Destiny is a clean SVX

The intersection of wish-I-hadn’t-sold-it and it-was-meant-to-be is a strange place. It looks a lot like wish-I-handn’t-sold-it and wish-I-had-another, only there’s actually a Subaru SVX and cash money at the former.

If you’re not quite following bear with me. Like the Subaru SVX, the angles on this article are a bit unconventional and could use some explaining. Don’t worry, though—like the Subaru SVX, once you get it, everything makes perfect sense. 

It’s an amazing machine!

[tgp] Introductions: We’re all about the respect and recognizing the people behind the amazing machines we feature. Can I get your real name? Maybe where you live and what you do for a living? 

[you] Dale White. I am from Cincinnati, Ohio, and I work in construction.

[tgp] Okay. Let’s talk about your SVX. To this day, when I hear La Bamba, I think Subaru SVX. I think it’s special in that it takes a lot of what we love about Subaru and puts it under one of the edgiest bodies to come out of the 1990s. Can you tell us a bit about the SVX and why you’ve done what you’ve done with yours? 

[dw] My SVX is a 1994 SVX L model in Laguna Blue. The car has been heavily modified from the custom-made hood to the custom air ride suspension. They don’t make many parts (heck—any—aftermarket parts), so you have to get creative and try different things. Most of the parts I have on my car are from other cars that I modified. The custom air suspension is a mix of many different parts.  

The biggest mod I have on the car is my tail light and side marker set up. I hired Illumaesthetic and JC Auto Labs to create my custom tail lights. They took my stock tail lights, cut them open, shoved in 998 LEDs with three control modules and about 75 feet of wire to create the best light show you have ever seen. It took them about six months to make, but they make the car stand out more than ever. 

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On the Subaru SVX

[tgp] The most important automotive opinions are those of real, actual owners. As an SVX owner, could you share a little unvarnished truth with the rest of us? What do you love about them? What do you not love about them? 

[dw] These cars are loved by few and hated by many because of their goofy looks and lack of aftermarket parts or OEM parts. I love the goofy look and I deal with the parts issues. The SVX had an underpowered transmission from the factory which is known for failing and they only came in automatic—BUT—if you get one, you will get a lot of looks and lots of questions of “What is that?”

[tgp] How did you end up with a Subaru SVX? How easy has it been to get this one to where it is today? 

[dw] I fell in love with the SVX when I was 16. It was my first car and, like most 16-year old kids, I had big plans and no money. I kicked myself for selling it. 

About six years ago a friend sent me a link for an SVX with no body rust. I was like, “This is destiny”, so I went and bought it and started modifying it with all the plans I had as a 16-year old.

The SVX Community

[tgp] How’s the SVX community doing these days? Where do y’all hangout, share tech, and whatnot?

[dw] I am lucky the age of this car was when message boards were still really big and the SVX World Network has tons of information and how-tos. Now we have facebook groups like SVX World Network and SVX Nation, which are great places to hop on and ask questions. The moderators on both pages are great people who do this for the love of the car. 

As for hangouts, there is a Reading, Pennsylvania, meet every year and, four years ago, the 25th Reunion meet was at Subaru of America in Indiana. We got to take a tour of the plant and Subaru was so nice they even made us custom gift bags; they had the SVX logo stitched into all of them. (They also let us take our SVXs out on their test track.) 

[tgp] What’s the best source of information on these cars? If I wanted to dive deep and really learn all there is to know about the Subaru SVX, where’s the first place you’d point me (and why)?

[dw] SVX World Network and SVX Nation.

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This Gearhead Life

[tgp] When you think about automotive culture in general, what stands out as being the biggest issue we should be working on together? What’s your biggest concern and what should we be doing about it?

[dw] Respect all builds and all people. Something you might not like is something someone else is really passionate about. Everyone thinks their car is the best because they built it. If we can realize that we can help each other out vs tearing people down. We all started from somewhere with some kind of car. 

Shout Outs

[tgp] Who’s made the biggest difference in your life with cars? How so?

[dw] I would say my buddies Chris Annis and Mike Hack. We all had crazy first cars that we worked our butts off to build. Mike had a Jetta with 15 10-inch subs in the back. Chris had an ‘87 Prelude with a carpet dash and Flex-Stone interior (showing my age there). They were not top end cars, but they were starting blocks that inspired others like me to get into modifying cars. They are still buddies of mine to this day

I remember my 12s

Dale’s probably the 50th gearhead I’ve interviewed for one of these features on TGP. I like asking people where they live and what they do for a living because I think it helps show that you don’t have to be a hedge fund manager or have a trust fund to build amazing machines. It’s a great place to find things in common with our automotive brothers and sisters.

The Shout Outs section is usually where I find the most common ground. But you know what I like about this one? Dale mentioning his OG buddies; Mike’s subs. Chris’ interior. It took me back to when I had a pair of 12s in the back of my 97 Talon. I used to set off car alarms with that system. It was awesome—until it got stolen. 

It’s important we grow up and mature—but it’s also important we never lose that fire. That burning desire inside that says, This is the one. The one that makes you look back and admire all the angles every time you walk away. 

They say, “If you love something, set it free. If it does not come back, it was never meant to be yours. But if it does…” well, here’s hoping you’ve got all the cash you need—because destiny.

Would you like to know more?

• Dale’s on Instagram: @clean_svx
• FORUM! SVX World Network
• Custom Lighting: Illumaesthetic
• Custom Lighting: JC Auto Labs
• Wikipedia: Subaru Alcyone SVX
• Wikipedia: Subaru XT