio and simple cockpit design focused around the driver. A mix of alcantara and wood trim was used throughout the interior. The SVX was also quite practical as the rear seats could be folded down to enlarge the trunk space.
The SVX had a 3.3 liter 6-cylinder boxer engine, making around 240 horsepower and more than 300 NM of torque. It was coupled to a 4-speed automatic transmission, making it a good car for relaxed driving. Subaru advertised the car with the phrase “500 miles a day”, referring to the distance that can be driven on one full tank, which had a capacity of 70 liters. The SVX in Japan came standard with Subaru´s Variable Torque Distribution 4WD system.
In 1991 and 1992 there were 2 grades in Japan, the Version E and Version L. The Version L had more luxury options such as leather seats, cruise control, a sunroof and 4 wheel steering. Also the driveshaft of the Version L was of a higher quality making it more quiet. 1993 saw a special celebration version for Fuji Heavy Industries, the mother company of Subaru, its 40th anniversary. The special version was called S40 and was limited to 300 units. Equipment features the roof and trunk in body color, instrument panel changed from wood to matte gray and blue tinted glass. In 1994 there was a similar anniversary model called the S40II and was very similar to the S40 besides a door lock off switch.
At the end of 1994 the S3 grade was introduced, which lacked the rear limited slip differential and speed sensitive power steering of the Version E but had meshed BBS wheels and a high grade audio system. Therefore it could still be offered for a lower price than the Version E. It was limited to 500 units but it is said that number was never reached. In 1995 the final grade called S4 was released based on the Version E and this one featured a redesigned front grill, meshed BBS wheels and bronze glass. Three colors where available, Bordeaux red mica, Bright green mica, and Light silver metallic.
At the end of 1996 the production ceased with sales continuing into 1997 and a total of 5994 units have been sold in Japan.
Click on the picture below to see the Subaru Alcyone SVX details and specifications per year such as weight, new price and equipment for each version in the Goo-net.com catalog.
