Falling Into the Facts
Subaru didn’t have a reputation for sporty cars when it introduced its SVX coupe in 1992. Yet the rally-crossing and street-racing decades since then have altered the lens through which people look at it, and it has been received as the sports coupe it was never meant to be. Its under-stressed, naturally aspirated 3.3-liter flat-six has seen aftermarket turbocharging and supercharging. Its automatic transmission – no stick-shift was offered – has been replaced with Impreza 5-speeds and STI 6-speeds. Its comfy seats have been swapped for Recaros. And so on.
But looking at the facts, the AWD SVX was built to be a car well ahead of its time: an all-weather grand tourer. At 60 mph, the torquey engine is turning just a hair over 2000 RPM (while a contemporary BMW 325is 5-speed zings along at 2640). That 3.3-liter engine doesn’t fit neatly under any known rallycross class restriction, but its 230 horsepower is wonderful on tarmac. With predictable understeer and reassuringly vague turn-in, it drives like a Japanese Pontiac Grand Prix GTP, while its 2+2 configuration follows the grand tourer recipe established in the 1960s. With plenty of glass, a hatchback for luggage, and a low hood thanks to the construction of its engine, it’s really a 1990s reincarnation of the Jensen Interceptor FF.
Viewing the SVX in its natural light reveals its true strengths. Trying to change its personality will leave you bankrupt and with a Frankenstein of a car, but enjoying it for its intended purpose is a joy.
Like tuners going after SVXs, people in Jesus’ time were skeptical of Jesus’ authority and purpose. On one occasion, he responded to their inquiry (and skepticism) with the parable of a gardener who sends his son to collect the harvest, but the garden tenants beat and kill him. Then, “Jesus looked directly at (or into) them and asked, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written: “‘The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone’? Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”” (Luke 20:17-18)
In architecture, the capstone was the one that completed an arch. With such a unique shape, it won’t fit anywhere else, and nothing can take its place. Because only Jesus could fit and fulfill the role of savior from humankind’s filth and mistakes, he was and is the capstone. The entire redemptive arc in the Bible – that God’s law is perfect, humans are completely incapable of being perfect, and hope can only be found in a perfect sacrifice – is incomplete without the exact personhood and role of Jesus.
Yet people have indeed tried to complete this arc without Jesus:
“I think God loves all people enough to save all of them” is an idea that puts just about anything in the place of this cornerstone, and forgets “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
“God couldn’t possibly accept the repentance of (fill in the blank)” is an idea that leaves Jesus and his all-encompassing work on the cross out of the arc and insists on redemption through human means, and forgets “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:23-24)
“God is sick of forgiving me. I’ve come too far” is an idea that twists the arc out of proportion and forgets the savior who says, “‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’” (Luke 15:6)
No one but Jesus is Jesus. Plenty of people have misunderstood him over the years, yet he never stops asking them to simply fall upon him and let their wrongfulness be crushed into pieces so he can rebuild them into the unique, 100% original, quirky, and deeply loved creation they were meant to be.
History shows that the SVX would be a one-generation model. Economic woes, currency fluctuations, and shifting consumer interests all conspired to kill it. But it showed Subaru just how much consumers valued all-wheel-drive, and how potent rallycross imagery was for marketing it. With this lesson learned, Subaru shifted its identity away from the SVX experiment. Today, if you’re Subaru shopping and you want a grand tourer, don’t saddle an STI with an automatic transmission and a few hundred pounds of sound deadening material. The car of your dreams is out there, waiting for you to fall into it and embrace its wonderfully unique identity.
