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Junkyard Gem: 1992 Subaru SVX

Subaru is doing quite well these days with its formula of selling a combination of sensible pavement-optional commuters and rally-inspired performance cars, but go back a quarter-century or so and many of the cars with the Pleiades badges were known more for futuristic jet-fighter-style cockpits and weird gadgetry. This philosophy reached its peak with the brilliant, bizarre Subaru SVX, sold in North America for the 1992 through 1995 model years. Here's a well-preserved purple SVX I spotted a few days ago in a Denver self-service yard. Just look at the side glass! It's impossible to not love the way this car looks. The design of the SVX's exterior was the creation of Giorgetto Giugiaro. The SVX had a DOHC flat-six displacing 3.3 liters, the largest street engine Subaru had built up to that point. It made 231 horsepower, which was respectable for the era. Unfortunately, Subaru didn't have a manual transmission that could handle that kind of engine power, so every SVX came with a four-speed automatic... which (in addition to being way less fun than a manual) also couldn't handle the EG33's output. For this reason, you see SVXs in fairly decent condition at junkyards all the time; a good-running, clean example is worth good money, but one with a bad transmission is worth its weight in scrap. Related Video:

Day 2: We made it to Patagonia | Subarus in South America

We made it. After Monday's layover in Buenos Aires on Tuesday afternoon, Chris McGraw and I landed in El Calafate, Argentina – right smack in the middle of Patagonia. The Andes mountains were to our west, open plains and lakes cut by glaciers to our east. McGraw and I settled inside a Subaru Outback, and with big smiles on our faces, high-fived as I said the words, "Dude... We're in f*cking Patagonia." Our official adventure starts today, where we're driving a number of Subaru crossovers on all sorts of terrain, visiting glaciers that are larger than most American cities, and taking in some of the most scenic landscape I've ever laid eyes on. Crosstreks, Foresters, and Outbacks will get us to our next destination, and we'll have a full recap of the day's activities for you tomorrow morning. Be sure to follow along with us on social media – Autoblog's Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram will provide more insights into our journey. Of course, both Chris and I will be posting individual impressions from the journey, so follow us, too (@stevenewing and @thequikdraw). In the meantime, get an idea of our epic surroundings in the video above.

Are you the Subaru WRX Concept for New York?

When Subaru dropped a hint about bringing an "all-new performance concept car" to the New York Auto Show this year, we immediately started hoping and praying that a conceptual iteration of the next WRX was in the offing. Looks like that might have paid off. While no official word has yet been written or uttered from Subaru, a French website called Blog Automobile has released a gallery of images that would seem to spill the beans about the WRX Concept.
If the leaked images are correct - and they look awfully complete and well done if they're not - WRX styling is taking a turn for the handsome. The sleek sedan in these images has all of the cues that we've come to expect from our rally-ready Imprezas: a dominating hood scoop and very wide stance with beefy wheels, and seems to miss only the rear wing to fit the perfect WRX stereotype. (And, yes, it should have gold wheels.)
There's no press release to be found, but the source is citing specifications as if it knows what it's talking about. We're told that 275 to 300 horsepower are the likely output of the turbocharged boxer four-cylinder engine, and that brakes with ventilated discs and six-piston calipers are there to haul the all-wheel-drive Scooby down from speed. If our earlier reporting is correct, we might expect to find an electric turbo under that imposing hood, too.