Not a lot of people recognize a Subaru SVX if they see one. Even some gearheads think it’s an old Supra or Mitsubishi 3000 GT of the era. But back in the early 90s Subaru had great plans for the SVX chassis, including 2-door wagon or ‘shooting brake‘ called the Amadeus. It never made production, according to Ben Hsu at Japanese Nostalgic Car even the one-and-only prototype is now gone.
The Subaru SVX is one of the Bubble Era greats. The sleek grand touring coupe epitomized the ambition of Japan’s carmakers at the tail end of the Showa Era. But you know what would’ve been even cooler? An SVX shooting brake, and Subaru delivered just that with the Amadeus concept.
The SVX shocked the automotive world when it debuted as a concept at the 28th Tokyo Motor Show in 1989. Fuji Heavy Industries’ car-making division had, until then, been known mostly for 4WD utility vehicles. No one expected an AWD spaceship with lines from ItalDesign to emerge out of the same company that made the BRAT. But Subaru doggedly took the advanced aero coupe (notable for its 0.29 drag co-efficient) from concept to actual production, reportedly losing money on each one they sold.
At the 29th Tokyo Motor Show in 1991, Subaru showed the production SVX, which remained remarkably faithful to the concept. But they also wanted to take things to the next level, and did so by headlining their stand with the Amadeus concept. The two-door wagon was based on the SVX, retaining even its window-in-a-window calling card.
Among its unique design traits were a massive rear hatch and roof rails that blended into a spoiler atop the rear hatch. It wore a glorious two-tone paint job as all the classiest Bubble Era sleds did, and even had some kind of rear integrated under-spoiler to add to its sleekness. Under the hood sat the same 3.3-liter flat six that powered the SVX, but with an added output to 250PS (247 horsepower) and 231 lb-ft of torque over the production SVX’s 230 horses and 228 lb-ft.
As the bubble burst the SVX didn’t sell in the numbers Subaru had hoped, which killed any possibility for the Amadeus.
Unfortunately, the Amadeus seems to have met an ignoble end. In June 2020 someone posted some photos of what looked like the Amadeus rotting in a field. The paint and clear plastic looked sun-faded; it had clearly been sitting there a while. The caption placed the location as somewhere in Ota, Gunma Prefecture, home of Subaru’s manufacturing hub, with the time simply described “a long time ago”.
Parked nearby were other Subaru vehicles. The red SVX looks like an early prototype, with LHD, grille, and aero bits taken or replicated from the original silver SVX concept from the 1989 Tokyo Motor Show. Its thicker front bumper, side skirts, integrated rear spoiler, and its SVX decal on the lower rear quarter panel all match with that car. It might even be that very car, just repainted.
It’s sad, but scrappage is often the fate of concept cars… Japan’s laws classify them as assets and continues to tax them even if they’re just sitting in a warehouse. What’s particularly sad about the Amadeus is that it was actually a running mule, as evidenced by video released around the 1991 Tokyo Motor Show.
A lot of wild concepts are evolutionary dead ends or are totally unconnected to the company’s production portfolio, but the Amadeus was kind of the platonic ideal of a Subaru of the era — an elegant, powerful, all-wheel-drive touring wagon. It would have served as a marvelous reminder of what Subaru’s best and brightest minds were thinking at their most ambitious.